Fannying about ...
 

We've just acquired a folding caravan.
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We've decided to call it Fanny.


Sent by thought transference

Look cozy.

That's cool. I want to see it folded up. And then a time lapse of setting it up.

I guess that sounds demanding. Sorry.

Fannying about ...
 

Here's a video: http://youtu.be/BuK47--luPY
It looks just like something out of Tom and Jerry!
(The video is not the one we bought, but a similar model).

Sent by thought transference edited to add a better video.

That's really cool. Looks like fun!

We're looking forward to having some fun. Ours when folded looks like this:
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sent by thought transference

In my next life, I want to be limey. A fabulous person...talented and smart and caring and funny, who has a great husband and they seem to really enjoy each other's company and do fun things like buy a foldy camper to go have fun adventures with each other.

Yep, I want to be limey. :)

Fannying about ...
 

Thanks, infi. :blush:
Like everyone I just publicise the good, fun bits. I still have to do my tax return like everyone else :/


Sent by thought transference

Well, you can't come off as such a good person without there being some truth to it.

OK, I'm done fawning over your fannying. :lol:

That's awesome. When I was a kid, my neighbors across the street had one that was similar, except while it had a hard roof, it had canvas upper walls, and a bed on each end that folded out. I though it was the coolest thing ever.

Theirs was like this.
Attachment 57554


Yours is nicer. Looks like it won't get moldy in the rain like the canvas ones would.

What you describe is either a trailer tent, or a folding camper (the subtleties of these two escape me). The appeal of our Fanny is that she really is a solid, stable, sturdy little caravan!



Sent by thought transference

Welcome to our little caravan club! I have a larger one, okay, mine is 37 feet long, but yours sets up faster and is cooler!

If I may, be careful of your towing speed. If you feel it 'wagging' your vehicle, do NOT hit the brakes!! That will cause a crash. Instead, let off the accelerator and let it slow down on it's own.

That is a common cause of crashes because your first instinct is the worst thing you can do. I see many of these small popups crashed because of just that.

I am also a font of camper wisdom, so feel free to ask me anything. If you stay at a campground, you will enter a close-knit community of very friendly people, many of whom are willing to help you out if you need help.

Love the soundtrack.



Oh, awesome camper too!

Will you be travelling far with it?

Also like glatt, some of my most enjoyable and formative camping experiences took place on trips with a canvas sided popup camper trailer, a Coleman I believe.

Thanks everyone! The main purpose is music camps. We go to a ten-day camp every summer and a few weekends. Also a portable bedroom if going to parties in other villages on our island home. Also to visit lovely campsites elsewhere in Scotland.

sent by thought transference

I also spent a fair amount of childhood camping in a foldout canvas-sided camper. After having Nashville Tent & Awning re-canvas it, twice, it now looks like this:

Attachment 57558

And is still quite handy. That little camper, and the utility trailer it turned into, have been all over this country.

I want one of these: http://www.tab-rv.com/

I have a birthday coming up in a couple months, so if y'all want to chip in on a Yuengling-themed one... :D

http://www.golittleguy.com/promo

Here is a tour of my model, save that I do not have the sliding glass doors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fh9FS3tktQ

Smart. Good times.

First question for Pam:
levelling the trailer. I read that first you level it left/right using ramps if necessary and then front/back using the jockey wheel, and you can either do it by eye or spirit level.
I do understand this but is the left/right levelling as fiddly as it seems (lots of tiny adjustments up/down a ramp placed under the lower wheel)? Is it sufficient to do it by eye, I'd have thought a spirit level would be awfy sensitive?

Not usurp your question to Pam, but, by eye will do. Does your's have the leveling jacks on the rear of the camper? If so, you can use those to level left to right, as well as front to rear.

Ideally, of course, you'll be parking on a relatively level spot to begin with.;)

Just make sure you sleep with your head on the uphill side.

Yes. Downhill head or not level side-to-side sucks.

We've just got wee corner steadies that I understand should not be used for levelling, just to stop our fanny from rocking about too much ;)

Limey, you are quite right. The jacks are to steady the trailer, not to bear much weight. You have the levelling procedure right also. Left to right first, then front to back. I use a four foot level for mine, but my trailer is much longer than yours. In your case, by eye will likely do, but if you find the drains not working properly, adjust as needed.

Ramps are probably not needed unless you are parked on a hillock.

Oh, almost forgot. you must block your wheels first! Otherwise the trailer might well roll away on you. I use plastic wheel chocks but a large brick or even a rock will do. Put something hard and flat, such as a paving block under the landing gear (trolley wheel) if not on a paved surface.

Youtube should have many helpful videos on the subject of camping. I recommend it highly.

If this van's a rockin', don't come a-knockin'!

Do you like Dags?

Not sure what you mean, LJ?
Drains, Pamela? I have one sink for all purposes and intend to fit a PortaPotty.

sent by thought transference

ever see Snatch?

So now we've got the inside the way we like it ...http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...d84494a7f7.jpg
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sent by thought transference

That looks so stinkin' cozy!

In another timeline we are both Limey, I promise. I've met her - she's even more than you see on here.

I love fanny. There, I am proud to say it (meaning slightly different in the UK btw) Good on you Limes. Does this mean I don't have to take over your whole downstairs when I come to visit? I glory in it, but it's unfair to you & Mr Limey after all. But then I'd miss the catskins...

Oh, not fanny related, but this from Mum. Hope you take it the way it was meant.

I'm sorry she threw away a work of art that you worked on. But as you can see, it was for cathartic reasons.

BTW - if you & Mr L & fanny want to come to her 70th there is an invite dangling. I declined on your behalf without thinking, simply because of distance. But Mr Carruthers (who Mum adores and Dad admires when he remembers who he is - he is currently under the impression he's a serving officer in the RAF) is unable to be my +1. And I thought I'd have seen you by then anyway.

Very cool!

I thought you were just happy to see us.

:jig:

It's just the way I was standing...

Make your own!

Sundae - I quite understand why your mum threw the hat away, please not to worry on that score. It was appreciated and used when it was needed, and that's the most important thing. Thank your mum for the invite to her shindy but we will say no. Even though we can bring our own accommodation - it would be a three-nights-away-from-home jaunt and there is work and life and other stuff we have to be getting on with, I'm afraid.
You are the second of our putative visitors to ask if this is the new guest accommodation - we've not slept in her ourselves yet - the ah, plumbing arrangements, are not yet finalised. It is no hardship at all for us if you sleep in the big room downstairs, the cats will have easier access to you and the, ah, facilities are more sophisticated. Also we have another lounge/sitting room upstairs, as you know.

Spexx - the route to my route to Fanny started with teardrops because they are so cute to look at. But I don't fancy standing outside to cook, or indeed going outside to be able to stand up. The British (Scottish expecially) weather isn't reliably pleasant enough. But small and easily towed by a not-very-big-car were the ideas which I took from teardrop trailers as the starting point of my extensive internet research.

When Limey said "easily pulled by a small car", it reminded me of this photo. This is the camper that is now the flat-bed utility trailer, intact, and, in use, as you can see.

Attachment 57619

We pulled that trailer from south-central Kentucky to Denver with that Ford Tempo (4 cylinder/4 speed) in the pic. Went across the Rockies a couple times, too.

That car was a complete and total turd, in appearance, and performance. But it towed that camper admirably enough.

That's what makes memories.

I think that's Iron Springs Campground in Colorado. In/near the Uncompahgre Nat'l Forest.

Looks familiar. I've stayed in a few places that looked like that.

So it's a whole voyage of discovery and we've not even gone anywhere yet.
Personal background: I drove a car and trailer once, a long while ago: other than that I have no experience. As a family we did some narrowboat holidays (in the early days of the genre): other than than I have no caravanning-like experience. I am reasonably practical, Mr L is not a mechanic by any stretch of the definition.

I have asked a couple of neighbours to check out one or two things for me. The farmer's Giant son from up the road took at look at Fanny's, er, fanny (chassis, underparts, undercarriage) and pronounced it pretty sound. He started to talk about grease nipples and in the process inadvertently explained to me how the braking system works (pressure on the towing coupling brings the trailer brakes into play - who knew!??!!). He has also kindly removed the spare wheel cage from under Fanny (we'll take the wheel with us, but roads and ferry ramps are so corrugated here that an extra low-clearance item like that is just more trouble than it's worth).

The fridge is three-way but I was wondering how you could tell if you'd lit the pilot for gas operation - YouTube was the answer here.

Still waiting for my electrician mate to nip up, but here's the question I want to ask: When on battery power we have only ONE light that works and no electric in any of the five (!) sockets. When on mains hook-up we have all three internal lights working, and power in all five sockets (and the fridge if we want). SO ... I wonder, if we use LED bulbs in all the internal lights, could it be wired so that all three lights would work from the battery as well as mains/hook-up? And so that we have power in at least (maybe just only) one of the sockets? Or would that be such a drain on the battery (I know it depends what we put in the socket, but think gadget recharging and you won't be far wrong. We have a wee gas cooker for kettle/hot water bottles/cooking).

Awaiting teh Cellar advice with interest.

I bet those other lights that work off mains power are on different circuits. Changing the bulbs to LED wouldn't do anything for you.

Not as such, no. But rewiring then to work off the batteryand then changing the bulbs to LED would mean they'd drain the battery less .... no?

sent by thought transference

Limey, the short answer to your question is yes.

The long answer is, well, long. And technical. Your electrician mate can explain more fully. In essence, you have an AC/DC inverter in your power supply. It is inefficient and will drain your battery even if nothing is plugged in. But you can do what you are planning.

My advice to you is to buy a small (100-150 watt) car inverter and plug it into your 12vdc outlet. You should have one someplace. Then unplug it after use.

In my case, I replaced the two deep cycle batteries I had with four heavy duty truck deep cycle batteries to give me more useful power and will be adding a solar charger to the roof to keep them topped up. I will replace the OEM inverter with a more efficient aftermarket one at that time.

Manufacturers use the cheapest stuff they can find to save weight and reduce costs. This increases their profit but at the cost of end user perceived quality. I have also replaced all the plumbing with quality fixtures after a bad winter freeze ruptured the plastic faucets.

That's true. LEDs use a lot less power than other light fixtures. I'm a big fan of the low voltage automotive LEDs you can get for a couple bucks from China. Like these:

Although these are designed to replace dome light bulbs in trunks, etc., and might seem a little harsh and bright in living quarters.

I like harsh and bright. My old eyes cannot see in the soft dim light.

I have rather cheekily used Mod's privilege to move my Fanny to where she feels more appropriate.
Fanny's first outing
Our attempts to get away with Fanny for her first outing, fixed for today, look like this:
Most of September - wait for new car to be sourced ...
Sunday - abandon idea of waiting for new car, and decide to get towbar fitted to existing car
Monday - ask garage to source towbar, number plate
Tuesday - take car to garage for towbar fitting, car makes awful rattling sound, rear shock absorber replacement needed, garage orders that, leave car at garage, take bus home (10 miles)
Wednesday - get lift to garage, towbar fitted, shock absorber due in lunchtime, remind garage about numberplate, numberplate ordered, return home to take husband to work, he's damaged his eye so take him to hospital instead, take car back to garage, shock absorber fitted, number plate delivered, no news from husband in hospital, ring hospital to be told he went home hours ago, go home find sheepish husband, look at trailer ball-hitch and find that the handle is jammed vertical so I can't actually hitch the car to it anyway, ring neighbour who understands these things - they'll send their boy round ... Mr Limey and I both bark our shins on the towbar at the back of the car in the dark after band practice.
Thursday morning, take Mr Limey to work, come home and fold up my Fanny. Remember to arrange insurance. Ring garage and invite owner to come on holiday with us, obtain reassurance that the hitchlock isn't stuck and will simply snap down once I've attached Fanny. In fact I managed to use the term "ball-lock" in the conversation! Attempt to turn folded Fanny round by hand so that I can try to hitch up facing east without much success, decide to hitch up facing the wrong direction and .... SUCCESS. We are hitched, but car nose is sticking halfway across the road pointing west and I want to go east. Turn car and Fanny, first attempt at a little reversing manoeuvre. Once you are beyond a certain degree of acute angle between car and trailer it makes no difference what you do with the steering wheel. Who knew?! Get rig turned and take it half-a-mile up the road to a lay by (uh, pocket, you guys call'em!). Remember number plate is in house, fetch it and attach it to rear of trailer. Think about unhitching car to fetch my luggage from the house but decide that I'm not unhitching until we get to a caravan site this evening. Remember spare wheel is in shed, carry it half-mile up the road to put in car boot. Haul/carry luggage half-mile up road and put it in car. Set off for ferry with two hours to spare.
Get brave and decide to do a small detour and stop off to collect towing mirrors en route. Fit'em, decide they're more confusing than helpful. (All advice gratefully received). Get checked in for ferry an hour earlier than necessary. Fetch essential liquid refreshment supplies from supermarket. Am now waiting for Mr Limey to arrive off later ferry (he couldn't get off work earlier, and I could get the rig booked on a later ferry.


Sent by thought transference

Half a mile isn't that far away until you have to walk back and forth a couple of times carrying luggage and spare wheels.

Good luck and safe travels!

If you have trouble backing up, put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel instead of the top.

By the way, Airstream has a brand new model fanny...


for only $35,000 USD.:rolleyes:

$35k buys an awful lot of hotel rooms...

Aye matey we could be living at the Marriott for a year, maybe more. Besides I like their bars.

tarheel

post a pic of your mirrors and I will be very helpful.

An adventure is someone having a hard time of it, far away from you.

Thanks for the offer Pam. I will when I get home.

Sent by thought transference

So last night we were at Culzean Castle campsite, not far from home. I thought it sensible to have just a short run and set Fanny up while it was still light. No major operational problems to report.
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Lantern courtesy of teh Cellar Secret Santa.
Well ... that is that we forgot matches to light the stove for COFFEE in the morning, but managed to borrow some.
And then this morning we folded Fanny and set off to the east coast. A two and a bit hour drive. Another campsite. A slightly smoother erecting procedure.
And we've bought three boxes is matches...

Sent by thought transference

Where are the pics of the campsite? Nice bed though.


tarheel

Campsite was chosen for its nearness to an event we're attending this weekend.
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Sent by thought transference

Where is the pool? The clubhouse with the slightly "blue" comedian? The over-priced chips?
Limey, I'm sorry to say this is not the camping of my youth!

Glad you broke your fanny's virginity well though. Despite some initial issues.
It's something I wish my parents had done when they had time and health, but to be fair, they didn't have to visit anywhere out of the way and they had Tesco vouchers. So they did city-breaks in the UK. Like me, Mum loves having someone else do the cleaning and the washing up!

Mum wants me to take a Lochs and Glens holiday with her. She's been twice with Dads - not that he knows that. I'd rather have her come to see you & Mr Limey. She'd love Arran. I bet we can do Blackwaterfoot & travel at far less £.