Caravan/4x4 Gizmo's

Hi Kime

We have been traveling around / across, up and down Aussie for 30 yrs mostly Off Road and still not expert at it, Ha, Ha.

These are a few of our thoughts......

We have always subscribed to the K.I.S.S principal ( Keep It Simple Simon )
and it has held us in good stead no major problems to date. ( Shouldn't have said that !! )

If you are traveling Off Road especially try and allow as much time as you can don't rush, overload Van/vehicle allow time to stop and smell the roses.
Nearly in all cases we have helped people or seen broken down it is usually attributed to Too much speed, Too Heavy, tyres and vehicle fail.

What to take - Now that's the Million dollar question ??
If you can't find more than one use for the item chances are you don't need it.
It's very easy to fall into the trap "Oh I might need this and that " !!!!!!!

Square plastic containers pack lot better, sturdy pots, utilities stand up better to travel. Malimine plates, cups we find great.
Containers with good locking seal/lids travel far better.

What you have at home you don't need out on the track.
The last thing you need at the end of a trying day is to spend ages setting up camp. We use to have a camper trailer with all the bells and whistles Awning and all the walls etc etc we found 90% of the time we only used the awning.
A couple of cheap tarps to tie up if needed for protection from the wind /weather again light stuff.

LED lighting is fantastic saves the poor battery ( the hardest working piece of kit you will have ) We have changed all our lighting to LED.

A great idea I pinched by looking around caravan parks Hose clamp on tent/awning poles leave attached to pole then loosen and adjust up to hold the pole in it's position great when windy stops pole slowly collapsing.

For portable water we use a 20/10 ltr plastic container with a caravan type water hand pump attached through the plastic lid of the container saves having to lift container or put up with those useless plastic taps they come with.

Food - No need to take excessive amounts there are Coles/Woolly's every where these days we also try to support the locals were ever we go amazing what you can find out or be pointed in the right direction best fishing spot etc if you take time to get to know a local and spend a little bit of money in there town. Depending how off the beaten track you intend to stray always carry enough extra food /water for those few extras days you may have a problem .

UHF radio is useful for communicating on the road and emergency.

When you think you have it right do a shake down trip before you leave for the big one to get a feel for what you might need.
Every trip is different and there are things you need one trip and not another.

These are some of our thoughts hope they help, happy to answer any other queries you may have.

Have a great trip

Cheers
Barry.

Hi Kime,

Akk our lighting is LED as this allows the batteries to last longer.
I also have an 80 watt solar panel which keeps the battery topped up all the time and I do not have to worry about batteries (2 X 100Amps) going flat

I found that I could not charge my camera batteries when away from 240V power, which is most of the time these days when on the road.
So I purchased from ebay a couple of spare batteries and a 12 volt charger for both the video camera and the still camera. Now I never worry about not having power to take a video or photo. All plug into a cig socket.

I also purchased a 12 volt shaver which plugs into a cig socket as well. Now, except for Microwave and Airconditioner, I do not need 240V power at all.

In fact when I pull into a caravan park I am wasting my time hooking on to their power. The solar panel is that good.

I also have a 12 volt Lap Top power supply which plugs into the cig socket as well.

I have installed a couple of extra cig sockets for Laptop and shaver.

PS. I do not even worry about a genny even though I have one I leave it at home now.

Cheers, Bruce.