Here's a tip to make the job of removing tent pegs from your awning easier. Give the peg a sharp blow with a mallet. This will help to dislodge the peg from the ground. You should then be able to pull the peg out with ease, using a tent peg extractor. This method also works with windbreakers and the like.
Mr N Morrison
Coventry

Keep a gardening pick-up tool in the front of your car, just in case you over-shoot the toll ticket machine.
John Glassey
Via email

Using oil to lubricate a stiff battery box could rot the rubber. Instead, use talcum powder as this preserves the rubber and acts like a lubricant – using oil just creates problems later.
William Sheard
Stafford

To prevent the toilet roll unravelling in transit, slip an elastic band over the paper. When you arrive on site, just slip the band to the side of the holder so it's ready for the return leg.
Maureen Parry
Mold, Flintshire

On a recent holiday I was dismayed to hear of a fellow caravanner's woes. His awning was stolen, along with many items, costing him £2000. This was on top of damage caused by the thieves entering the caravan.
However, you can deter the thief by using a permanent marker or engraving tool to endorse all your major items with your postcode or your van's CRIS number. A suitable note placed in the window above the hitch should be enough to make any thief realise the effort and risk would be greater than the reward.
Also, if the any items do get stolen, not only will the marks make it easier for the police prosecute, but they will increase the likelihood of their return to their owner.
Darryl Goodier
Pendlebury, Salford

If you are arriving home from holiday after dark and don't want get your neighbours' curtains twitching as you shout directions to squeeze your van into that tight spot on your driveway, get out your mobiles for quieter communication. Anyone watching will then think how wonderful you are to get into the tight gap without any directions or extra lights.
Sajara
Via email

When fitting a skylight, attach a length of elastic across to stop it dropping down. This will help prevent it setting off your caravan's alarm system. Also, stop your interior fading when your van is in the sun. Buy a roll of radiator reflector from DIY shop, which will set you back roughly £10. Cut it to fit each window, and you'll find that it will slot quite easily into blind runners. For the front window and skylight, glue or staple two widths together to get right size. This also will help keep the van cool.
Carol Seymour
Via email

Here's a tip for preventing dish water dripping on the carpet. My small caravan dish rack fits nicely into a seed tray on the drainage board. This collects the drip water from the dishes without it spilling on the floor. It can also be co-ordinated to match the washing-up bowl.
F Adams
Via email

At last, after many years of towing I have an extension mirror that stays put in any conditions. This tip requires a a Milenco towing mirror (I always use a convex version for a wider view) and the kind of fastening strap you can find in any camping accessory shop. I have fashioned a retaining strap to hook over the door front edge, by riveting a bent aluminium strip onto the mirror's original strap bracket. The inside of the metal strip is padded with strips of Duck tape.
I have used this set-up with 100 percent success over many miles of towing, on roads of varying quality. Twisting the strap round a couple of times when you fit it also prevents it flapping in the wind.
Mike Whitehead
Banbury, Oxon

TWO FREE NIGHTS
Readers can get two nights free at any Haven and British Holidays family park (except Marton Mere, Blackpool) if they book two nights during September or October. Call 08705 033033 and quote “Practical Caravan”. Offer ends 20 October.