Caravan Camping Network – Caravan Camping Network

How to Drive with a Caravan for a Better Camping Experience?

Caravanning is a popular activity in Australia. It’s a great way to meet other people while having a great time relaxing in the outdoors.

However, there’s more to towing a caravan than just attaching it to your vehicle. If you are planning a road trip with your caravan in tow, be sure to take up a towing course. It’s the safest way to learn how to drive with a caravan and have an enjoyable, hassle-free camping experience.

Avoid Overloading the Caravan

Don’t stuff your caravan with everything you intend to take with you. This will only affect your driving experience. For a safe ride, you must only take the essentials. When it comes to camping and caravanning, less is more.

An overload caravan will strain the tow vehicle’s engine, tyres, gearbox and suspension. It will even affect the braking.

Ensure the Weight is Equally Distributed

When you attach your caravan to your vehicle, you must consider the problem of weight transfer. With the caravan attached, the front of the car could be carrying less weight than the rear wheels. For optimal stability, safety and vehicle control, ensure that the towing vehicle and the caravan are level.

Avoid setting off on a caravanning trip if the towing car and caravan are not level. If they are not level, you could face a host of challenges and you even run the risk of veering off the road suddenly or meeting with an accident.

When the front wheels are taking less weight, the braking and steering are affected. You can prevent this by moving the weight from the back of the car to the front wheels. That’s possible only with the help of a weight-distribution hitch, also known as torsion, stabiliser, level-ride or anti-sway bar.

Adhere to Speed Limits

Certain states have lower speed limits for cars with caravans.

Avoid driving too close to the vehicle in front of you. Keep a distance of at least 60m unless you are overtaking. Keeping a safe distance allows others to pass you by safely. If you are approaching a hill, you could consider speeding up slightly (if it’s safe to do so). This will make the uphill climb easier.

When your car’s speed reduces considerably, be sure to choose a lower gear early on. Once the engine speed comes down, you may have a hard time regaining it. This will put more stress on the vehicle’s engine.

Overtake Cautiously

Overtaking with a caravan is a tricky task, especially when you are overtaking other caravans or long trucks. Not only is your acceleration affected due to the additional weight but you also have to cover a greater distance owing to the extra length.

Be sure to check the mirrors before you begin to overtake. Avoid overtaking a slower vehicle when driving downhill.

Monitor the rear-view mirrors regularly to spot any speeding vehicles that may be overtaking you. If it’s a bus/truck, ensure that they can overtake safely and quickly. If possible, veer slowly to the left of the road as much as possible. Ensuring distance between the vehicles is the best way to ensure safety. When a vehicle is passing you by, avoid braking or speeding up.

Reverse Slowly

When reversing your towing car, be sure to do it at your own pace. Do not be in a rush. Begin by scanning the area you want to back into. Notice if there are any taps, low branches or other obstacles on the ground. As you are moving forward, angle your car and the caravan roughly towards the spot you want to go to when you begin backing up.

Join a Caravan Driving Course

If you haven’t towed a caravan before, it helps to take a caravan towing course. Be sure to choose take the manual driving lessons as you will most likely be driving a manual vechicle for heavy towing. The courses are very affordable and the trainers will provide lots of practical advice on driving safely with a caravan, teach the basic skills of towing a caravan including reversing and more.

You will also learn about weighing your caravan properly. Caravans generally have a limited payload (carrying capacity), so you must adhere to it to ensure you are not overloading. Common accessories and modifications like gas cylinders, water tanks and toolboxes can take up a chunk of the carrying capacity and curtail how much weight you can carry.

Knowing the weight of your caravan will help you in choosing a suitable tow vehicle. You don’t want to tow a heavy caravan with a small car. It’s important to use an appropriate tow vehicle to ensure a safe and leisurely camping trip.…

5 Tips On How To Tow A Trailer Safely

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Driving a car is different compared to driving while towing a trailer. This more or less boils down to physics. Since you are driving on the road, not knowing the difference and safely and acting accordingly can literally mean the difference between life and death. In this article, you will learn a few crucial tips on how to drive safely while towing a trailer.

Start With A Checklist

The first thing you need to do is make a comprehensive checklist. You want to fill this checklist of everything you need to check before embarking on a trip. This checklist does not include pre-trip servicing and check-ups. And yes, you must have servicing and check-ups for long trips to ensure everything is in the green. The last thing you want is to experience a preventable problem, rendering you stuck in the middle of nowhere.

Lock Down As Much As You Can

Their are many type of trailers on the market and each has a different purpose. Ramco Trailers in Melbourne know a thing or two about the trailer business. We recommend you check out their full range if you’re in the market to purchase a new trailer. The nice thing about having a trailer is that you get to bring plenty of comforts to your destination, like appliances. However, since you are moving, there’s a tendency that loose items get dropped or thrown around, causing damage. Hence, lockdown everything as much as you can to prevent such misfortunes. Any items that you can’t lockdown, secure it in a cabinet or container. Everything in that trailer is going rattle and shake when you’re doing 100km/hr up and down the Hume Highway, for instance.

Be Aware Of Your Concentration

When towing a trailer, you’ll usually drive slower. As a result, it’s easy to fall into the temptation of neglecting your concentration. This is a big mistake.

Towing can be very draining as there are many variables that you need to consider at almost every moment. You need to assess your speed continually. It would help if you also had the proper distance to give you plenty of breaking space. Also, it would help if you considered the trailer sway when going through curves. These and all other factors can cause fatigue faster. Driving while being fatigued can increase your risk. Furthermore, the risk is compounded as you are towing something that’s relatively very heavy.

Hence, you should always be aware of your concentration level. As a preventative measure, always take a break from driving every two hours. Caffeine may help but never skip on your breaks. If you are on a multi-day trip, make sure that you get ample rest.

Anticipate

Another skill that can significantly increase your safety while driving is anticipation. This skill applies even if you are not towing. But since your risk is increased significantly when towing, you need to increase your anticipation skills further. When driving while towing, your anticipation skills should be geared towards scanning potential obstacles like:

Electric poles on the road
Wildlife both near and on the road
Vehicles with wide loads

Another thing you need to anticipate is the potential speed of the vehicle in front of you. Will the vehicle in front accelerate or decelerate? This is to ensure that you’ll always have that five seconds gap between you and the vehicle in front. The gap is to ensure that you have enough breaking room.

Beware Of Large Trucks

When driving while towing, you’d want to stay clear from large trucks as much as possible. The reason for this is because of the wind buffeting caused by large trucks. Usually, this factor does not affect vehicles that much because of their size and center of gravity. When you are towing, you are practically dragging a wall behind you that significantly catches wind-related factors.

In other words, the wind buffering from trucks can cause your vehicle to sway. To avoid this increased risk, move away from a truck that’s passing by. If you cannot move far enough, it’s best to ease on the accelerator and be prepared for the wind buffeting.

Another wind-related factor that you need to be careful of is when going through high-wind areas. The same rules apply; steer clear from gust as much as possible. Or, ease on the accelerator if you can’t avoid it.

If ever the vehicle does sway, then you should slow down. After the wind buffeting effect, apply your electric brake override and give the vehicle some throttle. This should allow your car and the trailer to straighten out.

Wrapping It All Up

If you are new to driving with a trailer, it’s …

Generator Servicing and Maintenance

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As camping becomes a popular activity around the world, camping equipment includes generators have also developed and many camper want a generator servicing. While camping or as it is sometimes called, caravanning is great fun and relaxing, it is also a dangerous game when people are not aware of the dangers.

As the days become longer and the nights shorter, you can get used to sleeping outside in the open with your camping equipment. But that is when problems with the camping equipment, especially generators, can begin to appear.

It is also important to note that when you are camping, the weather does not necessarily stay dry all day. The wind, rain, sleet, snow, or ice can also damage your camping equipment and can even cause the generator to be frozen. This means that even when you have the weather to your liking, it is wise to take it for a generator servicing and maintenance visit.

For most campers, portable generators are the most popular choice. However, as with anything, portable generators do have their disadvantages and some of these disadvantages can be fatal to your camping experience. As such, it is important that the camping equipment you choose is high in quality and has a very good service history.

Camping equipment is generally priced by the hour. And the longer the time you have been using your equipment, the more you will pay for the equipment. For that reason, it is important to keep your equipment and generator at a reasonable price. If you are in the market for an all-in-one camping unit, check out the prices online to see what some of the top-camping-equipment companies charge and what some of the top-camping-equipment companies offer for a camping unit of your own.

Generator servicing and maintenance visit should be done on a regular basis, and this should be scheduled as soon as you start to notice problems with your camping equipment. It is important to note that some generators will become obsolete after a few years of use, so it is important to have them serviced and maintained to ensure that you do not have to purchase a new one.

If you have been camping regularly, you should have the generator serviced and maintained before you leave for the camping season, and this should be scheduled as soon as you set off on your next camping trip. This will ensure that you have your camping equipment at its optimum level for the duration of your trip, and you will have the peace of mind that you have come to expect from camping gear.

It is important to note that if you are planning to use your caravan for more than one trip, you will require the service and maintenance of your generator, and camping equipment once you have returned home. This is because the servicing and maintenance are not only a matter of getting your caravan serviced but also a matter of ensuring that your caravan has the correct parts and the correct number of parts. As a result, it is best to have it serviced and maintained when you arrive home, before your next camping trip.

Many camping companies will offer you a range of generator servicing and maintenance services, depending on the type of generator that you have. However, a good camping company will always provide a consultation service when you first start your camping trip.

Camping is an experience that should be enjoyed, and the satisfaction of using the camping equipment should be a top priority. It is therefore important to ensure that your camping equipment is in tip-top condition and that you will have it serviced and maintained on a regular basis to ensure that it provides maximum performance for your camping trip.

Camping is an experience that you should plan properly and thoroughly. This will ensure that you have a truly memorable time and ensure that you have the camping equipment that you need for the duration of your camping trip.
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Rust Proofing Brisbane

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Rust proofing Brisbane is the science of restoring and maintaining metal surfaces. Rust can stain, rust creates holes and cracks in the surface and it affects its life span. Iron rust is a problem which becomes more difficult to remove and more expensive to repair or replace, leaving you with a lot of labour costs as well. A rust-proofing process is necessary to avoid such problems and maintain a high standard of metal finishing.

It is essential to remove rust from surfaces once it has already begun to develop on them. This is because the rust is in fact hardening. It begins as a white, thin layer over a period of time, forming a crust. Before this crust can be removed, it needs to be strengthened to help it resist further corrosion.

Rust is formed when water and minerals (iron) interact with metals that are not dissimilar in composition. The iron and the water, which are attracted to the surface, cause it to split into two parts, one part with free iron atoms, and the other with oxygen atoms. The oxidation causes the remaining elements to attack the iron, dissolving it.

On the whole, there are three main types of methods for rust proofing Brisbane – mechanical, chemical and electronic. Each has its advantages and disadvantages and each has its effect on the final results. Some crusts are difficult to remove and some can only be prevented, but which one of these options is best for your house?

Mechanical rust removal is a process which involves the use of heavy equipment. This includes the use of sandblasters, sanding machines and even grinding or drilling machines. Sandblasters emit fumes that are harmful to humans and they can also damage the building. In a similar vein, sandblasters create large holes which are immediately filled with water. If the holes are left unrepaired for too long, they will become permanent and must be repaired.

Chemical rust proofing Brisbane involves the use of chemicals which, when applied on the surface, react with the naturally occurring rust and destroy it. The common acid used for the purpose is rust inhibitor which is available from most hardware stores. It has the ability to work within just a few hours.

Electronic rust protection is the best form of rust proofing Brisbane, which uses modern technology to guarantee success. While it is effective on all types of rusts, especially the ways of corrosion of a metal surface can be very time consuming and cost a fortune. It is worth remembering that these treatments should only be undertaken when the building has been properly prepared for it.

Acidic rust reducing and rust inhibiting primer are also commonly used in Brisbane. They consist of baking powder, hydrogen peroxide and a borate salt. They are effective at removing and preventing rust, but their cost is enormous and must be justified for its safety.

There are also substances that can be used for rust proofing, Brisbane. These include bleach, tree oil, zinc oxide and sodium hydroxide. In addition, acids such as lemon juice, phosphoric acid and sulphuric acid are also used. However, the corrosiveness of these acids is of concern and should be used in the presence of adequate shielding from water.

The last option is the application of protective coatings. This method is commonly used in Brisbane and is usually costly but can provide the long-term durability. It is important to find out the quality of the coating before using it. Some of the options include galvanized steel, galvanized zinc, flat-rolled galvanized steel, epoxy coatings.

You should remember that you do not have to buy expensive rust proofing products for the job to be done well. Instead, it is best to buy a range of products which will suit the requirements and level of restoration.

After all, your property is worth protecting from rust and in order to keep it safe, you should take …

Travel Checklist

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Don’t leave home without it! Travelling in another country is an exhilarating experience. To make sure you get the most out of your holiday here are a few items which may come in handy while you are abroad.

TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

Passport Copies
Itinerary
Credit Card Details
Spare ID Photos
Travel Insurance Details
Phone Contact Details

LUGGAGE

Roller Bag
In Flight Bag
Travel Pack
Day Pack
Packing Cells
Luggage Locks
Luggage Tags
Compression Bags

CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR

Thermal Underwear
Good Quality Socks
Waterproof/Breathable Jacket
Icebreaker Odour Resistant Merino Wool Clothing
Quick Dry Travel Shirts
Quick Dry Zip Off Travel Trousers
Hiking/Walking Boots/Sandals
Hat
Gloves
Beanie
Flight Socks

ACCESSORIES

Money Belt
Waist Wallet
Passport Pouch
Pacsafe Secure Handbag/Shoulder Bag
Travel Towel
Electrical Adaptor Plugs
Travel Iron
Alarm Clock

Travel Hair Dryer

Health Stuff
Insect Repellent
Micropur Water Purification Tabs
Steripen
First Aid Kit

SLEEPING STUFF

Compact Sleeping Bag
Cotton or silk Liner
Pillow/Head rest
Eye Mask
Ear Plugs
Self-Inflating Mat

READING

Lonely Planet City Guide
Overseas City Maps
Overseas Country Maps

LAUNDRY

Travel Wash
Pegless Clothesline
Inflatable Hangers
Toilet Seat Covers…

Caravan Camping Network, Camping hiking travel adventure specialists

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Welcome To Caravan Camping Network – The Outdoor Specialists.

We are a trekking, hiking, camping, & adventure store right in the heart of Toowoomba, Queensland. We are specialists in our field and have over 33 years experience in camping, outdoor retailing and custom made trailers. We stock one of the largest comprehensive ranges in a camping store available from adventure travelling, hiking equipment, right down to family camping. Our experienced staff are all outdoor enthusiasts who use the products we sell and have extensive product knowledge.

In our shop you will find world renowned brands such as One Planet, Mont, Columbia Sportswear, Skins Sport, Osprey, Tatonka, Scarpa, Berghaus, Black Diamond, Icebreaker as well as many others.

To order from our website: contact us at admin@www.caravancampingnetwork.com.au or phone us on (07) 46 111111with your location and we will organise a competitive freight quote to your destination. We accept Visa and Mastercard, as well as Diners and Amex*. *Diners and Amex have a 5% surcharge for all orders. You can also contact us via our contact page in the links on the left side of the page. We are open 9-5 weekdays and 9-3 on Saturday, as well as thursday night trading.

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Travel Tips

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Choose the lightest of everything to pack. This goes for your clothing, bag, toilet accessories, shoes, electrical goods and sleeping gear. The lighter your total package the lighter it is on your back or the end of your arm.
Pack your bag with all the heavier items towards the middle, soft items on the bottom and light things at the top. If you are carrying your bag on your back this will be particularly beneficial as the load will be evenly and comfortably distributed.

Try to minimise the risk of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) on long flights. DO NOT sit still or cross your legs for long periods. DO regularly exercise your feet and legs. Flight socks, Push Cush, Back and Neck pillows, Motion Sickness bands, Sleeping mask, ear plugs and leg works pillow are great for long flights.

Many hotels and hostels do not even provide basic laundry facilities. In many instances a plug is not provided for basin or bath. A universal plug, inflatable coat hangers, pegless clothesline and travel wash are a great idea to take travelling.

Good quality socks go the distance. They may cost a little more, but they certainly make a difference. They also manage moisture better by wicking it away from your feet and prevent blisters.

A poncho will just shelter your bag whereas a pack liner will ensure that rain and moisture definitely will not seep through to your belongings. If you use both, your bag will not absorb/soak up the rain and become heavier.

Nalgene jars and bottles are leak proof and very tough. They are great for minimising the space used by products like coffee, soaps, detergents etc. This means you only take the amount you need.

Keep your valuables (passport, tickets, credit cards etc.) close to your body and concealed. Carry only enough cash in a wallet or handbag as you are likely to use in 1-2 days. Remember to keep a list of all your credit card details, passport number, flight details and driver licence number- keep this list in a secure online email or with a friend at home.

A spare lock is a great idea when travelling. Keep one on your daypack (to lock the pack) and an extra inside. This way you will always have one for lockers at train stations, tourist attractions or if you’re main lock is cut or lost.

On luggage with many compartments, you could use traditional travel locks (or TSA locks if going to USA) on the main compartments and Tamper Tell seals on the remaining compartments.

By the time you’ve acquired all your gear you’ll have quite a lot. Stuff sacks, compression sacks and pack cubes are great for organising gear in your bag. Sacks come in a wide range of colours. This means you can use colour coding so you’ll know what is in which sack. Shoe bags are great for taking an extra pair of shoes and keeping them separate from the rest of your packable gear.

In most countries, a kettle is not provided in your hotel room (UK,Australia & New Zealand usually do provide kettles). A compact travel jug or water boiler is a convenient and economical alternative.

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