The rise and rise of caravan checkerplate

Wandering around the recent Sydney Caravan Supershow, you could not amble past one caravan display stand that did not have at least one caravan almost completely wrapped in aluminium checkerplate.

Increasingly, 'van manufacturers are layering the stuff on not just the front but the side and back wall of caravans too, and that’s before we get to tool boxes or underneath. Why is this material, first designed to walk on without slipping in industrial applications, suddenly the latest thing for Aussie caravan brands?

If you have a peek at any aluminium-clad caravans from the 1970s or '80s (aside from freshly restored ones), you’ll probably see that the lower front of the van will look a bit battle-scarred. After years of the tow vehicle flicking up rocks and other debris, the aluminium sheeting will have been pock-marked with dents or even appear sand-blasted over many years of being hit by debris kicked up from the tow vehicle.

This is why, of course, that you’ll see most caravans with a front window factory-fitted with a hinged aluminium sheet or fibreglass cover. That level of frontal protection makes sense.

Vinyl and doilies

Then, sometime in the late 1980s, when woodgrain and doilies were still in vogue, we saw the introduction of vinyl to protect the lower front of the caravan. This made perfect sense at the time; a padded vinyl layer allowed the front aluminium sheeting to miss out on the worst of stone or other debris damage and, for the time, looked good too.

The only thing is that the vinyl didn’t last long; it became a maintenance item as the material was easily damaged or eventually worn by the elements. As far as being fashionable goes, vinyl also had its day relatively quickly too; it was being ushered out the door with woodgrain interior decors. By the early 2000s, (excepting Bailey’s removable front vinyl cover of about 10 years ago) vinyl was over. Checkerplate had arrived.

The checkerplate revolution

By this time there were other digressions, such as a fibreglass nosecone, which were often left with no additional protection (not necessarily a good thing). For true off-road caravans or campers, there was of course the entirely sensible and practical stone guard (a netted, angled frame fitted to the trailer’s A-frame to deflect stones down and hopefully away from the tow vehicle’s back window).

In the main though, if a caravan had any sort of stone protection at all (aside from something over the front window), it was checkerplate all the way.

While no-one knows for sure, checkerplate was probably first used on a 'van for an entirely sensible purpose and as it was intended: for example, as the step plate into the van. For that, it was perfect as a hard-wearing, grippy tread plate.

However as off-road caravans and campers started to appear in droves around 10 years ago, so did copious amounts of checkerplate; first just on the lower front section of a van, then elsewhere.

Up the side wall or rear wall of the van; under the van, enveloping water tanks, shrouding water taps and of course on the A-frame in the form of a tool box. Is there anything checkerplate cannot do on a caravan?

Perhaps it will be used on the roof panel next as the next big thing in hail protection, or for kitchen bench covering, representing the new post-modern industrial chic decor? Oh wait, maybe that has already been done... what about a checkerplate kettle?

Too bright an idea

Then there is the colour of the stuff; first unpainted checkerplate was the go, but that was literally too bright an idea; anywhere direct sunlight or headlights were shining directly on the checkerplate, it would become a reflecting beacon and, frankly, bloody annoying for everyone.

But then the idea of painting the stuff matte black caught on. And welcome to 2022, where we have reached peak, black-painted checkerplate, an excellent heatsoak for any caravanner in summer.

The problem with the current black checkerplate is – aside from attracting more heat as noted above, if you use enough of it -- is that there is no need for it, except for the lower front section of a caravan.

Layered on side or rear walls, it's unlikely to actually do anything. A gentle brush past bushes on a narrow track, yes, that will work. But for anything serious, the checkerplate itself with scratch or crease as much, or more than, what’s underneath it.

Even at the front, the checkerplate will become very worn-looking after being peppered with stones for several years, unlike its predecessor, the padded vinyl covering. The stuff will need replacing.

It's also harder to scrub dried mud off the hundreds of diamond grooves that make up the checkerplate pattern. While the aluminium sheeting is fairly thick (generally 3mm to 5mm thick) and strong, it also becomes a heavy addition if you use enough of it, as some manufacturers are want to do. If your 3000kg full-size off-road van didn’t have so much checkerplate, it’d probably be a 2900kg van.

Raptor coatings

So what’s the next big thing if or when manufacturers check-out their checkerplate? Raptor coating, maybe, but it can be tricky and more expensive to apply properly. Raptor coating also can be harder to clean or maintain; unlike that favourite spot for raptor coating, the ute bed, the external walls of a caravan are far more prominent and obvious.

Whatever the solution, one thing has become clear in the caravan industry; we have reached peak checkerplate. The stuff can’t possibly be used for anything more.