I cannot help believing our youngsters are losing out on caravanning opportunities due to heavier caravans requiring bigger cars to tow them!

Lets here which members are under 30 years old!

*cough* 

Met a youngster at Game earlier today, he bought a 5 man tent,  we got to chatting about camping. He is 19 and said he wouldnt like to tow a van on these roads,  gets camping equipment on a monthly bases as his budget only allows him so much every month.

He still needs 3 more months then he will start camping with his younger boet. 

Man I wished I had the funds to help this youngster, his determination of doing things cash, is absolutely commendable.

Sal nie vergeet nie toe ek 30 was het ek 'n Sprite Musketeer gehad. Hom gehak agter die V8 Ford Granada, ma met die Beach Buggy, kinders nog jonk, nou gaan ons Struisbaai toe. Lekker ou dae.

Tot vandag nog help ek en ma nog altyd die jong klomp wat om ons kamp, gewoontlik in 'n tent en hulle dink mos nie veel aan kosmaak nie. Meeste van die tyd is dit 'n lig of twee wat kort.  Weet julle hoe geniet hulle dit as jy more oggend die vorige aand se braaivleis vir hulle warm maak en oor stuur.

Ons geniet die jong klomp met hulle idees.

Received a Camp Master catalogue with my quarterly Wild Magazine. Just for fun we calculated what it would cost to kit out 2 persons from scratch. The list started with a 7 foot trailer. Safari Dome Tent, stretchers, sleeping bags, chairs, table, cupboards, gazeebo with sides, wind screen, 45 litre fridge/freezer, pots, cutlery etc. The total came to approx. R35 000-00.

For young people starting out it just makes sense to follow the tent route.

How are they suppose to get started? . If we as parents dont help, i really feel for the kids of today.

HM wrote:

Received a Camp Master catalogue with my quarterly Wild Magazine. Just for fun we calculated what it would cost to kit out 2 persons from scratch. The list started with a 7 foot trailer. Safari Dome Tent, stretchers, sleeping bags, chairs, table, cupboards, gazeebo with sides, wind screen, 45 litre fridge/freezer, pots, cutlery etc. The total came to approx. R35 000-00.

For young people starting out it just makes sense to follow the tent route.

At least some are taking to camping

Bear in mind that Camping is a "lifestyle". Kids grow up and get married and the partners might not like it at all.

My oldest love camping but his wife dont. My daughter and son in law also love camping but they chose to buy a house first. (very good idea). The youngest is building his career.

All of them have their own tents, but they will only go camping when I hook up the Van. (Want dan betaal Pa mos)

None of their friends are into Camping, but lets face it. Camping is not Cheap! I could only buy my Van when the kids left home. (OK they did not want to leave so me and the wife left)

Dont worry, the KAMPGOGGA will bite them when they reach the age of 35, then the babies will be +/- 5 -10 years old.

Guys, just look at your comments - not one youngster has answered that he "caravans", whether lifestyle or not. I bought my first caravan at 28 and I was "sommer 'n bankklerk" (nothing special) - how many of the younger generation can do the same?

When I was a lot younger, they advertised you could tow a Sprite Sprint with a 1300 cc, Swift with a 1500 cc, Sport with a 1600 cc and a Super Sport with a 1800 cc. These small engines were mainly entry level cars youngsters could more easily afford.

Despite cars being generally more powerful, especially with turbo chargers, you cannot get new caravans that you can tow with those engine sizes anymore. Just have a look around at entry level cars and see what you can tow with them.

Durbs has raised another point why I believe we are losing caravanners ... EB licence.

In support of this, just visit a CCSA rally - the majority of caravans in attendance are LARGE with two elderly people. Nothing against the elderly - if I am not there yet, I am near! The point is young people are really scare and I would like to find a way to assist in growing the industry.

I think  that children started "not wanting to go camping" in the years that "technology" caught up on us???!!!!!

I have seen some prefer only long holiday, and not weekends, rather stay home wirh TV and smartphones???!!!! Ouch, Ok, most probably I deserved that!!!

Seriously, I don't want to take them down, but I have lived through it myself with two daughters, and there is also the issue of safety!!!, Yes, things have changed.

About 55 years ago, me, at 11, my one nephew, aged 13, and other nephew aged 17 went camping with one of those old "bell" army tents, and used to travel 15 miles by BICYCLE to river, to go fishing. Carefree days, we swopped barbel for chickens at nearby farmworkers, and sometimes camped for a week during school holidays.

Later my brother joined in, and between him and the older nephew they had a red Vespa scooter, and made the daily trip home to take the day's catch to be cleaned and curried!!!

Jislaaik, those were the days!!!, you could do that without any fear being attacked/robbed or anything like that. I think  things just changed in general, and children are now living in another world.

Of wat praat ek???

Frans, you have touched several points.

Safety, Roads, smart phones, TV etc etc. Mainly safety, yet there are some yongsters realising the value of nature, and we need to encourage them and others.

One expression I hate is when people say, "todays kids" man it not the kids bringing themselves up, it is more todays parents, they want robots, not kids.

I take my grandchildren camping every possible time i can.

I sit with my grandson and watch Nat Geo Wild (the only thing I watch on TV) he is 16 months old, and already gets excited when I say "kom ons gaan kyk leeus"

Not only parents are to blame, the pressure of both parents MUST work to make ends meet started when we were young.

I suspect I am one of, if not the youngest person active on the forum. I am 38, have been caravanning since my dad bought his brown Caravette 6 when I was 8. People we regularly caravan with are 36.

From the start I had jobs to do. I had to wind down the corner stays and peg down the groundsheet to start (dad did the heavy winding). As I got bigger I had more to do. By the time I was 12 the only thing I did'nt do was drive! Soon as I got my Learners I had to sit up front to learn the basics of towing, reversing etc. I have been towing since I was 18...initially top speed of 80 and the old man all over me like a rash!!!

Point is, I grew up with it and is basically 2nd nature. When I met my wife she was anti-camping, but I told her the only reason to dislike camping is if it's not done properly. She soon realised that it was a non-negotiable part of me, and now is a huge fan.

Our kids are 6 & 16mths, and both are already fans. Before we had kids we used tents, and had a piece of very good fortune that ended up providing us with an almost free caravan. Had that not happened I already had money saved to follow John's lead above. Was going to spend R15k on an old Sprite Alpine or similar. 

If you factor in the costs of buying a trailer, beds, fridge, etc, you will get very close to the cost of an old, small caravan. Bit of TLC and effort and that old van will serve you well, and can be towed by small engined cars. To me it's a no-brainer, but I know that it's not finance holding some people back...it's living in complexes that don't have space to park the caravan.

Dammit...stole my thunder. Fortunatly I had an EB from the word go, but it is a huge pain now if you don't have one. Agree with you.

Surely there is a way to bring a new caravan to market based on an old Caravette 4/5 design but with updated materials, priced at around R60-70k new. Does'nt need fancy components, just the basics, but in a new package. 

Wonder what Jurgens CI did with all the old tooling......

Agree with you Andrew - nothing wrong with a Caravette 6 type, as long as it is light.

I previously towed mine (971kg) with a 1.4 Polo (1015kg).

Both would be more affordable than what is now required.

Licence would not be a hindrance if the van would be in the region of 500kg tare and 650 or so GVM.

I have a Caravette 2 which (spacewise) is ideal for 2 people, serious about camping, (Tare 500kg !). EB licence and over-run brakes are  not even necessary. 

I am totally unable to understand why such a van is not manufactured today. If such van would have just  the basics and due to a modular system, one could later on take some inside units out and replace with maybe more comfortable or better units.

But I think our "Industry" is of the opinion, that few units with high price is better than many units with low price (you call this "Monopoly" (mind you, not the game !).

Such van would cost new in the region of 60 - 70k or so and would beat the "Sherpa" thing hands down. 

Gerd

Fully agree with you again especially about your Caravette 2. I have the Caravette 5 and would have loved to have the 2. Small enough to do the job, big enough for the spirit and limit the wife with packing and packing and packing and yes, this size Van would have been wonderful for youngsters to begin camping.

Anonymous wrote:

Grumpy,  waar was ek voor ek hierdie forum gelees het,  my Sptite Escape 2 het vir jare die ding gedoen, nou is dit pak en pak,  nee wag die moet saam daars nog baie plek

The little Sprite Scout of Reg, is the ideal size and weight for the younger generation, it's a pitty they are so scarce, before I bought my van, I was looking all over for this little one

One does not always need a van to to go camping. I have tented for years, with the whole family, 4 boys that have all now grown up. 2 of them have married and now themselves own tents and camp as much as they can........ not as much as dad does :)  I would love a van (I think) but I have no place at home to store it. The younger ones starting out don't need to have all the bells and wistles, they can aquire gear over time. A family tenting does not always need to look like a Cortina type camper. Some tenting setups today have everything, even the kitchen sink!        

We also must not forget the times about 30-50 years ago, when the VW Kombi was the vehicle of choice for many young people (mostly second hand) and which then was converted more or less into a camper (with flowery and very colorful curtains !!). 

When I was just married with two  small kids, we had one (I converted it( in the middle between more and less) and we had many good holidays and long weekends  at the sea on caravan places - not to talk about the regular visits to the drive-in !!!!

It also should be said that at that stage we could afford one ! TODAY ???? Not Possible for most youngsters !

Sadly however, this form of camping has also vanished, due to unaffordability of a suitable vehicle (the new kombis are far too expensve).

Also, I am not sure whether todays youngsters would go for a 2 week holiday in a rudimentary Kombi ???

(Maybe if it has WIFI, Bluetooth. MP3 & 4 and built-in video games ???)

It is not just young people that sit on phones, ipads and laptops............ Last year at Midmar we had this 'retired' couple next to us, I don't think I ever saw them without their 'toys'.... and then when my kids went down to the water to play, they complained we were making to much noise and he could not 'work'. Go to work to work! I invited a good a friend of mine to come camping with us for a weekend, to get them into the camping life, no cell phone signal where we were, they left the next morning!! Well, we enjoyed the rest of the weekend without all the 'toys'.    

Completely agree that it's not always the younger gen with the toys. We don't own an ipad or tablet, the books we read are made from paper (so I don't need to curse when the battery runs out), and we don't have a TV in the van. Phone usually gets locked in the car, checked once a day or so. My retired parents on the other hand...iPad, iPhones, DSTV, eReader etc etc...

Leon wrote:

Welcome Zoni. Sure glad to see there is still young people enjoying the true things in life.

Welcome Zone, I agree with Leon. Keep us updated on your experiences.

Zoni Welcome to the forum.

Welcome Zoni - may your toys get more luxurious as you grow older!

Anonymous wrote:

Welcome Zone, I agree with Leon. Keep us updated on your experiences.

Zoni, sorry for the typo of your name on my post earlier.