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Waste and fresh water carriers. Spare battery, lightweight domestic equipment, outside chairs (also lightweight), possibly an awning,. Just go to a well stocked caravan shop and take a good look around and decide what you can and can't do without.  It all adds up very quickly and I found no difficulty in getting up to £1000.00 and still forget the corkscrew!  Go to the NEC show in Birmingham in october, chat to people, don't be persuaded on the spot into buying anything. Consider where you will store the van and the security aspect.

Check with Towsure about nose weights, towing limits etc. You're not mad to want to tow, but read it all up first. There's plenty of guidance around both on-line and in books. Stick to the rules, develop a strict routine, don't take short cuts and hopefully all will be well. My hubby tends to work on the principle that when all else fails, read the instructions, but even he reads it all up first when it comes to towing.  You may want to try one of the Caravan Club courses which will help to give you confidence.  Oh, I do go on  - sorry!

Hi there pealady and  to the best site on the w-h-o-l-w www thingy.

Now you're lucky having a Galaxy coz I do believe they're pretty good tow cars so that's a good start.

But as for the essential equipment just click on and scroll down to caravanning...then.......essential equipment. You'll find that very helpful.

One tip though is to look around at Boot Sales for various equipment like Aquarolls etc. I recently flogged an Aquaroll, Porta Potti, (new tin tent has a cassette loo), and wheelclamp not to mention two sleeping bags as were treating ourselves to a couple of new ones this year, (I wanted a flower power one....and got it!).

Ya might wanna consider joining your local freecycle website too as you'll be amazed at the stuff that peeps on there just want to get rid of to save them traipsing up to the tip or local charity shop. Excellent site that for freebies.

The  is also a great place to pick up cheap equipment too. Wish you needed a size 8 Dorema awning though....still trying to flog ours since getting a bigger tin tent

Ohhhh and on that  there's also a link to an item about towing I think. Yep! Pretty sure it's on there too....says she just going to look

When you've got a mo ya might like to also take a squiz at the thread entitled 'New Arrivals...Welcome' coz trust me on this....now you've wandered in here....you're gonna some coping mechanisms...if ya want any sort of 'normal' life outside of ukcs

In the meantime...next ukcs-anon coming to a pc near you.See ya there

My name's hippy chick and I am a ukcs addict...yipeeee

Hi Pealady

Welcome to the site, its the right place for advice and info.

Check out this site for Towcar specifications.

We have the Ranger 500/5 5 berth, and love it. We looked at others, but it fitted the bill and more importantly our budget.

All the "extras" can be negotiated for when haggling with the dealer, or if you buy private try and find someone selling a "complete" package.

We bought our awning and aquarolls from ebay. Our mover was from UKCS, and other bits and bobs we picked up as we look around camping shops.

What area are you in? The Lawns show (one of the biggest caravan shows) is this weekend near Hull. You could do worse than to visit, as all the manufacturers exhibit and there are usually some great bargains. At least you can have a good prod and poke at the latest models.

Whatever you go for, enjoy it, and be prepared for it to take over your life!!!

HTH

Paul

You won't better the advice you've had so far pealady, I'd go to the show & enjoy looking at everything on offer. It's a lovely way to go on holiday & you'll love it I'm sure.

BB  

 Welcome to Caravaning... we bought our van 2 yrs ago and wish we had done it sooner. I suggest you look around at the shows, dealers, and talk to others but if cost is an issue look around for second hand kit loads of internet sites, caravan mags, and local press often have kit on offer. Enjoy yourself.

Hi and welcome

We were like you just a few weeks back, and have a Galaxy and bought a Bailey Ranger 550/6. Had not been camping since I was a kid and have not towed anything for about thirty years. Our Galaxy struggles with the van, Zetec 2.3 Petrol Auto and have just bought a new car for towing. I must be honest the Galaxy is not that bad, got us to the Loire Valley and back, but does tend to slow up very quickly on hills.

Our van cost us £11750, that was with everything we needed to set it up with, gas bottles, battery, spare wheel, wheel clamp, water and waste containers, awning, etc, etc. But if i was really honest, i would guess we have spent another £3000 on other bits, Insurance, tow bar, tracker, alarm system plus all the living bits like quilts, pillows, sheets, plates, cups, saucers, saucepans and the list goes on. While we were in France we bought a washing line and a table, clock radio so it doesn't stop ....lol

Towing is not a problem if you keep your wits about you and use your mirrors often.

In the six weeks we have had our caravan we have travelled about 900 miles, been to two english sites (total 6 days) and to the Loire Valley in France for 21 days. The family all love it and we can not wait until we can get away again, hopefully next weekend.

Hi there all.

We are a young family and want to buy a caravan and would appreciate any advice.

We have decided not to go all out and buy a £10k caravan to start with but something around the £2-3k mark to see if we like it. In your opinion what would be an ideal starter caravan for that price. We have 2 kids so would need a 4 berth at least.
Also, our present car is a 1.8 Freelander and was wondering if we would have to change to something else. A lot of Freelanders have engine issues but ours (touch wood!) seems to be fine and we have had no problems with it. Having said that, we want to go to France later this year in the caravan and don't want to break down over there. I am also not sure if the engine is torquey enough to pull a caravan for any great distance.
Have been looking at 4x4's (mitsubishi's, Disco's, etc) but I think I might be getting carried away with myself as you see plenty of Mondeo's, Vectra's, etc pulling vans.
Is there anyone out there pulling a caravan with a 1.8 Freelander trouble free?
Is it better to be safe and buy something a bit more powerful?
Do people really not pooh in the caravan?

Any advice would be greatly appeciated and if you see anyone at the side of the road with a caravan scratching his head, stop and say hello - it could be me.

Many thanks 

hi welcome,i would think your freelander will be ok,to be safe buy a caravan at 85% of your kerb weight,if its an auto check to see if you need an oil cooler for france,mainly for hot and hilly places.see here to find what your money will buy.always check each one with a damp meter.

 http://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/caravans.html

ie.

http://www.caravanfinder.co.uk/caravan/Trade/D3DF964E52B88AD28025747B002FB245/