Sucking his keyboard for inspiration, Dave R typed:

Awning - doubles your available space, excellent idea, but only if you don't
get a divorce before it's half erected (IYSWIM).  We have a rule when
pitching the caravan: we're nice to each other when we arrive on site and
fix the van up; we argue like f.ck while we put the awning up; and then
we're friends again for the G&T afterwards, and nobody is allowed to mention
the bit in between.  Put it this way - one night, we don't bother with it;
2+ nights, we always do.

Awning lessons free, in return for workshop space for the S2a.  :-)

We could be interested, again dependant on dates and possible other
plans - if my current contract gets extended then I might be going to
Greenland for 2-3 months next summer. Sounds like a great trip.

Will

Yeah, it is rubbish!  One of those urban myths that goes around because
people can't accept that someone can break into your caravan and not
wake you up.  Basically the 'stories' are only ever "we think someone
gassed the caravan/motorhome etc." but in reality there is no actual
evidence.

The truth of the matter is that the amount of gas required to guarantee
to knock out everyone in something the size of a caravan/motorhome is
far more than is practically possible to transport, not to mention too
expensive for it to be worthwhile.  Even if it was possible/happening,
there would have been many deaths from this type of attack -
anesthetising someone is a science, not a matter of sticking a hose in a
vent!

Trust me - if there were any chance of this being a reality, I would be
the first one in line spending my money on one of those detectors!!
Personally I'd prefer to spend the same amount of money on a carbon
monoxide detector (rather more important IMHO) and a decent secondary
lock for the door.

I have slept in the aires myself in the car/van several times with no
issues, but I have to admit that when it was one of the more remote
ones, I was a bit weary.  Most people seem to pick the ones on the
autoroutes and park right next to the service station where there are
always plenty of people about and it is well lit.

Matt

Aha - found it.  (If the formatting is crap, blame Google Groups - I'm
at work.)

<start quote>

"I again paste below the extremely useful post to this NG (i.e.
uk.rec.caravanning) by Alun Jenkins on
9.11.06. which I thought had settled it once and for all.

"Since this debate rattles on from time to time, with much
deliberation over
how and what, I thought I'd try to get an expert view on the
feasibility of
using narcotic gases to knock out the occupants of motorhomes/
caravans.
Since they do this all the time, so to speak, I thought I'd ask the
Royal
College of Anaesthetists. Somewhat to my surprise, they provided the
following reply. Interesting isn't it? Sleep tight folks! "

"Dear Mr Kirby,
Thank you for your enquiry. I would like to inform you that you are
not the
first enquirer with this question. Professor Hatch, our Clinical
Advisor,
has given the following previous comments:
"I can give you a categorical assurance that it would not be possible
to
render someone unconscious with ether without their knowledge, even if
they
were sleeping at the time. Ether is an extremely pungent agent and a
relatively weak anaesthetic by modern standards and has a very
irritant
affect of the air passages, causing coughing and sometimes vomiting.
It
takes some time to reach unconsciousness, even if given by direct
application to the face on a rag, and the concentration needed by some
sort
of spray into a room would be enormous. The smell hangs around for
days and
would be obvious to anyone the next day.
There are much more powerful agents around now, some of which are
almost
odourless. However, these would be unlikely to be able to achieve the
effect
you describe, and the cost would be huge enough to deter any thief
unless he
was after the crown jewels. The only practicable agent is probably the
one
used by the Russians in the Moscow siege - I advised the BBC on their
programme about this. The general feeling is that they used an agent
which
is not available outside the KGB!
Finally, unsupervised anaesthesia, which is what we are really talking
about
is very dangerous. In the Moscow siege about 20% of victims died from
asphyxia, because their airways were unprotected. If the reports you
talk
about are true I would have expected a significant number of deaths or
cases
of serious brain damage to have been reported."
I hope this information is helpful to you.

Regards,
Ms Shirani Nadarajah
General Administrator
Professional Standards Directorate

The Royal College of Anaesthetists"

<end quote>

That seems fairly conclusive to me.

--
Rich B
Bandit 1200S