When it comes to Static Caravans, the materials they are constructed from have been largely unchanged for the past 70 years. Because of its strength, steel is the preferred metal for the chassis, upon which is built the caravan which consists largely of an outside shell of aluminium lined with various types of plastics.
When painted with quality paint caravans used either as mobiles or static homes are relatively maintenance free, with a long arm brush on a hosepipe being all that is necessary to clean them in the majority of cases.
Super strong, lightweight and maintenance free
But today things are changing. With the advent of carbon fibres (fibre glass reinforced with carbon and stronger than steel) it’s not only jet airliners, such as those made by Boeing and Airbus, but cars such as Alpha Romeo (featured in our photo), Ferrari, BMW and many other top of the range manufacturers who are using this super strong, lightweight material from which to build their products.
Virtually maintenance free, it will come as no surprise to learn that caravans and static homes are now being increasingly manufactured from this unique material. Unlike the normal static home or caravan, there is virtually no folding or bending of metal required. Instead moulding is the method used to obtain shape which is several times stronger.
Weatherproof, effective construction material
Currently, there is much experimentation throughout the world using carbon fibre to build conventional homes. Warm in winter and cool in summer, carbon fibre is weatherproof and proving to be a very effective building material. Material costs have yet to be finalised but it goes without saying that the more of it that is used the cheaper it will become.
The question which now goes begging is how long will it be before we see a huge variety of carbon fibre caravans on sale? Vans which can be towed for a fraction of their cost because of their light weight and which, because of their strength, require virtually no maintenance.
Well, the news is quite good with several manufacturers now starting to use the material in various stages of construction and it shouldn’t be too long before we see these Static Caravans on sites all over the country.