Essential Purchases from Campervan Bits

[G and C]

Happy Christmas all.

Here are a few comments from us.

Hook up lead 15m. On the odd occasion we need longer the campsites have lent us an extension and one time our neighbour let us plug into his 4 socket cable. We have gone 4 days without hook up and the batteries have lasted.

Never had levelling blocks. If it is inclined we try and park so our heads are up hill.

I made a water tank filler by putting a plastic funnel into a short length of tubing and we fill from a tap with a 1.5l water bottle as needed. We don't drink the water from the tank unless it is boiled for tea etc. I have a separate hose I use to fill the tank at home but don’t take it with us.

We have a single burner aerosol type gas stove. A four pack of canisters lasts ages and are widely available (e.g. Decathlon). We have it as a spare in case the main bottle runs out and it is handy for cooking smelly or greasy food outside, which is also a nice way to cook.

A Ridgemonkey square kettle is a great space saver. It fits in the bowl in the basin.

We bought an Ikea frying pan and 3l cooking pot rather than 'camping' ones as we find these have thin bottoms which can burn the food. We are on the lookout for a good quality small wok.

Brandrup carpets are great particularly the folding one for when you get the bed out.

External insulated windscreen cover is great as it prevents condensation on the front windows and keeps out more of the light.

Starting with as few a bits as possible and then buy what you need once you have been on a few trips is probably the best way to go.

Good camping for 2024!

 

[Blackbrogue1962]

Happy Christmas all.

Here are a few comments from us.

Hook up lead 15m. On the odd occasion we need longer the campsites have lent us an extension and one time our neighbour let us plug into his 4 socket cable. We have gone 4 days without hook up and the batteries have lasted.

Never had levelling blocks. If it is inclined we try and park so our heads are up hill.

I made a water tank filler by putting a plastic funnel into a short length of tubing and we fill from a tap with a 1.5l water bottle as needed. We don't drink the water from the tank unless it is boiled for tea etc. I have a separate hose I use to fill the tank at home but don’t take it with us.

We have a single burner aerosol type gas stove. A four pack of canisters lasts ages and are widely available (e.g. Decathlon). We have it as a spare in case the main bottle runs out and it is handy for cooking smelly or greasy food outside, which is also a nice way to cook.

A Ridgemonkey square kettle is a great space saver. It fits in the bowl in the basin.

We bought an Ikea frying pan and 3l cooking pot rather than 'camping' ones as we find these have thin bottoms which can burn the food. We are on the lookout for a good quality small wok.

Brandrup carpets are great particularly the folding one for when you get the bed out.

External insulated windscreen cover is great as it prevents condensation on the front windows and keeps out more of the light.

Starting with as few a bits as possible and then buy what you need once you have been on a few trips is probably the best way to go.

Good camping for 2024!

Many thanks for the helpful advice - less than a week to collection now.

 

[Magic Bus]

We’ve had our van for 4 years now. There are a few things we’ve bought along the way that we find useful. A low wattage Electric kettle, designed for use in a caravan. If you are are hook-up most of the time, as we are, then this substantially cuts down on the amount of gas you use. We still have a kettle that can be used on the hob too.

We have given up using the van’s water tank. We just use a 5 litre refillable bottle, as it’s far easier to walk to the tap with the bottle, than to have to drive the van over. 5 litres generally lasts us a couple of days.

We have a spare gas bottle, so we’ll never run out of gas. We can also use the spare bottle for our Cadac Barbecue.

A tie-down kit for the wind out awning, so you can keep it out if it’s a bit breezy.

An Allen key to tighten the bolts in your foldable chairs, as we find they are always coming loose.

We eventually bought the Brandrup seat covers, as the original seats mark quite easily. We‘ve also bought an Isotop Internal thermal cover, which saves the faff of having to fit the external cover.

Packing cubes for T shirts, socks and underwear - keep things separate and tidy.

A set of dry bags. We put dirty laundry in these and they can be squashed down, so take up less space. You can also put your wet waterproofs in them, to the stop the van getting wet inside.

Things we’ve bought but don’t use - a pop top bungee (not required on a T6 van), an external awning tent - used a few times but takes up too much room in the van when travelling.

.

 

[Blackbrogue1962]

Just to say that, as planned/suggested, I called into Campervanbits this week having collected my Cali from Eurovans in Crawley. A really excellent service and very grateful to the 2 x friendly and helpful ladies who answered all my questions. Could have spent more but happy with the ‘essentials’ that I did buy. A very positive introduction to the Club and advice from Forum members.