5 Top Tips for Campervan Comfort
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- #camping #campervans #campervanlife
Campervan life in winter can be difficult due to the long hours of darkness so it's good to think of ways that can make life just a little bit easier, a little bit less difficult. Here are five of my tips. I'm sure viewers will have many more so let's here them. Put your own tips for comfortable van life in the Comments and let's build a big library of Top Tips.
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I'm based in the Scottish Highlands and I use a VW campervan to access the great outdoors, where I climb hills, ride my e-bike or gravel bike and just visit some of those places I've never been to. I've been climbing hills and mountains all over the world for 50 years and I'm a former editor of Climber Magazine and The Great Outdoors Magazine.
Longing to see you get out into the mountains on a bike and the little MSR Cameron. Just occasionally for us old timers? 🤗
Haven't cycled very much this winter. Been too wet or too cold. Walking weather really but spring will soon be here...
My top vanlife tip for those long UK winter nights is to drive 6,000 miles south 🌄 😂
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Don’t really fancy the Congo at any time of the year !!
Another tip. Use driver and passenger door to get in and out of van when cold wet, sandy or muddy., change footwear in front seats.keeps back if van cleaner and warmer. Also less noisy as not having to slam sliding door and more considerate to other campers
Great tips..I will pass on the cable one 👍 simple but brilliant.
Thanks!
Extra tip: attach some colored electrical tape on the cable, so potential thieves think that it is repaired on some places and they don't steal yours. Good luck!
Very interesting vid Cameron .. I put a drop of Zoflora in my pee bottle to help with the smell :)
I always have a hot water bottle on board and we also have a large vacuum flask for "spare" hot water for quick drinks. This is also filled before leaving home so we start off with hot water.
Wow Cameron great tip with the cable, I always lose that particular battle. Priceless !
My tip. In very windy weather your electric cable will bang against the van where you plig it tnto the van. We have a pice of white elastic tied in a small loop which we attach over cable and flap which stops the banging on strong winds
All our cupboards and crockery have either Ikea kitchen drawer liner rubber mats or some sewn 'covers' of fabric. Our van is silent down the road as no crockery, cutlery or storage jars etc rattle or rub.
Great tips :) That cable looping method is how you store ropes and lines on sailboats too :)
Instead of a Duvulay, we bought inflatable camping mats to go on the rock and roll bed. Not the self-inflating type, but the thin ones ones you inflate with a tiny pump or an inflation bag. They are only a couple of inches thick but really make the bed comfortable. Quick and easy to inflate/deflate, plus they roll/fold up to virtually nothing. Perfect with a sleeping bag. Or, put into a sleeping bag and sleep on top with a duvet. In the morning, just pull out the stopper and roll up the sleeping bag leaving the mat inside. It takes up no space at all.
@@janerobson2476 I had an inflatable mat for tent camping but didn’t get on with it. Went back to a Thermarest. But if it works for you then all good . Thanks for the tip!
Good advice for newbies. The roof vent catches should be lifted by the horizontal part behind the lifting catch. The arm is moved to the rear and the catches pushed down. This locks the roof and should stop it lifting. As you advise parking head to wind is best and be prepared to batten the hatches if the wind is strong.
I cut my long cable in two, fitted two new plugs and only use the length that I need . Sometimes it's only a few feet.
I have a 1.9 T5 and have made up a wire tray that fits into the large void above the engine. I can store my cable bag , jack, towing eye and wheel brace in there. Doesn't cause over heating and frees up valuable storage space under the double seat. I can still access the oil cap but usually take it out ( only takes a couple of minutes) for MOTs and services....
There are 'she wee' bottles available. They are not expensive and they work. Available from Temu for a couple of ££. It's called a Unisex Portable Urinal Bottle. Definitely worth a look, I wouldn't be without mine.
Thanks for the other tips, I don't know why no 5 works I just know it does, particularly with a 25m cable.
My tip is - if you use a mattress topper of any kind along with a duvet (I hate sleeping bags) put the mattress topper in a cotton duvet cover, it eliminates the hassle of a bottom sheet. X
Good advice Cameron, as a man of a certain age like yourself I can vouch for the pee bottle I bought a 'glow in the dark' one with a screw cap, well you can't be too careful can you. I agree with the Duvalay expensive but worth it you can't put a price on a good nights kip.
Put a funnel on the Nalgene bottle then you’re wife can use it. There is bottles that is already with a ”funnel”, just saying. You can use it both.
We have rubber floor mats in the front and an offcut which lives in the back. On a dry day that rubber 'door mat' lives below the floor carpet, on a wet day on top and perfect for taking off boots without getting the carpet muddy.
To add to Cameron’s excellent pee bottle tip. I always put about 50ml of Dettol in the empty pee bottle just to eliminate any residual urine smells.
Great tips, thanks Cameron.
A cable tidy works well as an alternative to manually coiling. Taylormade make excellent external screen covers. When on ehu we use a Vango induction hob for cooking. The campingaz c907 cylinders are pretty pricey these days. Again when on ehu a small fan heater stands in for our diesel heater. We travel with 2 border terriers and a couple of noodle mats at the entrance help keep the interior clean by mopping mucky paws as they go over. Numerous light throws used aswell. Thumbs up for Duvalay mattresses. We have them with quilts and covers and fortunately a large overcab locker to store them in. We have a 4.99 meter Renault Traffic hitop.
Great tips!
Love the cable tip❤❤I
Cheaper alternative to Duvalay (and better i think) is Dunelm Cooler than Memory Foam Topper. Washable cover, multi layer, thicker than a Duvalay and half the cost...
Tip #2 - I can't help but think of that scene in the 'Dumb & Dumber' movie when they're on the road...
Those seats look great
Handy tips :)
Issue with external blinds is they get wet when it rains. Where on small van do you put them if soaking wet. Prefer intrrnal blinds. Keeps heat in and drying windows is eadier than drying blinds
@@RobertCrawford-qr8hw Never found that to be a problem. Blinds go into a bag and live below rear parcel shelf. Excessive wind is more of an issue. On very windy nights I put the wiper blades over the main windscreen cover to prevent it blowing away.
External screens stop the glass getting cold and reduce condensation to a greater degree
Well, no5 looks interesting, I loop, loop, loop. I’ll now try loop, invert, loop, invert😂. Looked a nice spot Cameron, where were you?
I would be wary of the exterior covers idea unless you are on a campsite/secure location. If you need to drive off in a hurry it would prevent you from doing so. Also a shout out for a cable tidy, just need to wind it up like a hose with no dirty hands to boot.
Follow tips 2 -4 (1 doesn’t apply in our pop top) and must now try Tip 5 - if it works it’ll be a godsend!!!
My campervan (AS Symbol) is only about half a metre longer than yours which allows a small washroom with loo and shower. I know it is personal choice, but I would never buy one without a loo - nor would my wife allow me to!
As I mentioned in the video it's all about compromise, and personal choice. We've had three campervans with showers anbd in total I've had one shower! It's not that I'm a particularly dirty individual it's just that heating all that water seems such a waste. We've tended to use the shower area for storage. Having a sit-down loo is certainly a nice luxury to have but our porta-potty fits the bill. Interestingly I feel every campervan/.motohome should have some kind of toilet by law.
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors Thanks for your reply Cameron and indeed it is about personal choice. We use our onboard facilities a lot, perhaps because we had caravans for 33 years before buying a campervan 5 years ago. Always enjoy your videos and look forward to the next one.
Great tips Cameron, for coiling the cable its worth having an absorbent cloth oi you're hand and you can clean the cable as you coil.
Cheers Jimmy
Top tip, leave your wife at home, with the space and weight savings simply substitute with beer and whiskey
The external windscreen covers keep the glass warm hence no condensation.
@@philshepherd90 Wow, is it that simple?
I use a Comfort fabric softener bottle for night time visits.
Gives a whole new meaning to taking a comfort break!
Other brands are available....!
Good for me too.
Snap....😂
Yes much better to use a container that is usually recycled than buy a container. It does not make sense.
Yup, Tesco bio washing liquid bottle for me (small size). It has a wide neck, comfortable handle (which also stops the peeing into a bottle sound). Also the handle has a "guage" where you can see the liquid level. This bottle is short enough to use when kneeling down too -for when the pop top is down and you want to be discreet. I leave the label on, so it disguises the real function when you take it to the loos to empty it. Ladies, we can use this bottle alone. Just practice a bit. Easier than Sheewee or Pibella and less to keep clean.
Last top tip from me - go camping out of season and to less obvious places. Some of our best adventures....
Hey Cameron - what width of mattress did you get?
The 66cm looks like a single but yours looks like a double?
Think it's the double one. Specifically made for VW T6. Takes the hardness off the RIB bed just nicely.
I just looked on their site and I couldn’t see one specifically made for the VW. Did you go on a particular site Cameron? All they seem to have is widths and I think the 77 cm looked not quite wide enough but the next one is huge.
@@madoak5597 www.duvalay.co.uk/campervans
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors fab thanks so much for the tip. I love the way it’s so compact too.
Don't use an empty milk carton for tip no.2, it won't end very well😂
Add some Bisto!
Yorkshireman in Spain: as tha any bisto?
It doesn't take the smell away but fairly thickens it up!
We've sewn midge screens for the front windows and roof vent. In conjunction with small wind deflectors on the doors, we can keep windows open in midge territory.
Just add a little blue and pink toilet fluid to your pee bottle. Maybe 1cm depth. You have it anyway, right? 👍
Make a solution of both blue and pink diluting it with water to the advised mix on the bottle. I sure you'll work it out.
Excellent video. Love the cable technique👍
you handled the gender differences so sensitively I have to say