Cali Beach T6

Paddy Dyson · Jan 2, 2019

Hello
We bought a Cali Beach T6 earlier this year. We haven't made use of it properly yet, as our daughter arrived in April and scuppered our plans! We will be using it a lot through this year, so keen to get some advice on camping with a 1 year old!
Also I'd like some help choosing a mattress for our downstairs bed - the van did not come with one. For a full width Beach, they are very expensive, so want to make sure I choose the right one.
Thanks
Paddy

Hotel California · Jan 2, 2019

Welcome , there are quite a few travelling with baby's in thiere Cali's , so it's doable .
Seems the new year has not stopped new members signing in :thumb

Amarillo · Jan 2, 2019

Paddy Dyson said:
Hello
We bought a Cali Beach T6 earlier this year. We haven't made use of it properly yet, as our daughter arrived in April and scuppered our plans! We will be using it a lot through this year, so keen to get some advice on camping with a 1 year old!
Also I'd like some help choosing a mattress for our downstairs bed - the van did not come with one. For a full width Beach, they are very expensive, so want to make sure I choose the right one.
Thanks
Paddy

Hold fire on the mattress.

The multiflex in its largest configuration, with the pad on top, and the three seat bench pushed right back makes a natural cot.

With a bit of plywood woodworking you can push the bench forward and extend this to make a double toddler bed should you have another child:

Paddy Dyson · Jan 3, 2019

hotel california said:
Welcome , there are quite a few travelling with baby's in thiere Cali's , so it's doable .
Seems the new year has not stopped new members signing in

Thanks for the welcome. I'm keen for the little one to get used to camping as early as possible!

Paddy Dyson · Jan 3, 2019

Amarillo said:
Hold fire on the mattress.

The multiflex in its largest configuration, with the pad on top, and the three seat bench pushed right back makes a natural cot.

With a bit of plywood woodworking you can push the bench forward and extend this to make a double toddler bed should you have another child:
View attachment 40448

Interesting option. I think I do need the downstairs mattress though, as I'll be doing some solo camping through the winter and I think it will be warmer / easier keeping the roof down.

sapto · Jan 3, 2019

Welcome Paddy and family

Great to hear others camping with young ones! We are just trying out how it works in winter. Until now he (8 months old) enjoys it (camping has everything to offer, babybathroom and swimmingpool, these options really help

). In fact it is not so different than in summer or spring (he was 2 weeks old when we first gave it a try for 2 days).
Look forward to read about your experiences!

Amarillo · Jan 3, 2019

Paddy Dyson said:
Interesting option. I think I do need the downstairs mattress though, as I'll be doing some solo camping through the winter and I think it will be warmer / easier keeping the roof down.

First we tried a 150x200 Ikea mattress topper. It is an almost perfect fit and it packs very small. With a triple fold it stuffed into a rectangular cotton sleeping bag liner. However, after sleeping on it for ~80 nearly consecutive nights in a tour around the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia we found it a bit hard.

We now have the eye wateringly expensive Brandrup mattress and the fitted sheet. Perhaps 10 cm too long for the multiflex and lowered bench bed (standard bed), but the prefect length for the shortened multiflex, lowered bench and folded 6th and 7th seats (long bed). We find it very comfortable and all four of us have snuggled up together on it reasonably happily all night long. It folds in half for our double toddler bed, or concertina folds into four to stow above the multiflex and behind the bench seat in the rearmost position. With a fully folded pack size of 150x50x30 cm it is very bulky. You will also need the multiflex pad if using it on the standard or long bed. We can leave the multiflex pad at home if using our double toddler bed.

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Paddy Dyson · Jan 3, 2019

sapto said:
Welcome Paddy and family

Great to hear others camping with young ones! We are just trying out how it works in winter. Until now he (8 months old) enjoys it (camping has everything to offer, babybathroom and swimmingpool, these options really help). In fact it is not so different than in summer or spring (he was 2 weeks old when we first gave it a try for 2 days).
Look forward to read about your experiences!

Hey - thanks for getting in touch. Our daughter is 8 months old also (16th April) but we haven't been brave enough to try camping with her yet. We will definitely start this spring, so will be good to compare notes.

Paddy Dyson · Jan 3, 2019

Amarillo said:
First we tried a 150x200 Ikea mattress topper. It is an almost perfect fit and it packs very small. With a triple fold it stuffed into a rectangular cotton sleeping bag liner. However, after sleeping on it for ~80 nearly consecutive nights in a tour around the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Bothnia we found it a bit hard.

We now have the eye wateringly expensive Brandrup mattress and the fitted sheet. Perhaps 10 cm too long for the multiflex and lowered bench bed (standard bed), but the prefect length for the shortened multiflex, lowered bench and folded 6th and 7th seats (long bed). We find it very comfortable and all four of us have snuggled up together on it reasonably happily all night long. It folds in half for our double toddler bed, or concertina folds into four to stow above the multiflex and behind the bench seat in the rearmost position. With a fully folded pack size of 150x50x30 cm it is very bulky. You will also need the multiflex pad if using it on the standard or long bed. We can leave the multiflex pad at home if using our double toddler bed.

Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Thanks Tom,
I'm interested in mattress lengths as I see the mattress manufacturers offer 198cm and 188cm lengths. We have the standard Beach (no 6th / 7th seat). Does that mean that we should use the 188cm? It is a surprisingly confusing and complex subject!

Amarillo · Jan 3, 2019

Paddy Dyson said:
Thanks Tom,
I'm interested in mattress lengths as I see the mattress manufacturers offer 198cm and 188cm lengths. We have the standard Beach (no 6th / 7th seat). Does that mean that we should use the 188cm? It is a surprisingly confusing and complex subject!

I have not taken a tape measure to the bed but 188 sounds about right for the standard bed but 198 sounds a bit short for the long bed - but few would need a mattress that long even if the bed is longer.

You can also make a short bed, make it the same as the long bed but leave out the folded seats 6 and 7.

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