HIGH FIVE!
What tent peg is used for which job? How do you secure your tent properly? What should you consider when choosing your wild camp? Here are the answers.
You’ve just bought your first caravan and you’re ready to hitch it to your vehicle and hit the road. Your first towing experience can be intimidating, especially as you don’t know exactly what to expect.
The good news is that the more you tow and the more confidence you gain, the better you get at it. It is simply one of those things in life you just have to do for the first time.
We asked our Facebook friends to share the wisdom they’ve gained after years of towing, and everyone seems to agree that rookies will cope a lot better if they apply these five tips.
Remember you’re on holiday. Take it easy and you’ll get there safely.
– Leroy Venter
Control the sway
The best way to stop your caravan from swaying, or snaking, when towing is to pack it correctly and make sure you’ve got the weight distribution right. The secret of packing a caravan is to remember that weight in the nose is stability weight and weight in the tail is swaying weight. Pack too much into the back and you’re going to get a pendulum effect. Load heavier items from the axle forward, keeping your nose weight to around 70 kg.
The closer you get to the 100 kg limit, the better.
Remember to remember
The most important element to remember is that you have to always be aware of your caravan when towing. Check your mirrors constantly – by the way, you only need towing mirrors if you can’t see past the caravan using your car’s mirrors. In most cases, this only applies to road caravans, as most off-road trailers are narrower than your car.
Furthermore, you simply must stay in your lane. Yes,
Modern vehicles are equipped with anti-sway technology, but if you’re using an older vehicle, you can buy a stabiliser.
And if your caravan starts to sway badly, pulling your car around? Reduce speed and try to get it under control. What you shouldn’t do is to gear down, step on the accelerator or brake hard, as this exacerbates the matter.
“Pay attention to weight distribution – not only in your caravan, but also your towing vehicle. Make sure everything is secure so it can’t shift around in transit.” – Johan Nel take the turns a little wider, but there is no need to turn so widely that you end up in the other lane. Also, bear in mind the length of your tow combination when overtaking another vehicle.
“Pay attention to your caravan while driving. Note how your towing vehicle behaves around bends, when braking and going up- and downhill. First drive on tar, and be even more alert when towing on a dirt road.”
– Fanie Gerber
If you think you can simply jog into a wholesaler, grab the first tent you fancy and join experienced campers on equal footing, you may be in for a rude awakening. We’ve bent our fair share of tent pegs over the years and so we emptied out our tent peg bag to see if we had the correct equipment.
We reflect on the hard lessons we’ve learnt about where not to pitch a tent, and we share wisdom acquired from seasoned campers on how best to pitch your home away from home.