PS: Like you I was educated in the old stuff when at school, have a bit of trouble relating to the new ones, but getting there gradually!
-- Edited by Duh on Friday 5th of April 2013 11:51:37 AM
Golddetectornomad said
05:23 PM Apr 5, 2013
When GN folk mention the length of their vans, what length are they quoting? My Jayco is internal 16'11", it is actual body length 19', however overall with A frame and sullage equipment box it occupies 24'. road space......soooo relative to oft quoted lengths on this Forum is mine a 19' Van?.......I still relate to feet and inches better than metric.....when I was in the Bank we would receive memos describing the latest bandits details....they would quote say 172cms......I didnt know if I should be looking for a masked dwarf or John Wayne...Lol......but if they had said he was 5'10 3/4" I would have known to a hair breadth how tall he was.....do other GN's still relate better to feet and inches like this old warhorse?......Hoo Roo
GaryKelly said
08:52 PM Apr 5, 2013
Yep, I still think in feet and inches, and prefer miles per gallon. And horsepower. But even the Yanks and their pounds in relation to body weight (humans) and cars/trucks confuses me. If a bloke weighs 12 stone I know what it means. But 168 pounds? Gimme a break. I still use words like 'quid' and 'bob' when I talk about money. And cheap watches. :)
Grams said
09:53 PM Apr 5, 2013
I'm 51, so quite young here, but I grew up with inches and feet, and then had to learn metric later. I do both measurements, and the metric conversion web site is my best friend... When I hear something is 180cms, I know its 6ft, so if its 184cm I know its a bit more than 6ft. I just keep converting it in my head.
Les unfortunately measures things in inches and says they are cms....not a very good idea when you are buying planks of wood for something :( So I make him measure everything twice, and write down whether he measured it in inches or cms.
gwb said
10:05 PM Apr 5, 2013
We usually refer to our 7.2 metre van as 24 feet, we have never been asked for the travel length at a caravan park but in saying that some of our friends have. Geoff and Bev
Onedodger said
11:06 PM Apr 5, 2013
To be crude most want the length of the box. So a caravan has a external body length of 18feet then it can be called 18ft or 5.5 Meters.
However when fitting into a space the driver needs to include the total length including Draw Gear and rear spare.
But most van parks only want the box size usually in feet.
jimricho said
01:20 AM Apr 6, 2013
GaryKelly wrote:
Yep, I still think in feet and inches, and prefer miles per gallon. And horsepower. But even the Yanks and their pounds in relation to body weight (humans) and cars/trucks confuses me. If a bloke weighs 12 stone I know what it means. But 168 pounds? Gimme a break. I still use words like 'quid' and 'bob' when I talk about money. And cheap watches. :)
I can't think of a more useless measure of fuel consumption than miles per gallon. We buy our fuel in litres not gallons and measure our distance in kilometres not miles and have been doing so for the last forty years! This makes converting to mpg a completely pointless exercise and introduces a further possibility of errors. For mpg to be any use for estimating range and trip planning it then needs to be reconverted back to a meaningful metric measure. If comparing with USA numbers keep in mind that a gallon in the US is only five sixths of an imperial gallon.
On the subject of advising caravan parks the length of my rig I tell them 4 metres body length and 6 metres overall. I've been asked what that is in feet by receptionists who weren't even born when the nation converted to metric.
At 70 years of age I do at times still sometimes think in imperial but have no trouble dealing in metric and prefer to do so as it's a much easier system if approached with an open mind.
Duh said
04:45 PM Apr 6, 2013
Just as a matter of interest, fuel etc and most things change to metric in 1974 although decimal currency was earlier than that (1966 ).
In 1970, the Parliament of Australia passed the Metric Conversion Act, which created the Metric Conversion Board to facilitate the conversion of measurements from imperial to metric. A timeline of major developments in this conversion process is as follows:[1]
1971 the Australian wool industry converted to the metric system.
1972 all primary schools were teaching the metric system alone. Many had been teaching both imperial and metric and later, metric alone since Australia changed to the decimal currency system in 1966. Horse racing converted in August 1972 and air temperatures were converted in September 1972.[4]
1973 all secondary schools were now using the metric system.
1987 The Real estate industry converted to metric.
1988 Metrication completed, with the metric system becoming the only system of legal measurements in Australia.
-- Edited by Duh on Saturday 6th of April 2013 04:46:54 PM
GaryKelly said
09:47 PM Apr 6, 2013
Who said anything about using mpg as a measure? I simply said I still think in mpg. So if a car does 30mpg on the highway I know what it means, just like I know what 6 foot means, or a hundred yards, or a 60 foot frontage, or 35 foot boat, or the tray on my ute which is 6 feet by 8 feet, etc. I'll leave all that measuring stuff to people who care about it.
Beth54 said
02:10 AM Apr 7, 2013
When I bought my Lulu 2nd hand, she was advertised as 11ft. I haven't seen too many that are advertised in metric actually.
A while ago, I was curious about where the 11ft is measured so experimented a bit and found it to be 11ft box length. I haven't measured the overall length, I guess I should know that.
With CP's I just say i30 towing a Viscount Nipper. They generally know what I'm describing.
Duh said
02:40 AM Apr 7, 2013
I always told the CP's the overall length (travelling length) from the ball to the rear including spare wheel or bumper, whichever was poking out more.......otherwise they try to squeeze you into a small spot.....
arthur said
12:19 AM May 5, 2013
Golddetectornomad wrote:
When GN folk mention the length of their vans, what length are they quoting?
Goldy, whatever length yours is, someones will always be longer!
High GTN,
On this Jayco link you will see "Travel Length" I believe that is the overall length, see;
http://www.jayco.com.au/Products/Caravans/default.aspx#/Products/Caravans/nav2_K/Technical_Specs_v
PS: Like you I was educated in the old stuff when at school, have a bit of trouble relating to the new ones, but getting there gradually!
-- Edited by Duh on Friday 5th of April 2013 11:51:37 AM
When GN folk mention the length of their vans, what length are they quoting? My Jayco is internal 16'11", it is actual body length 19', however overall with A frame and sullage equipment box it occupies 24'. road space......soooo relative to oft quoted lengths on this Forum is mine a 19' Van?.......I still relate to feet and inches better than metric.....when I was in the Bank we would receive memos describing the latest bandits details....they would quote say 172cms......I didnt know if I should be looking for a masked dwarf or John Wayne...Lol......but if they had said he was 5'10 3/4" I would have known to a hair breadth how tall he was.....do other GN's still relate better to feet and inches like this old warhorse?......Hoo Roo
Les unfortunately measures things in inches and says they are cms....not a very good idea when you are buying planks of wood for something :( So I make him measure everything twice, and write down whether he measured it in inches or cms.
Geoff and Bev
To be crude most want the length of the box. So a caravan has a external body length of 18feet then it can be called 18ft or 5.5 Meters.
However when fitting into a space the driver needs to include the total length including Draw Gear and rear spare.
But most van parks only want the box size usually in feet.
I can't think of a more useless measure of fuel consumption than miles per gallon. We buy our fuel in litres not gallons and measure our distance in kilometres not miles and have been doing so for the last forty years! This makes converting to mpg a completely pointless exercise and introduces a further possibility of errors. For mpg to be any use for estimating range and trip planning it then needs to be reconverted back to a meaningful metric measure. If comparing with USA numbers keep in mind that a gallon in the US is only five sixths of an imperial gallon.
On the subject of advising caravan parks the length of my rig I tell them 4 metres body length and 6 metres overall. I've been asked what that is in feet by receptionists who weren't even born when the nation converted to metric.
At 70 years of age I do at times still sometimes think in imperial but have no trouble dealing in metric and prefer to do so as it's a much easier system if approached with an open mind.
Just as a matter of interest, fuel etc and most things change to metric in 1974 although decimal currency was earlier than that (1966 ).
See this link for 1974;
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_exact_date_was_the_metric_system_introduced_to_Australia_for_measurement
If you scroll down on the next link below it shows the dates of conversion for various things;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_Australia
In 1970, the Parliament of Australia passed the Metric Conversion Act, which created the Metric Conversion Board to facilitate the conversion of measurements from imperial to metric. A timeline of major developments in this conversion process is as follows:[1]
-- Edited by Duh on Saturday 6th of April 2013 04:46:54 PM
When I bought my Lulu 2nd hand, she was advertised as 11ft. I haven't seen too many that are advertised in metric actually.
A while ago, I was curious about where the 11ft is measured so experimented a bit and found it to be 11ft box length. I haven't measured the overall length, I guess I should know that.
With CP's I just say i30 towing a Viscount Nipper. They generally know what I'm describing.
I always told the CP's the overall length (travelling length) from the ball to the rear including spare wheel or bumper, whichever was poking out more.......otherwise they try to squeeze you into a small spot.....
Goldy, whatever length yours is, someones will always be longer!