Over the last couple of years, the Blue Sky web site and blog has accumulated some 400 plus pages of information, on all matters folding camper, trailer tent and camping as a whole.
Whilst we try and keep everything as concise and organised as possible, inevitably, it can be easy for new users to miss things, when viewing the site, so we felt it would be prudent to bring all of the key items of information and advice together, into one concise publication, providing a single, key, point of reference for anyone looking to acquire a new folding camper, or, alternatively, to get the most out of their existing one.
The guide encompasses everything, from choosing your first folding camper, what to look out for, when buying second hand, and what our rights are, if we don’t end up with the camper we thought we were going to get. It looks at what equipment we will need, the best gas to use, waterproofing, setting up a camper and / or awning, storing a camper, heating it, and what to do when there is no electric hookup.
In recent months, we have placed much emphasis on the legal side of camping, and this is, also, covered, comprehensively, in the guide, in particular the legal aspects of what we are able to tow, based on both our car’s permitted limit, and our own, arising from the restrictions imposed by our driving licences.
Click on the link, below, to download the latest version of the guide;
Please be aware that this guide may take a few minutes to download, as it is around 140 pages long, and, approximately, 200MB
Blue Sky Thinking 
Hi Alan
When does that man ever sleep ? â congrats your guide looks excellent and pulls everything together. Iâm sure it will become the bible around the various forums but where would I send Bob Kerr to see a copy? Will I allowed to put a link from our site to the guide?
Iâm still ploughing on with the knitting together of the info on Conway units on the website â ended up splitting it into 3 parts for ease of use and the second and final part on the trailer tents will be activated this weekend. The folding campers bit will have to wait or I will end up failing my photography course or being divorced! It has been very easy to pull together though and whilst not being as polished as if I had used WordPress it must not be just me behind it.
So again congrats and see you soon.
Regards, Tony
Tony Burrett
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Hi Tony,
Sleep? Hmmm. Sounds familiar. can I come back to you on that one? As ever, you’re welcome to do a link, if you would like. I’m sure Mr K can find it from there, and should keep him amused for a few hours, looking for loopholes. As you may, or may not have noticed yet, I have put a link to the owners club in the guide, as well.
Glad to hear things are progressing with the info on the web site. The Conway section on mine took about 4 months, on and off, so it sounds like you’re getting on well. I did notice it had been expanded on the site, recently.
Hopefully, we might get to catch up at the NEC in a couple of weeks or so.
Kind regards,
Alan
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Wot r the rules of towin a trailer tent nt done trailer test
Thank Ian
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The Full rules are covered in our article, from February last year; The Definitive Guide to Towing in The UK, however, if you are on a post 1997 ‘B’ licence, then you can tow as follows:
If the trailer ‘weighs’ less than 750kg, you can tow it with a car ‘weighing’ no more than 3,500kg (so; total ‘weight’ of 4,250kg). When we say weight, in this context, we mean what is called; MAM (Maximum Authorised Mass) so we aren’t talking actual weights, for either the car or the trailer, we are talking maximum ALLOWED weight, if they are full loaded. This will be shown on the car’s VIN plate, and is what will be used by the authorities, if you ever got stopped.
If the trailer weighs more than 750kg, then similar rules are applied, but the combined MAM is reduced to 3,500kg.
If you want to tow with a heavier combination, then you need to take your ‘B + E’ test, which increased the limit to 3,500kg for the car, PLUS 3,500kg for the trailer.
Most trailer tents are below 600kg, and most folding campers are below 1,000kg, so, if you have a trailer tent, you should be fine, up to a maximum of 4,250kg. Of course, that is based, purely, on your licence. You need to ensure your car can tow this weight, as well, but there aren’t many that can’t.
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Just downloaded “The Folding Camper Ultimate Guide” And put in the file for the “Pathfinder” on my computer so I can refer to it from time to time, Thank you Alan, what a wonderful guide, this is only my 2nd year into Folding Campers, last year a Fiesta, this year we are about to use a Pathfinder. Thank you once again Alan this is a wonderful contribution to the camping fraternity.
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