Glad to see proper food and not videos of burgers in buns and pot noodles. We keep pot noodles as emergency food but you can't beat a one pot meal and in winter you spend more time in the van. I had a fleece sleeping bag liner which after a few years became hard and itchy. I bought a large fluffy throw from morrisons and put the zip from the fleece in it. Expected it wouldn't be all that good but very effective with a 9 tog duvet. Use a hottie to get my feet warm and an oodie in the evening when sat around to maintain heat. After that it's think warm thoughts!
Luv the Grub, that will warm you inside and all the other tips will keep you warm outside, happy camping. if you stay on site with hook up you'll be cosy all night.
Thanks Cameron - I used your Cowboys’ Stew recipe for my family dinner this evening (at home). Although I added a healthy glug of red wine. Superb fair in this weather. Cheers.
Hi Cameron , some good wee tips there, We Camp all year round ( Caravan) and my wee hot water bottle is my best wee pal at night lol. that Cowboy stew looked lovely. Take care Janie
Top tips, thank you. I always suffer from cold feet at night - even when wearing a hat. This has been made worse by ORIF ankle surgery and the associated metalwork. I recently invested in a pair of down booties, around £25.00 from eBay. A real game changer.
Another informative and entertaining video Cameron, I would never have thought of putting a hat on when my feet were cold. When the wife and I went away in our touring caravan I sometimes woke up with a cold head if it was early or late in the season. But really the video reminded me of when I used to deliver and collect at the distilleries around the north of Scotland. I had just come away from one in Invergordon and got a bed in a drivers digs not far away. There was no evening meal and the place was freezing, I was so cold I got up and put my clothes on, dungarees and boots as well. It was in stark contrast to one in Aviemore run by an old woman, when you got in there was warm three course meal, just the kind of stuff your granny would make, home made soup, mince and tatties and sponge and custard. As you say simple food can heat you up, then up to a bed that had been prewarmed with hot water bottle, luxury.
We recently bought down sleeping bags for our campervan and very impressed. Managed to sleep in the roof at the start of November and no issues with the cold. Some manufacturers have sleeping bags specifically designed for woman which my wife bought and is very impressed. Our sleeping bags can also open to create duvets.
G,reat tips Cameron, as an outdoor man I am familiar with your ideas to keep you warm, as a relevant new campervaner I found it very interesting, like the cowboy stew on the ridgemonkey, weather in the Cairngorms looks good
We’ve just got back from a night out in the frost - toasty with the fleece blankets, we’re determined to use ours all year round with the diesel heater as a back up or for the morning as we get out. That dinner looks lovely, I’d be tempted to put some Worcestershire sauce in there too.
We use cheapish artificial fibre 3-season bags (with removable hoods) all year round and add summer-weight single duvets for winter. If it gets really cold we add thermal underwear to the mix. In some places we try to avoid using the gas heater as it eats gas at an alarming rate - not usually a problem but, for example, there is now no autogas suppler left in Orkney where we spent 10 weeks working earlier this year. Worth the effort though!
Gas is definitely becoming a real problem for campervanners. The LPG outlets seem to be getting fewer and fewer and it's still difficult getting 6k Calor propane. We now use Camping Gaz 407 bottles. It's butane but there's a bit of propane in it so it stops it freezing. Plenty of outlets for Camping Gaz and it's dead easy to find on the Continent.
Apparently, if you eat proteins (meat or nuts), rather than carbohydrates, your body will keep warmer digesting the meal. I guess it must take more work than easy digested food stuffs.
The outside window screens have their place. They do keep a bit more heat in but it doesn't matter anyway, if you have a decent diesel heater because you wouldn't notice the difference. Where they do excel is reducing condensation and they are much better than the internal screens in this regard. In windy weather however, they are a nightmare flapping outside all night, even on quality well fitting ones. The other problem with them in windy weather is grit and sand, particularly if you are on a beach side pitch. The grit or sand gets underneath the exterior blinds and can damage the paintwork, just like sand paper. I have had to t-cut my van twice because of this. The best option is to carry both internal and external blinds, to cater for the specific type of weather you find yourself in.The internal blinds in my van, i carry flat in the pop top and the external ones in the boot lower level, job done ! On the pop top / heat debate. We have no problem keeping the van warm with the pop top up, with our webasto thermostatically controlled diesel heater. On a night however, when we go to bed, if we are only sleeping downstairs, we set the heater to 12 degrees and shut the pop top. Mainly because you don't know what the weather is, when you are asleep and if there is only two of you, why not, it is more cosy and you don't need the roof height, when you are horizontal.
A good tip for outer screens in windy weather is to put the wipers on a tad and trap the screen in place. I don't think they make much difference in terms of keeping the heat in the van but they certainly do stop condensation and when your windscreen in running with wet in the morning it makes the van feel cold and damp, not to mention the longer term problems associated with condensation.
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors My external blinds go over the wiper recess onto the bonnet and have elasticated bands you hook onto the lower valence grill. Still blow about in windy weather. So if the wind blows, the internal ones go on.
Hi Cameron, what do you do regarding winter tyres in Scotland? I'm torn between fitting all season or a separate set of wheels with winter tyres? Thanks!
To be honest I just have ordinary tyres and I'm careful where I drive. Although it's snowy at the moment this kind of weather is very unusual these days. I've lived in the highlands for 45 years and have never had winter tures.
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors Thanks for taking the time to reply Cameron! Loving the camper content on the channel and the recommendation of Living the Van Life has consumed a fair few hours this past week.
All good commonsense tips. Any tips on how to keep your laptop warm and functioning in the van, when the heating is off or overnight? I'll be working away in mine and in the winter and I've already had one laptop die on me through the cold. Thanks.
In my mountaineering days I've had to take my boots to bed with me on several occasions to stop them freezing. I suspect a laptop might make a better bedmate than a pair of mountaineering boots!
Cameron, helpful stuff. I am a small campervan user and need to sort out some cold weather heating. I don’t have space for a diesel heater, so have to look towards electric via an EHU. I have already tried a small oil-fired radiator but didn’t find the heat output sufficient. I would be interested to hear about any recommendations you, or your subscribers could give for ‘tried and tested’ electric solutions eg electric blanket, electric overblanket etc
Are you sure there's no room for a diesel heater? They don't take up a lot of space and can even be underslung beneath the van. Well worth checking out as they are real gamechangers. Failing that a good microfibre throw or even a down-filled blanket will help keep you warm. You could always sit in the evening with an electric blanket draped round you, powered from a power bank like the Bluetti I featured recently?
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors My van conversion is based upon an original mobility vehicle and although there is a standard floor, it retains the ramp feature underneath the van. This not a bad thing as it provides useable storage, but makes the diesel heater fitment problematic. I would also be interested in any recommendations from your subscribers. Thanks.
@@gordonmacgregor7762 I have the same small ex-mobility mini camper van as well. Same issue as you trying to find a heater small enough to provide heat through the night. I've got a mini blow heater that works well during the day, that plugs into my power bank but it's too noisy to use all night. Toying with one of the small 12v heaters you get for defrosting windscreens but I think it might also be too noisy. You can get them with a USB cable on them to power them as well. Be interested to hear if there are any solutions out there apart from getting a bigger van!
@@raymondrose9209 Note your comments Raymond. Like you, I have an in-built fan heater that is useable during the day, but not the night. Although I have a leisure battery I wouldn't want to rely on that to power a heater overnight and my preference for the winter season would be to park at formal campsites where I can make use of mains power.
@@gordonmacgregor7762 yes the same in that our preference in winter is campsites with a shore electrical supply to plug into. We use a double sleeping bag which along with the dog snuggled between us mostly keeps us warm but I'd like some background heat. I looked at electric oil heaters as well but couldn't really find anything small enough. Ideally I'd like something I could fix in place beside the power bank. Just can't find the solution yet
Thank you again Cameron for a great video. I was wondering about any water lines and if you winterized for sub-zero temperatures? Best of the season and a Happy Christmas from the Canadian West Coast.
Yes, I completely empty all water tanks for the winter and just carry some water bottles inside the van. A good tip is to leave asll your cupboard doors open when the van's heater is running. Most water pipes in campervans run throiugh cupboards so it just helps stop a freeze up.
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
Cameron the cowboy stew was lovely, more recipes please.
Excellent! Said it all! Thank you.
Great tips, thanks for sharing. Love the recipes you share with us too.
Cracking vlog 👌😎
I’ve a freezer suite that I use ,hat ,socks ,gloves = snug as a bug in a rug 👍👍👊
Glad to see proper food and not videos of burgers in buns and pot noodles. We keep pot noodles as emergency food but you can't beat a one pot meal and in winter you spend more time in the van. I had a fleece sleeping bag liner which after a few years became hard and itchy. I bought a large fluffy throw from morrisons and put the zip from the fleece in it. Expected it wouldn't be all that good but very effective with a 9 tog duvet. Use a hottie to get my feet warm and an oodie in the evening when sat around to maintain heat. After that it's think warm thoughts!
Thanks for all these additional tips Thelma. Keep warm.
Luv the Grub, that will warm you inside and all the other tips will keep you warm outside, happy camping. if you stay on site with hook up you'll be cosy all night.
Some really great tips, Cameron,even for inside the home this winter ❄️.
Have a wonderful Christmas,and God bless you both
Full timer,but even so very informative and as ever entertaining, thanks
Stay warm...
Thanks for this video!
Very useful tips Cameron, thanks. Just watched this morning in Fife whilst the snow is falling outside.
I love camping - even in winter - BUT; one thing I do unless it's truly awful outside is cook outside.
It's like sleeping in the kitchen at home.
Or cooking in your bedroom.
Thanks Cameron - I used your Cowboys’ Stew recipe for my family dinner this evening (at home). Although I added a healthy glug of red wine. Superb fair in this weather. Cheers.
Red wine. Yes, that improves any kind of stew.
Hi Cameron , some good wee tips there, We Camp all year round ( Caravan) and my wee hot water bottle is my best wee pal at night lol. that Cowboy stew looked lovely. Take care Janie
Cheers Janey. Despite all the technology it hard to beat the good old hot water bottle!
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors love your videos. Merry Christmas and all the best for 2023.
Great ideas but I’d not make tea from water from a hot water bottle. There’s a lot of nasty components in the rubber.
Top tips, thank you.
I always suffer from cold feet at night - even when wearing a hat. This has been made worse by ORIF ankle surgery and the associated metalwork. I recently invested in a pair of down booties, around £25.00 from eBay. A real game changer.
Suonds really cosy...
Another informative and entertaining video Cameron, I would never have thought of putting a hat on when my feet were cold. When the wife and I went away in our touring caravan I sometimes woke up with a cold head if it was early or late in the season. But really the video reminded me of when I used to deliver and collect at the distilleries around the north of Scotland. I had just come away from one in Invergordon and got a bed in a drivers digs not far away. There was no evening meal and the place was freezing, I was so cold I got up and put my clothes on, dungarees and boots as well. It was in stark contrast to one in Aviemore run by an old woman, when you got in there was warm three course meal, just the kind of stuff your granny would make, home made soup, mince and tatties and sponge and custard. As you say simple food can heat you up, then up to a bed that had been prewarmed with hot water bottle, luxury.
Sponge and custard! Funnily enough I had that just recently, the first for many years and I'd forgotten just how good it was. Simple and warming.
We recently bought down sleeping bags for our campervan and very impressed. Managed to sleep in the roof at the start of November and no issues with the cold. Some manufacturers have sleeping bags specifically designed for woman which my wife bought and is very impressed. Our sleeping bags can also open to create duvets.
I'm sure you'll feel the read benefits of your new sleeping bags once the temperatures drop. Looking like -9C here tonight. Brrrr.
G,reat tips Cameron, as an outdoor man I am familiar with your ideas to keep you warm, as a relevant new campervaner I found it very interesting, like the cowboy stew on the ridgemonkey, weather in the Cairngorms looks good
We’ve just got back from a night out in the frost - toasty with the fleece blankets, we’re determined to use ours all year round with the diesel heater as a back up or for the morning as we get out. That dinner looks lovely, I’d be tempted to put some Worcestershire sauce in there too.
Worcester sauce eh? That sounds like an interesting addition. Thanks.
We use cheapish artificial fibre 3-season bags (with removable hoods) all year round and add summer-weight single duvets for winter. If it gets really cold we add thermal underwear to the mix. In some places we try to avoid using the gas heater as it eats gas at an alarming rate - not usually a problem but, for example, there is now no autogas suppler left in Orkney where we spent 10 weeks working earlier this year. Worth the effort though!
Gas is definitely becoming a real problem for campervanners. The LPG outlets seem to be getting fewer and fewer and it's still difficult getting 6k Calor propane. We now use Camping Gaz 407 bottles. It's butane but there's a bit of propane in it so it stops it freezing. Plenty of outlets for Camping Gaz and it's dead easy to find on the Continent.
Thanks for the Winter tips:) Food looked lovely Cameron and also a very cheap and easy meal too:)
Apparently, if you eat proteins (meat or nuts), rather than carbohydrates, your body will keep warmer digesting the meal. I guess it must take more work than easy digested food stuffs.
The outside window screens have their place. They do keep a bit more heat in but it doesn't matter anyway, if you have a decent diesel heater because you wouldn't notice the difference. Where they do excel is reducing condensation and they are much better than the internal screens in this regard. In windy weather however, they are a nightmare flapping outside all night, even on quality well fitting ones. The other problem with them in windy weather is grit and sand, particularly if you are on a beach side pitch. The grit or sand gets underneath the exterior blinds and can damage the paintwork, just like sand paper.
I have had to t-cut my van twice because of this. The best option is to carry both internal and external blinds, to cater for the specific type of weather you find yourself in.The internal blinds in my van, i carry flat in the pop top and the external ones in the boot lower level, job done !
On the pop top / heat debate. We have no problem keeping the van warm with the pop top up, with our webasto thermostatically controlled diesel heater. On a night however, when we go to bed, if we are only sleeping downstairs, we set the heater to 12 degrees and shut the pop top. Mainly because you don't know what the weather is, when you are asleep and if there is only two of you, why not, it is more cosy and you don't need the roof height, when you are horizontal.
A good tip for outer screens in windy weather is to put the wipers on a tad and trap the screen in place. I don't think they make much difference in terms of keeping the heat in the van but they certainly do stop condensation and when your windscreen in running with wet in the morning it makes the van feel cold and damp, not to mention the longer term problems associated with condensation.
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors My external blinds go over the wiper recess onto the bonnet and have elasticated bands you hook onto the lower valence grill. Still blow about in windy weather. So if the wind blows, the internal ones go on.
Hi Cameron, what do you do regarding winter tyres in Scotland? I'm torn between fitting all season or a separate set of wheels with winter tyres? Thanks!
To be honest I just have ordinary tyres and I'm careful where I drive. Although it's snowy at the moment this kind of weather is very unusual these days. I've lived in the highlands for 45 years and have never had winter tures.
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors Thanks for taking the time to reply Cameron! Loving the camper content on the channel and the recommendation of Living the Van Life has consumed a fair few hours this past week.
All good commonsense tips. Any tips on how to keep your laptop warm and functioning in the van, when the heating is off or overnight? I'll be working away in mine and in the winter and I've already had one laptop die on me through the cold. Thanks.
In my mountaineering days I've had to take my boots to bed with me on several occasions to stop them freezing. I suspect a laptop might make a better bedmate than a pair of mountaineering boots!
Mmmmmm…….yum yum I’d eat that
Cameron, helpful stuff. I am a small campervan user and need to sort out some cold weather heating. I don’t have space for a diesel heater, so have to look towards electric via an EHU. I have already tried a small oil-fired radiator but didn’t find the heat output sufficient. I would be interested to hear about any recommendations you, or your subscribers could give for ‘tried and tested’ electric solutions eg electric blanket, electric overblanket etc
Are you sure there's no room for a diesel heater? They don't take up a lot of space and can even be underslung beneath the van. Well worth checking out as they are real gamechangers. Failing that a good microfibre throw or even a down-filled blanket will help keep you warm. You could always sit in the evening with an electric blanket draped round you, powered from a power bank like the Bluetti I featured recently?
@@CameronMcNeishOutdoors My van conversion is based upon an original mobility vehicle and although there is a standard floor, it retains the ramp feature underneath the van. This not a bad thing as it provides useable storage, but makes the diesel heater fitment problematic. I would also be interested in any recommendations from your subscribers. Thanks.
@@gordonmacgregor7762 I have the same small ex-mobility mini camper van as well. Same issue as you trying to find a heater small enough to provide heat through the night. I've got a mini blow heater that works well during the day, that plugs into my power bank but it's too noisy to use all night. Toying with one of the small 12v heaters you get for defrosting windscreens but I think it might also be too noisy. You can get them with a USB cable on them to power them as well. Be interested to hear if there are any solutions out there apart from getting a bigger van!
@@raymondrose9209 Note your comments Raymond. Like you, I have an in-built fan heater that is useable during the day, but not the night. Although I have a leisure battery I wouldn't want to rely on that to power a heater overnight and my preference for the winter season would be to park at formal campsites where I can make use of mains power.
@@gordonmacgregor7762 yes the same in that our preference in winter is campsites with a shore electrical supply to plug into. We use a double sleeping bag which along with the dog snuggled between us mostly keeps us warm but I'd like some background heat. I looked at electric oil heaters as well but couldn't really find anything small enough. Ideally I'd like something I could fix in place beside the power bank. Just can't find the solution yet
Thank you again Cameron for a great video. I was wondering about any water lines and if you winterized for sub-zero temperatures? Best of the season and a Happy Christmas from the Canadian West Coast.
Yes, I completely empty all water tanks for the winter and just carry some water bottles inside the van. A good tip is to leave asll your cupboard doors open when the van's heater is running. Most water pipes in campervans run throiugh cupboards so it just helps stop a freeze up.
I would rather be cold than eat that, hame made ham end soup heats me up just braw..