I'd really like to hear from the experts on preparation before a trip.
It won't be too long before we set off on our first trip (September/October).
I'm wondering how others store/pack their kitchen gear and other general stuff that goes in the cupboards. It might sound like a silly question, but I put a few things away in the kitchen cupboards the other day, and I thought how things will just start falling around when we're on the road. I do have three fixed fittings for plates, and two bottles, and I'm not sure what the other one is. I envision getting to our destination, and the cupboard contents are all over the place. Or is that just a thing?
I also wondered, how many of you have a checklist that you go through. Before departure and on arrival. I'm hoping the course I'm going on will cover this but if anyone does have a checklist they can share, that would be great.
im sat here right now mid list making ready for sunday!
as for packing, well the only things in our over head lockers are lightweight stuff. pots and pans travel inside the oven. kettle etc in floor cupboard, but all our caravan stuff stays in the caravan, we dont empty anything out of it, unless it needs washing and then it gets put asap. basically the only thing we need in the car is food and clothing/footwear,
dont travel with ANY bottles up high! put them on the floor wrapped in a towel
you need to be aware of the nose weight, its so easy to over load the front end, so some bathroom scales will come in handy but put heavy stuff in the middle over the axle to start with, and then check the weight adjusting as need be that forwards or back, once you get the weights sorted then if you pack everything in the same position following that you wont be having to reweigh the caravan each time
Checklists are a great way of ensuring you have done everything necessary, and it's SO EASY to miss something if you have to stop your checks to do something you suddenly remembered, or someone speaks to you, or the phone rings etc.!
Most people that bother with check lists (which is quite a lot of us!) tend to customise the lists to our own needs.
As to packing the van, basically seems to come down to two options or a combination, pack everything breakable/spillable (cooking oil and sauces and maybe powders have to be your worst nightmare!) in secure lidded (and leak proof for liquids!) protective boxes, and/or pack everything so tight it cannot move within the cupboard! Plate racks and glass racks are fine for storage when on pitch, but rarely seem to contain contents (without assistance/extra packing) on their own in transit (I have a personal 'rule' of no glassware in the caravan! - mostly to remove risk of dog stepping on any missed shards of broken glass, I use plastic or ceramic and try to avoid products in glass bottles - apart from the wine and beer ). Doubt there is a caravaner who hasn't arrived on site at least one time (you learn!) to find that a cupboard has flown open and at least some contents disgorged over the van floor! Even with effort to stabilise contents, many of us have opened a cupboard and thought 's**t' that's a mess!
I tend not to pack high level kitchen cupboards with food before the journey, preferring bags/boxes in the car or on van floor. Be VERY careful of what you put in the fridge, heavy bottles/cartons/tins can fly around inside and both do damage to fridge and break/split/spill! Heavy bottles etc. in the door shelves can easily break them if you crash over a pot hole or the like.
You'd be surprised just how much a caravan bounces around in transit, and how much that jiggles the contents around! Caravan suspension is quite hard and unforgiving to contents.
I put bottles to bed, prop them against the pillows, if you have a fixed bed of course. Pots and pans have their own locker at floor level under the oven.
Quote: Originally posted by marg6 on 29/7/2022
im sat here right now mid list making ready for sunday!
as for packing, well the only things in our over head lockers are lightweight stuff. pots and pans travel inside the oven. kettle etc in floor cupboard, but all our caravan stuff stays in the caravan, we dont empty anything out of it, unless it needs washing and then it gets put asap. basically the only thing we need in the car is food and clothing/footwear,
dont travel with ANY bottles up high! put them on the floor wrapped in a towel
you need to be aware of the nose weight, its so easy to over load the front end, so some bathroom scales will come in handy but put heavy stuff in the middle over the axle to start with, and then check the weight adjusting as need be that forwards or back, once you get the weights sorted then if you pack everything in the same position following that you wont be having to reweigh the caravan each time
back to my list making!
Have a good trip
That has always been my plan. I don't want to remove anything from the caravan if I can help it. I'm all prepared for checking the nose weight. Thanks for all the advice, I appreciate it.
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 29/7/2022
Checklists are a great way of ensuring you have done everything necessary, and it's SO EASY to miss something if you have to stop your checks to do something you suddenly remembered, or someone speaks to you, or the phone rings etc.!
Most people that bother with check lists (which is quite a lot of us!) tend to customise the lists to our own needs.
As to packing the van, basically seems to come down to two options or a combination, pack everything breakable/spillable (cooking oil and sauces and maybe powders have to be your worst nightmare!) in secure lidded (and leak proof for liquids!) protective boxes, and/or pack everything so tight it cannot move within the cupboard! Plate racks and glass racks are fine for storage when on pitch, but rarely seem to contain contents (without assistance/extra packing) on their own in transit (I have a personal 'rule' of no glassware in the caravan! - mostly to remove risk of dog stepping on any missed shards of broken glass, I use plastic or ceramic and try to avoid products in glass bottles - apart from the wine and beer ). Doubt there is a caravaner who hasn't arrived on site at least one time (you learn!) to find that a cupboard has flown open and at least some contents disgorged over the van floor! Even with effort to stabilise contents, many of us have opened a cupboard and thought 's**t' that's a mess!
I tend not to pack high level kitchen cupboards with food before the journey, preferring bags/boxes in the car or on van floor. Be VERY careful of what you put in the fridge, heavy bottles/cartons/tins can fly around inside and both do damage to fridge and break/split/spill! Heavy bottles etc. in the door shelves can easily break them if you crash over a pot hole or the like.
You'd be surprised just how much a caravan bounces around in transit, and how much that jiggles the contents around! Caravan suspension is quite hard and unforgiving to contents.
Thank you so much for the lengthy reply, I appreciate it. It helps a lot.
Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 29/7/2022
I put bottles to bed, prop them against the pillows, if you have a fixed bed of course. Pots and pans have their own locker at floor level under the oven.
We are away and I forgot our wash bags! They are sitting on the bed at home. I filled a bag and didn't have room for them...had to raid Sainsburys in Wantage yesterday. Memo to self to have one last check.
Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 02/8/2022
We are away and I forgot our wash bags! They are sitting on the bed at home. I filled a bag and didn't have room for them...had to raid Sainsburys in Wantage yesterday. Memo to self to have one last check.
I've done similar before. We have a checklist that we print off then tick off items as we pack them aboard. Unfortunately on one occasion one bag got packed ready but was ticked off the list before it was actually taken out to the caravan. That got left at home and I had to buy all sorts of things when we arrived on site, including a new battery-shaver for myself. At least that one now stays in the caravan, albeit with its batteries removed.
Before we had a caravan we had a folding camper and I forgot my husbands sleeping bag..Good job he doesn't feel the cold! I make lists but not very good at ticking things off.
------------- Linda
2017
May - 3 nights Yeatheridge.
May - 5 nights Mill Park, Ilfracombe
July - 6 nights not sure where yet
August - 2 weeks Croatia, Camp Lanterna.
2018
May - 3 night Yeatheridge campsite
May half term - 6 nights Cornwall
July - 1 week Cotswolds
August - 2 weeks Vendee.
When our great nieces were children, they would sometimes come on one of our weekend caravan breaks. We only had a small 2 berth van and they used to use a pup tent they had for the garden.
We were just set up on our pitch one weekend, when their parents arrived with them and unpacked the gear. Guess what? dad had forgotten to pack the tent.
Quote: Originally posted by Mrs. Bonce on 02/8/2022
We are away and I forgot our wash bags!
I can’t risk that as I wear contact lenses & the gear isn’t always available in supermarkets. For all the weight & volume involved, we leave the essentials in the en suite cupboard: toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap box (me) / shower gel (OH), shampoo, and contact lens case/soak/wet. Plus a basic medicine kit - plasters, painkillers, antihistamine (essential at midge time!) etc, Plus the dog’s basic medicine kit, to avoid a trip to the vets for something we can treat ourselves.
Oh, I always have a universal plug for those site sinks that don’t have them: it’s very easy to drop a tiny lens down the drain!
We have a canvas six bottle carry bag. It lives in a floor cupboard, and we have never had a smashed bottle to date. Unless packed solid (why would you?), stuff WILL jump around the lockers. But we have small stuff (sauces/spices/condiments) in containers. General food just goes in and takes its chance. Try not to have a load of tins.
The one thing we do pack pretty tight is the fridge. Get it cold first, and pack it with cold stuff from the home fridge. This will last a good few hours to site. Being packed stops movement. We put the steps in front of the door so it cant fly open. (Never has on this van, but the first van we had, the door actually fell off - TWICE!). We do this unless we are going abroad on the ferry. In which case very little goes in the fridge at all because its off too long.
But only experience of multiple trips will tell you what needs to be where in your own van,
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Topic: Preparation advice please
). Doubt there is a caravaner who hasn't arrived on site at least one time (you learn!) to find that a cupboard has flown open and at least some contents disgorged over the van floor! Even with effort to stabilise contents, many of us have opened a cupboard and thought 's**t' that's a mess!
via mobile 29/7/2022 at 7:15pm
