Caroline Posted April 5, 2013 Author Share Posted April 5, 2013 thanks for that Scrambles, this year is taken up with the CC&C's NFOL of which i am very much a part off as it is in Hampshire. But who knows what next year will hold. Haggis hunting possibly :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 g3ttc - 2013-03-28 7:06 PM This can be a real problem once in a while. A few months ago in North Devon I came up to a crossroads where the road from my left approached at an angle and even though I tried coming up to the white line as near right angles as I could manage, I still could not see the approaching road. Any suggestions? This is a common problem for WVM, when I was driving a van I would put an extra interior rear view mirror to left of centre mounted one (asuming it has one) this is angled to look out the passenger side window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted April 5, 2013 Share Posted April 5, 2013 Possibly, as an alternative, put a blind spot mirror on the N/S external mirror, angled to cover that field of view. Possibly, if you have electric mirrors, rotate the N/S exterior mirror as far "out" as it will go, to cover the blind spot, and then back once clear of the junction. I think you'll probably have to experiment a bit, as different window arrangements on vans create different problems. An interior mirror such as Colin suggests, mounted on the passenger's side so as to give a view through the passenger's cab window may work just as well and, if it could be mounted within reach of the driving seat, would have the advantage of being adjustable to meet differing conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Caroline - 2013-04-05 1:12 PM It is really good to hear in a strange sort of way all the people making it on their own, I too have noticed the lack of negotiation in destination, but still when pulling up on a field having a discussion with myself as to where I am pitching!!!. Until I have more time to wander abroad, I am going to tour this country, get home explored first. Really fancy bonny Scotland, it looks stunning up there in the Highlands. (lol) *-) Highly recommend you do the N/W coast. Absolutely stunning scenery and well worth the trek up to Durness but along the way, try some of the tiny little 'B' roads if you can. Applecross, Sheildaig, Aultbeau......all worthwhile and 'not to be missed'! Isle of Mull for animal wildlife......any of the Outer Hebrides for human wildlife! (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raindance Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Hi, I am new to this group today and I see that this thread is a very old one but I am now in a similar position and wondered if anyone did go ahead with flying solo and how you are getting on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I was hoping to see when this thread appeared again as to how Caroline was getting on, as since then I have joined MHF as well. and it has a very active solo group and they organise lots of general meets both home and abroad. a lot of lady members also..Give it a whirl it really is fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 JudgeMental - 2014-12-08 7:49 PM I was hoping to see when this thread appeared again as to how Caroline was getting on, as since then I have joined MHF as well. and it has a very active solo group and they organise lots of general meets both home and abroad. a lot of lady members also..Give it a whirl it really is fun. Why pay to go on a forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Why NOT pay for to go on a Forum assuming you're getting what you pay for? This meets all my needs, but there's obviously demand or pay to use wouldn't exist. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Bulletguy - 2014-12-09 1:07 AM JudgeMental - 2014-12-08 7:49 PM I was hoping to see when this thread appeared again as to how Caroline was getting on, as since then I have joined MHF as well. and it has a very active solo group and they organise lots of general meets both home and abroad. a lot of lady members also..Give it a whirl it really is fun. Why pay to go on a forum? The Warners forums have remained very much discussion groups, whereas MotorHomeFacts (MHF) http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ has evolved into more of a ‘club’. While one might reasonably object to paying MHF’s £12.50 annual subscription for participating on this type of forum (I certainly wouldn’t pay to do it!) subscribing to MHF will be attractive and potentially advantageous to many people. JudgeMental suggests MHF membership as an option to Raindance (Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, Debbie) and provides good reasons for a solo (lady) motorcaravanner to do this. Why would anyone quibble over his helpful suggestion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Raindance - 2014-12-08 7:07 PM Hi, I am new to this group today and I see that this thread is a very old one but I am now in a similar position and wondered if anyone did go ahead with flying solo and how you are getting on. Hi Debbie and another welcome to the forum. To get this thread back on topic, Caroline (the OP) is currently membership secretary of the Auto Trail Owners Club (ATOC) so appears to still be out and about in her MH. Perhaps try sending her a PM if you want to get in touch. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 There has been some reference to the problems of overtaking when driving in the "wrong side of the van". The first thing is to keep well back from the vehicle you wish to overtake, or may need to overtake. This will open up the angle and extend your line of sight, and it will also give you room to dodge back into your own lane if you spot something heading towards you. On single carriageways you will probably find that you don't do much overtaking, the lower speed limit means that hardly anyone travels at much over the limit, and traffic tends to amble along at about the limit. Just leave a comfortable gap between you and the guy in front and enjoy the drive. On motorways you don't have a problem with oncoming traffic, but it still pays to leave yourself some space, just in case you need to pull back in, and it's much more relaxing. For me the really important thing is to make sure that you have really good rear view mirrors, and if you find that you have any blind spot then cover them with extra mirrors, I prefer fairly full sized mirrors that really do the job, to those small ones that you stick on the existing ones. (At this point I will pause for an intervention by those who will say that they have used twopenny Halfords stick on mirrors for 50 years and hardly anyone has run into the back of them.) If your blind spot mirrors are nearly the same size as your normal mirrors the image of the car approaching will be near enough the same size in both mirrors, and the focal length will be similar so the image will appear more or less the same distance back, I think it helps. Just a final thought, back in the 60s and 70s when we daring young things were starting our continental adventures in dodgy Minis, Triumph Heralds, and Anglias and the like, you could buy a periscope type device that stuck to the windscreen on stickers, which enable the driver to see round the car in front, I don't know if it worked, but would it be worth adapting a couple of those forward facing traffic cameras to be secured to the extreme front of the van to give some sideways vision. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Archiesgrandad - 2014-12-09 12:23 PM ...Just a final thought, back in the 60s and 70s when we daring young things were starting our continental adventures in dodgy Minis, Triumph Heralds, and Anglias and the like, you could buy a periscope type device that stuck to the windscreen on stickers, which enable the driver to see round the car in front, I don't know if it worked, but would it be worth adapting a couple of those forward facing traffic cameras to be secured to the extreme front of the van to give some sideways vision. AGD I remember the device you mention. It comprised a couple of small mirrors in a little box that one stuck to the inside of the windscreen as far to the left as practicable. It worked after a fashion, but the image provided was very small. The principle was far from new, as will be evident from this 1926 Australian newspaper article http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/81058674 Much more recently, a Polish company began marketing a pair of linked adjustable mirrors for the same purpose http://krugozor.pl/en/index-1.html These should be better than the 1960s device as the image is significantly larger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike88 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Derek Uzzell - 2014-12-09 8:55 AM Bulletguy - 2014-12-09 1:07 AM JudgeMental - 2014-12-08 7:49 PM I was hoping to see when this thread appeared again as to how Caroline was getting on, as since then I have joined MHF as well. and it has a very active solo group and they organise lots of general meets both home and abroad. a lot of lady members also..Give it a whirl it really is fun. Why pay to go on a forum? The Warners forums have remained very much discussion groups, whereas MotorHomeFacts (MHF) http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ has evolved into more of a ‘club’. I disagree that MHF has evolved into a club as opposed to a discussion group. There are 1.25m posts on MHF covering some 127000 threads. With 88000 members there are plenty of discussions and the small annual fee is well worth it for the knowledge gained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 Archiesgrandad - 2014-12-09 12:23 PM you could buy a periscope type device that stuck to the windscreen on stickers, which enable the driver to see round the car in front, I don't know if it worked, I bought a mirror designed for that purpose a few yearsago. It attached to the windsceen with a suction cap. The trouble was that by the time you had looked across the cab at the mirror and tried to interpret the small image, blurred by vibration you had spent a good period not watching the vehicle ahead. It was also difficult to see what was going on with sufficient clarity until the gap was too short to overtake anyway. My preferred technique now is to wait until someone else pulls out, follow them for a look and then go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Bulletguy - 2014-12-09 1:07 AM Why pay to go on a forum? Derek Uzzell - 2014-12-09 8:55 AM The Warners forums have remained very much discussion groups, whereas MotorHomeFacts (MHF) http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ has evolved into more of a ‘club’. While one might reasonably object to paying MHF’s £12.50 annual subscription... Mike88 - 2014-12-09 2:19 PM I disagree that MHF has evolved into a club as opposed to a discussion group. There are 1.25m posts on MHF covering some 127000 threads. With 88000 members there are plenty of discussions and the small annual fee is well worth it for the knowledge gained. Far from 'a club' or even 'discussion group'.........with 88000 members at £12.50 a throw that's a business turning over £1.1 million a year just in subs alone!! The 'pros' being its a damn sight cheaper than buying any magazine! The 'cons' being it's not really a forum as such with free exchange of information and advice. Perhaps this is the way to go for publishers of magazines? Minimal outlay....maximum profits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 The cost of everything the value of nothing springs to mind...I think some need to get over themselves, It's a tenner for heavens sake......I can assure you it's worth it alone for the far better software they use!(MHFUN not MHF) rather then this prehistoric and shakey on line experience. There are great people on both forums..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 As usual we get people who criticise others for doing things differently from them. Some people may be poor and have to count every penny and avoid chargeable forums, campsites, toll roads and eating in restaurants. Or it could be that they're simply mean and hate spending money on anything that they think isn't absolutely necessary. Whatever Bulletguy's reason is for refusing to pay for a forum is immaterial and it's his privilege. I just wish that he'd stop the arrogant implications that anyone not following his ethos is some kind of an idiot. Clearly, many people think it is worthwhile to pay for a good and comprehensive forum and many of them are a lot brighter than him. This is a man who thinks that because MHF advertises that it has 88,000 subscribing members, that they are all active and that they all pay the subscription. This forum boasts over 18,000 members. Like every other forum this is the number of people who've signed up, visited once or maybe visited for a year and are never seen again. This site has a couple of hundred active members at the most. In a 2011 survey by an insurance company the question asked was 'What is the best motorhome forum?' It ran for several weeks and such is the rivalry between Fun and Facts that both forums and their respective members were madly urging everyone to vote. The winner was Facts with under 2000 votes. 88,000 is a myth to help sell advertising. The number of active members of Facts is probably under 3000 and the number that actually pay the subscription will be far less. In 2011 you could be a member and not pay and I'm assuming it's the same today. Membership gives more than greater access, it also gives discounts on many things and many members claim that their subscription is paid for by those discounts. http://www.motorhomefacts.com/advantages.html No one will ever be a millionaire by running a motorhoming forum. What money is to be made is from advertising and the subscriptions will barely cover the basic running costs, if that. Anyone daft enough to believe that this forum has 18000 members and that Facts has 88,000 members should not go into business. They'd go bust in weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muswell Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 JudgeMental - 2014-12-10 7:52 AM The cost of everything the value of nothing springs to mind...I think some need to get over themselves, It's a tenner for heavens sake......I can assure you it's worth it alone for the far better software they use!(MHFUN not MHF) rather then this prehistoric and shakey on line experience. There are great people on both forums..... A tenner???? You could get the Daily Mail for a couple of weeks for less than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Caroline - 2013-01-28 11:57 AM Hi Sadley am now motorhoming Solo, can anyone give me any hints and tips. Have some good friends as motorhomers but couples, it is travel both in this country and abroad that i would like some help with. Caroline Hi Caroline, I've been known to take myself off to OZ and Ireland for several spells of 3 months at a time and found it not a problem. Do what you like when you like. There are plenty of people to talk to such as staff in shops, uniformed officials and workmen (especially in Ireland). As a couple one half is always having to compromise, not so as a single. There are many 'singles' groups for touring etc but I always prefer to be associated with a large variety of interests sooner than conform to one (again). I'm sure that you will be surprised at what can be achieved. I do have a lady wife who goes away with her own groups and to where I would not wish to go. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Will85 - 2014-12-10 9:36 AM I've been known to take myself off to OZ and Ireland for several spells of 3 months at a time and found it not a problem... Will But in fairness Will, you were only supposed to be popping down the shops for a paper.. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Archiesgrandad - 2014-12-09 12:23 PM Just a final thought, back in the 60s and 70s when we daring young things were starting our continental adventures in dodgy Minis, Triumph Heralds, and Anglias and the like, you could buy a periscope type device that stuck to the windscreen on stickers, which enable the driver to see round the car in front, I don't know if it worked, but would it be worth adapting a couple of those forward facing traffic cameras to be secured to the extreme front of the van to give some sideways vision. AGD We have been asked on a number of occassions to supply and fit small cameras mounted on the door mirrors. So for a right hand drive vehicle the camera can be fixed to the left side mirror looking forward allowing a view past a vehicle in front that you wish to overtake. Most of these systems seem to satisfy the requirement. My own personal judgement is that having to look at a monitor screen before overtaking is too much of a distraction. Cameras and monitors are very good for slow speed manoeuvres like reversing but need careful consideration for other uses. There is always a very slight time lag in the monitor displaying the image. I have also worked with armament companies to provide a camera system for tanks and armoured cars. The holy grail for tanks is to provide something better than a small slit for the driver to peer through. Periscopes and camera systems have been used but for higher speed driving many prefer the slit. Perhaps modern youth brought up on video games will be more likely to adopt this technology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 A couple of years back we met a lady on her own on a French air. There were a cople of other Brits stood around chatting and she joined in. She had been away for a few weeks and not seen many Brits and was obviously glad of a chat so we invited her over for the evening and it was interesting to hear of her experience. She had lost her partner recently but had in fact been the active driver etc for a while due to their health problems. Before going on our ways the next day she said how much she had enjoyed her evening and that such invites were rare. Several months later at the Peterborough show we found ouselves parked up in site of each other. Perhaps its something we ought to do a bit more of both at home and when travelling. Lonelyness waits for us all eventually after loosing our partner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulletguy Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 JudgeMental - 2014-12-10 7:52 AM The cost of everything the value of nothing springs to mind...I think some need to get over themselves, It's a tenner for heavens sake......I can assure you it's worth it alone for the far better software they use!(MHFUN not MHF) rather then this prehistoric and shakey on line experience. There are great people on both forums..... Ahh......."Fun" and not "Facts" then. Yes i will agree the website software is much better than this though these forums do have a habit of changing the layout from time to time which causes chaos and upsets an awful lot of people. How many members has Jim managed to hold on to......or is that still one of his "industrial secrets"? ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 George Collings - 2014-12-10 10:29 PM A couple of years back we met a lady on her own on a French air. There were a cople of other Brits stood around chatting and she joined in. She had been away for a few weeks and not seen many Brits and was obviously glad of a chat so we invited her over for the evening and it was interesting to hear of her experience. She had lost her partner recently but had in fact been the active driver etc for a while due to their health problems. Before going on our ways the next day she said how much she had enjoyed her evening and that such invites were rare. Several months later at the Peterborough show we found ouselves parked up in site of each other. Perhaps its something we ought to do a bit more of both at home and when travelling. Lonelyness waits for us all eventually after loosing our partner. I make no apologies for quoting in full. Excellent thought provoking post George. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 LordThornber - 2014-12-11 7:42 AM George Collings - 2014-12-10 10:29 PM A couple of years back we met a lady on her own on a French air. There were a cople of other Brits stood around chatting and she joined in. She had been away for a few weeks and not seen many Brits and was obviously glad of a chat so we invited her over for the evening and it was interesting to hear of her experience. She had lost her partner recently but had in fact been the active driver etc for a while due to their health problems. Before going on our ways the next day she said how much she had enjoyed her evening and that such invites were rare. Several months later at the Peterborough show we found ouselves parked up in site of each other. Perhaps its something we ought to do a bit more of both at home and when travelling. Lonelyness waits for us all eventually after loosing our partner. I make no apologies for quoting in full. Excellent thought provoking post George. Martyn Have to agree. i always chat to all and sundry on sites. You soon get to know who wants to talk and who wishes to keep to themselves. We have met some lovely people , some on there own and some couples PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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