scared of buying caravan - pros and cons, should I or shouldn't I?

[monkey]

I really enjoyed our 1st camping holiday with kids in rented mobile home. Returned full of desire for buying own caravan. Been lusting over caravans on internet all w/e. But still got reservations -

-mainly scared of towing. Not on moroway as such, but smaller roads & roadworks. Reassurances?

-Are they difficult to look after?

• are other costs (storage, insurance etc really high?

• which are the best makes? Does anyone know knaus or hobby or adria or tec?

• or would it be better to hire a static caravan every time?

mrs indicisive. Have been drooling over them. help me out.

are awnings really difficult to put up, clean, look after etc? on our campsite they seemed to spend 2 bloody days packing up. couldn't get my head round it.

would brand new be best or in caravans case, is 2nd hand as good as?

Curlew & Browny, we have been dithering over a Bongo for over a year now. Please can you start a thread about why Bongos are so fab to get me off my backside and Bongo hunting

Kittypickle... o.k. will start a thread in camping

dh rejected bongo-type thing, he not worried about towing. He thinks work involved in campervan similar to what's involved in caravan. Bloody hell.

back to tent or caravan.

Seriously in a tent, what do you do with everything???Do you just have bags of 'stuff' lying round everywhere?

Oh and another thing, be it tent or caravan, how do you have - erm- intimate moments without everybody hearing? Do you just have 2 weeks abstinence? or bring a tele and turn up the volume? or what?

In the tent we have a bag each and a shared laundry bag. The bags live at the foot of the beds and I'm pretty strict about keeping things tidy. The children love it - it's different to home! If we're staying in one place for long we have a little tent (£7.50 in Tescos to keep cooking stuff in. We also have a couple of plastic crates to gather up frisbees, balls and so on in the evening.

"Intimate moments" - I dimly remember having a couple of those in the dim and distant past......

ha ha.

pros of tent
much cheaper
no storage problems (ie storing tent when not in use)

cons
toilet!!!!!!
no storage/cupboards
need to bring more stuff, eg cooker, crockery, beds
rainy days being cramped
very rainy days leading to flooding
rainy day when due to go home - what are you supposed to do with soaking wet tent???
can see family growing out of it in few years & ending up having to buy a caravan anyway.

caravan
pros
more comfy
own toilet
more space
heating, so can go earlier/later in year
more privacy
better in wet weather days
no leaking

cons
bloody expensive
storage
maintenance
towing

sorry, it's helping to muse things over, esp with people in the know. cos I'm not in the know at all.

anyone got anything to add?

Folding camper:

Pros:

• can fit in your garage (check model and size of garage, however!) or store on the drive.
• easier to tow as it's lower (less wind drag, can see over the top) and lighter (can tow with a smaller car)
• takes 10 minutes to erect (well the conways at least) and is off the ground
• has dedicated beds (in some caravans you have to convert the seating into the bed area at night)
• some of the more luxurious models have toilet/sink
• has inbuilt hob/sink (and luxurious models have an oven!)
• electric points, gas heater etc.
• much cheaper than a caravan and more luxurious than a tent

Cons:

• not as luxurious as a caravan
• still got the upper part as canvas so still have to take care of this as you would with a tent
• will need insurance/check your driving license for it just as you would a caravan
• ideally need the space to put it up on your drive so you can dry it out when you get home if you packed away wet

To give you an idea, we have the cruiser (unfortunately, ours is 15 years old, not this nice sparkly new one! It's aged well though)

You can get a luxurious one with toilet/oven etc called the crusader but it's also bigger (and wouldn't fit in our garage )

Of course there's different makes and designs, I just know Conway best. Pennine is also a good make and very similar (as the Pennine group bought out Conway). Both those two makes seem to be built well and last a long while - a good market for second hand ones on Ebay with a fair number still going well at 15 years old.

finally made a decision - def. a tent not caravan

Now new decision -- which one. I'm torn between Outwell Sunvalley 8 & Outwell Hatford XXL. Anyone in a position to advise?

Message withdrawn

well told dh my decision & he then, after all that, informed me that he didn't want to get a caravan. Bloody idio. couldn't he have mentioned that sooner? Anyway, for those sensible to stay away from the tent pages, now having fun and games deciding on tent - chose outwell sun valley 8, then found in Switzerland it's double the price of in uk. But if I get it for half price in UK (£300) won't be able to return it if problems. Since learnt that been recently quite a few problems with outwell tent, but they 'seem to be resolved' and this is supposed to be a great tent. sigh. why can't it be easy?

If you're really concerned about Outwell ( I wuldn't be) and you like the XXL, there are lots of similat models available from Khyam,Campus, Gelert... most ranges seem to have that geodesic design now.

well it's finally done and dusted. thansk a milion guys. I ordered the sun valley 8 today, and now just have to wait 7 or 8 months till i can go into camping heaven.