Dandy Trailer tent/Folding camper tips

we all have little things we do to make our camping trips better or things we recycle from home for a sometimes altogether different purpose when dandying
for example helen decants her drink into smaller plastic bottles for transport
kevin used shower curtains to make a privacy area in his awning
i never buy bin bags for camping and save all the charity bags that get posted through my door on an almost daily basis
i had an old set of cork backed placemats and coasters that i recovered to match my dandy in dark blue plastic as i couldnt find any suitable to match
i also saved a pringles tube and lid which i have covered in the same blue plastic and store the cutlery in it so it doesnt clash about in dandy
share your hints and tips with others we may come up with some great ideas

i take a small bottle of fabric softener that i use in the flush for the porta potti

an idea suggested by someone else and it works a treat as well as being far cheaper than buying the proper stuff

We always carry a pack of assorted cable tie's and they came in handy when one of my daughters awning U shaped brackets came loose from the awning pole, we simply put a couple of cable tie's on it as a temporary repair.
You can also just make loops to hang stuff from with them.

Gardening knee pads for when pegging the awning down,most of our stuff in a plastic storage box but this goes into a empty one so we have two to use on site but only need the space to take one.

We have an extra groundsheet made of pvc around the size of the trailer cover, it sits just under the dandy cover and comes in handy if you have to store your trailer cover under the Dandy bed, we put this down first and it stops your cover and anything else you have to put under the bed getting wet from the grass so its all nice and dry and mud free ready to go back on when you pack away. You can also put it on the floor when folding your dandy so your roof stays clean too.

My tip of the day would be.

Buy some mattress protectors from the £1 shop (£1.20 it was in Tenby) and when packing away cover your beds with these.

If it is teaming down when you are putting your dandy bat wings down (or putting them up) you don't have to worry about the rain getting on your mattresses as they are all covered, i even put them on the dining area seats as with ours being a high dandy the dining area seats are exposed once the beds are lifted over, until you get the top cover on.

I have done this for many years as when we go away just as we get there it always seems to start raining.

It also helped when we had a moment of madness lifted the bed first (god knows why) and the roof fell in covered in rain water, we just opened the dandy up when we got home and i wiped round the wood and the seats were fine as they were covered, had they not been covered they would of got soaked.

We often have moments of madness so prevention is better than cure.

We keep the toilet rolls in one of those small cool boxes, it stops them getting wet or squashed and it is always easy to find.

We also keep our cultery in an old box with a mirror in the lid, it's handy because it's got a mirror, also it doesn't get broken.

The cups that kids use for school, you know the plastic ones with screw on lids ........ we always fill two one with coffee the other with sugar (or tea bags for tea drinkers) and have a tub of coffee mate in the top cupboard of the Dandy at all times, we once arrived at a site in the middle of no-where late on and were gagging for a brew the following morning.

We do/did exactly the same with the camper, but the coffee mate went rock hard and we had to hack out lumps for the drinks, it tasted a bit strange and powdery also.

We now keep a bottle of long life milk in the cupboard instead.

Also we have a spare gas lighter or matches as well, it's very tricky to light the hob from the fridge pilot light.

We once had that with the sugar and had to hack at it so maybe we would be best to get a small carton of long life and some sweeteners instead for emergency purposes.

Sweetners send me hyper, then drop me to the floor. Sugar lumps is the way to go.

Don't forget enough cups, But a plastic jug works well for an extra.

We save the plastic take away cartons that our local curry house uses. They have snap on lids and are great for stacking in the fridge/coolbox with food inside as it can be a bit awkward with no shelf inside. Also handy for storing stuff and stacking in your Dandy cupboards while away and make more of the space you have. They are also okay to put in a microwave with the lid pulled off at one end to let steam out:D

Cazz

Saw your comment about trying to light the hob from the fridge pilot light.
If your stuck in future may I suggest. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Eighth comment down covers recommended VW gas lighting options.

Kevin.

We also save elastic bands and the little wire tie's that you get from inside boxes when you purchase something new ie:- kids toys or electrical items held in place in the boxes. The bands come in handy when using multiple windbreaks as we use them to hold two joining poles together to stop the dog getting out and the strong wire tie's come in handy for all sorts even just tidying up the cables on any electrical items we are using in the dandy. You can store them all in one of the cartons saved from the takeaway shop along with other useful things like tenacious tape.

Tow Itch wrote: Cazz

Saw your comment about trying to light the hob from the fridge pilot light.
If your stuck in future may I suggest. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Eighth comment down covers recommended VW gas lighting options.

Kevin.

Very clever, buts mines a diesel. We've only done it once, which was June this year, we've been camping for ten years now. But the camper was literally a shell 2 weeks before.

A roll of food bags is always handy.

Welly's ....... always take welly's

Bumping this thread

Helen wrote:Welly's ....... always take welly's

Bumping this thread

Judging by your last years camping may i suggest you add,wet suit,snorkel and flippers

Another good tip ..... if there is a severe weather warning at amber level anticipated to go to red

GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE FAST