Month: February 2018

Here’s What You Need To Know When Going Camping If You Are A Beginner

Have you decided that this time, instead of your typical vacations where you would fly to exotic locations and beaches with your friends and indulge in fancy things, you are going to go camping in your own country? Or has your coworker been going on and on about his recent camping trip and it has really inspired you to make a similar trip with your family or friends as well, to the same campsite? No matter what your story may be, camping is a great once in a lifetime experience and once you fall in love with it and learn how to do it the right way, it will soon become your preferred way to relax and disconnect for a while.

But it is not as easy as it seems and you will need to take many more things with you and not just a barmah squashy hat. So you must do proper research to make sure that you and whoever you have decided to go camping with, ends up having the best experience you can all possibly have. You can ask your friends, family or coworkers for advice if they are avid campers and if they are not, you can simply look online. Read below to learn more about many things you must know before you go camping.

Your tent

We all know how this is one of the most fun but still vital part of camping. You need to think about the kind of tent you need and think about its size, shape and also if it is waterproof. Most tents are in fact not waterproof, but if you are planning on camping at a site that experiences heavy rainfall, you must invest in a tent that is waterproof so you will not be sopping wet and cold throughout the night if it suddenly rains.

When setting up your tent with your finest survival items, you must choose a flat and level area and test the ground with the tent stakes. If the ground is too dry and hard, the stakes will not go in and if it is too wet, it will not stay in and your tent will keep falling. You must also set up your tent in a spot that gets sunlight in the morning but is in a cooler, shaded place in the afternoon and always set it up next to a strong tree or large boulder, if your campsite is highly windy.

Other things you must do

Always set up camp close to a water source but also not right next to it, for safety reasons. You must also think about if you want to have people around your tent. If you choose a popular camping site, there will be loads of other campers and if you choose a site that is less popular, you and your friends will be able to truly enjoy the camping experience.


Advantages Of Independent Repairs Shops Over Dealers

All brand new cars (and even most used ones) will generally work just fine for a few hundred miles. As long as you perform basic maintenance by yourself, the vehicle will just keep running as if it won’t ever break down. But don’t let that fool you: chances are that you are just a few miles away from experiencing a component failure, which will necessitate repairs from a reputed garage or dealer.

Speaking of places where you could repair your vehicle, you clearly have two distinct options: one is to go the dealer where you bought your car in the first place. The other is to contact an independent garage. Which one is the better choice? Although there is no clear winner amongst the two, let’s say that independent garages are a little easier to approach. For that reason, let’s take a look at the advantages that independent garages have over car dealer service centers.

Fewer Restrictions When It Come to Brands and Makes

Generally, independent garages will be willing to work on a variety of vehicles of different makes and models, no matter whether they are sedans, compacts, large trucks or even other types of machines. On the other hand, dealers will only accept specific vehicles and sometimes may refuse to service anything that is older, citing a lack of spares as the main reason. There are independent garages that specialize in some brands as well, but a BMW Melbourne service may actually accept to service any other German brand if you keep asking.

Lower Prices on Average

Most people who don’t know much about cars and their internals will prefer taking their vehicles to dealer networks for anything ranging from oil changes to extensive repairs, but this will often cost them a lot more than if they would have gotten the job done at a generic garage. The main reason for the extra charges is that car dealers will exclusively use OEM parts for replacements, which often cost more than aftermarket counterparts.

Better Relationships with the Workers

When taking your car to a garage, you will often be greeted by the mechanics themselves instead of a sales agent or some other person. In fact, the mechanics themselves will be the ones to keep in touch with the repair job, meaning that you will establish a better relationship with the people who are doing the repair work. In a dealer, you won’t experience this kind of thing, as you may not even see the mechanics at all. There is a reason why any Mini Cooper mechanic will know all his regular customers personally, and the above lines should be enough for you to understand why this happens. Go right here to find out more details.

Fewer Delays

A lot of people have often cited the fact that dealer networks are quite slow with repair work, taking a few days to perform something as simple as a brake pad change or servicing of the car. With independent garages, delays are less common (although that doesn’t mean that they never occur).