Looking for books to inspire your choice of family caravaning holiday? Maybe you want to have a handy Caravan Tips for Beginners guide to hand? If you do, then our list of Caravan related books will be ideal for you!

Working closely with the Home Office as part of the Leisure Sector Crime Reduction Action Team (LSCRAT) industry bodies and consumer groups have made a significant impact on the level of caravan crime.

Alan Bishop, Chairman of LSCRAT and Industry Relations Director for HPI, says, “Today we are enjoying the lowest ever recorded theft figures for caravans. When the Home Office asked me to take the Chair of the LSCRAT in early 2000, caravan thefts were at an all time high. Over 5,000 caravans were being stolen every year causing distress to their owners and costing the industry millions. By working together we have reduced that by some 70% with current levels running at just 1,600 per annum.”

A key part of the success is down to an education programme designed to help police officers throughout the country to tackle caravan crime with confidence. Central to this programme was the improved access provided by HPI to the NCC’s Caravan Registration and Identification Scheme, (CRiS) which is now available on-line 24/7 as part of a suite of police support tools.

“This achievement is testament to the hard work of the industry as a whole,” concludes Bishop. “New and innovative built-in security devices were developed, while consumer groups raised awareness of the need for vigilance. But by far the greatest impact has been through improved police activity.

“It is important that we continue to build on this success. Nobody should think ‘job done’, otherwise we will soon see a return to the multi-million pound losses the industry suffered at the end of the last century. I am confident that new initiatives in the pipe-line and the on-going commitment to police liaison will ensure we reduce the levels of caravan theft even further.”

Located at Snead in Montgomeryshire, Daisy Bank has everything you could wish for from Putting Greens to Bike Hire, Wi-fi to an onsite supre market. If you are looking for a superbly appointed site in the heart of Wales, Daisy Bank Caravan Park is the one for you.

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The flip side is the time to put up, the maintenance and the extra cost.

Lets take a look at each item one by one.

Time to put an awning up

I’m sure there isn’t an experienced caravanner alive that hasn’t witnessed a marriage break down through putting an awning up, or an otherwise placid and mild couple turn into raging animals because the beading of the awning won’t go through the channel on the caravan. It’s a scenario played out on caravan sites across the country every Friday night!

You can make life easier though. Lubricate the beading with candle wax (just rub a candle across the beading, don’t mess about melting it on!). Alternatively, use the silicon spray found in car shops that’s used for cleaning dashboards etc. Spray this into the channel on the caravan – the silicon will provide the lubrication needed to make the beading run through as smooth as you like.

Also, when you first get your awning erect the frame at home. Erect it against a wall to give it support, and when it’s up mark the joins in the poles with coloured electrical tape. If you don’t have enough colours to mark each pole join wrap different numbers of tape ‘rings’ around the male and female poles at each join.

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By doing this when you come to erect the awning on site you’ll know which pole goes where in an instant!

If you are new to erecting an awning, pick your time to break your duck. What we mean is, don’t try and erect your first awning in windy weather late in the afternoon – it’s only ever going to end in tears. Pick a calm day and make sure you start early in the afternoon so you have plenty of daylight left.

If the weather is fine – no strong winds expected – one option to take is that of putting the guy ropes on the inside of the awning (rather than the traditional approach of putting them on the outside).

By putting them on the inside you avoid the painful potential of you or your children tripping over them. There is nothing worse than trekking back from the site pub or club only to find yourself looking up at the stars after tripping over near invisible awning guy ropes.

Next time round we'll look at the maintenance required to keep your caravan awning looking good and working great.

We want to hear your awning stories. Success stories from putting up that awning in the face of a howling gale or tips to how you make erecting an awning a easier experience please add your thoughts by filling in our comments box, thanks!

Another option when securing your caravan is to invest in a good alarm. Most caravan alarms work in a similar principle to car alarms, you have a key fob to arm/disarm and a sensor will detect movement from within the Caravan when the alarm is armed.

The difference between car alarms and caravan alarms come in the extras though. These extras can included remote lighting - using the key fob you can turn on or off a light in the awning of your caravan from distances over 40 feet.

Sensors for the rear support legs of your caravan, arming this sensor will result in the alarm sounding if a full turn of the winder is made.

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12N plug sensor, this sensor once armed will result in the alarm sounding when the 12N plug is inserted into a 12v car electric socket. Every time the thief presses the brake pedal the alarm will sound. Similarly, this alarm can work in reverse for a caravan that is hitched up to your towing car - when you are taking a break at a service station or pub for instance.

Panic alarms are pretty much standard on caravan alarm systems along with battery anti tampering devices.

Some of the more expensive alarms can also be used with the new range of satellite tracking devices, giving you an excellent chance of recovering your caravan if a thief is determined to steal it.

At the other end of the market the are a large number of motion detection only alarms designed for use in garages, sheds, caravans and static caravans. These alarms are inexpensive but do lack the big feature list of their more expensive cousins. The cheaper alarms are unlikely to gain you a discount on your caravan insurance, where as the more expensive specialist alarms will almost certainly result in cheaper policies

You wouldn’t entertain driving your car without it being insured, or knocking the home and contents insurance on the head so why not buy insurance for your caravan?

These days there are a number of specialist caravan insurance companies offering online quotes and cheap caravan insurance. These companies will cover your investment weather it be sat outside your house, on site at the caravan park or at your favoured Caravan winter storage company. Most will cover for European travel, along with payments if there is loss of use of your caravan due to an insured event.

One insurance provider, SafeGuard UK, also offer alternative driver cover - this will provide up to £750 to cover the cost of providing an alternative driver if the towing driver falls ill and no other driver is able to tow the caravan.

Cheap Caravan Insurance

Some ‘cut price’ policies will cover your caravan at Market Value, other policies will offer New for Old cover - if you have a preference make sure to check with your insurance company what your chosen policy offers.

Other items covered

Along with the actual caravan, awnings and awning contents can also be covered.

Much like car insurance may caravan insurance providers offer discounts for no claims, having security devices fitted, storing your caravan at a CaSSOA Gold storage address and for voluntary excesses being taken out.

Policies start at as little as £3.90 per month, these policies can be taken out online (often giving you a further discount!), and generally are available to most static and touring caravans.

The other option open to you is to include your caravan on your household insurance. Be very wary though, make sure you check with your insurance provider to make sure you are covered both home and away (and if you travel to Europe check if overseas cover is included), whilst you are with the caravan and when it’s away in storage.

One requirement you may be requested to comply to is the use of a hitch lock.

If you’ve not seen hitch locks before, or are unsure what they do, there prime task is to stop a potential thief from coupling your caravan to their car by blocking the use of the towing hitch. The hitch is rendered unusable and can only be used again by the right key being used.