New to forum

Hi Lynne and I (Chris) bought a Dandy last August and had a few days away before  Autumn.  We have struggled with putting it up and have practiced outside the house and now feel a bit more confident. Going to Oxfordshire on Tues and then Brighton on Thurs. Weather forecast ,as is our luck, is poo ! Well we will be well versed after 6 nights . We are approaching our 70s and intend using the camper until we can't physically do it any more . Wish us luck!!

We had a Dandy for about 10 years from 1977 and enjoyed it so we have re-visited this type of camping ..  C U later Chris

Hi and welcome to the forum. Nice to hear you're still giving it a go as you approach later life. I'm 65 and am convinced that when you stop doing something you soon lose the ability to do it.

I learned to sail a dinghy when I was 60 and still enjoy it. A few aches and pains but its worth it.

Which model have you got?

It's a Dart. We got it from Wrightington last August. Maybe we should have waited until winter and looked online during the off season for a bargain but Lynne liked it so......We will be erecting the awning , tomorrow, for only the second time and the forecast is for wind!! I am going to insure it today any advice??

When you do the awning erect the frame first obviously. But roll the awning on the ground from the dandy towards the front. The take the sausage and hook it over the short stub poles at the front and put in the front guy before unrolling. That will keep it in place. Then unroll to the next guy and put that in then the next. That will stop it sliding or being blown all over the place.

When taking down, fold it over from the dandy with the guys in place. Then remove the guys nearest the dandy and fold to the next guy and so on. It will then be nicely folded to go in the bag and ready for when you next use it.

There are no guy ropes on this awning . It is a modified sun canopy and when up is great . It zips together and will just take a bit of getting used to. The bottoms of the walls have rubber peg connectors and when secured well are good. The bottoms of the walls have a one  foot flap of material which lives inside the awning into which I have inserted a brass eyelet every foot or so. This is for extra security and to stop our terrier from escaping under it !!!! The ground sheet will live on top of this . Past experience has proved that  pot washing within the main tent is useless so we have bought a wash basin and stand. I am grateful for the tip re rolling up the roof. we did have big probs re getting it up and in place before press studding it onto the top bars. We have also colour coded the frame to to help with it's erection. Very grateful for your help  cheers  Chris