[SA Chris]

Bonjoy, one of these is an essential luxury if you are planning on cutting back on campsite usage.



And before anyone asks, no it doesn't double as a catheter to conserve water.

[Nibile]

the camp shower does miracles.

first time i used it its been at the beach, after a pounding session at local reef, and while i was showering myself, ready to get back home neat and clean, all the other poor bastards were dressing up covered in salt and sand, staring at me and probably thinking i was their idol and god on earth.
probably.

[Duma]

How tall are you bonjoy? I had ( ) a citroen relay and its about 5'10" wide inside - meant I could build the bed sideways which saves a load of space and faff with folding mechanisms etc. Also if you're planning on avoiding campsites a lot its worth buying something that isn't white - when I was with a mate in spain it was really noticeable how my (red) van blended in as soon as the light started to fade, compared with his (white) which stuck out like a sore thumb.

[Paul B]

For sale

Our family home on wheels, 1989 1600 turbo deisel westfalia california. Imported early this year, Used all the time, completely reliable, hi top model, sleeps 5, fridge, cooker, sink, power steering, captains seats, etc,etc,

excellent condition inside and out


£6000 ovno

i reckon something like that is quite practical, well thought out interiors on all westfalia/devon style pro conversions.

[Paul B]

the t25 above comes in many different engine sizes so if the 1.6 T isnt enough you can always go larger.

On the upper end of the budget here's a modern westfalia T4, 10,000 similar style interior, all necessities + a bit of modernisation, 2.5 petrol engine.

http://www.rccimport.co.uk/pages/detail.asp?ProdID=612

[Nibile]

How tall are you bonjoy? I had ( ) a citroen relay and its about 5'10" wide inside - meant I could build the bed sideways which saves a load of space and faff with folding mechanisms etc.

yes yes yes.
im 173 cm and have built the bed sideways. exactly. saves alot of space. think about it, and if youre taller, you can reach further and so its clearly an advantage in bouldering, and its almost like cheating, and so my sends clearly have a higher value than yours on same problems, and that points out that im a better climber than you.

err....

[soapy]

i'm liking the look of this one:

http://www.ukmotorhomes.net/classifieds/detail.php?siteid=1694

more space than the vito, so suitable for longer trippage

[moose]

Any other lurkers reading this thread with an increasing urge to quit their job, cash in their savings.... and just go......

On a related subject, I only ever use my car for weekend climbing - driving to and from fairly distant locations on both saturday and sunday (averaging around 300+ miles per weekend).  I occassionally wonder about getting a small van instead so that, should the urge take me, I can just stay a couple of nights near the crag - save on hassle and increase my range.  Anyone have the knowledge on how sensible this is in practice?  Does the slowness and economy of even the smallest camper (essentially just a dry sleeping space and maybe the means to heat up a bit of food) make it worth the while?  How difficult is it to just turn-up at a crag and off-the-cuff decide to stay nearby e.g. can you legally overnight at most cragside locales, or do you have to find a proper site (which makes it so that you may's well book a B&B /  take a tent and just hope the weather stays good).

[jfw]

yo moose for this kind of usage i would recommend an astra van with a big metolius pad in it. fore runner to our vito days!!

no room for indoor cooking - but loads more room than a for kit and dry sleeping - and staying anywhere.

can cook under the lift up hatch. can kit out with sleeping platform/storage shizzle or just rattle around.

only down side is if you need mates to share petrol - theres only room for one more in this baby.

(i just used the word shizzle - i'm so proud!)

[moose]

cheers la', lack of passenger space not a problem for a friendless rover like myself! 

The ultra-basic option is pretty tempting: my car (a nissan micra) has its backseat permanently folded-down and occupied by my Dropzone anyway.  Swapping it for an astra-type van and gaining a cragside kipping facility would be pretty much all gravy (like camping with slightly less abject misery in the event of rain). 

Can't help but feel though that somewhere there is a perfect solution to my needs.  Maybe a camper version of those sub-transit style mini-vans: enough head-room etc to make nights inside less claustrophobic, perhaps no proper "facilities", but just big enough to chill-out and cook a meal when it drizzles, all whilst being practical enough to drive in more urban situations ... to dream the impossible dream

[Bubba]

Maybe a camper version of those sub-transit style mini-vans

Transit Connect has LWB and High Roof as options... still too new to get a cheap one though, and I don't think a high roof one would be any higher than a normal tranny van roof.

I've been driving a normal sized front wheel drive tranny for 8 hours a day all week - they're really good vans, but the T260 is a bit low-power for long journeys.

If it's just for a couple of nights, you could just rough it out of any van I reckon. If I was on my own, even my Berlingo would be fine for that.

[soapy]

yeehah!, become a white van man

[soapy]

although this is cheaper, and betterer, imho

[Bubba]

That Vito is well cheap - didn't realise connects had gotten that low either.

Shame finding a non-white can be hard.

[widdop]

in Scotland just find a spot off the roadside ,never been asked to move on, and my van is a works van writ all over, just remember to pull out the plug on the telly or no go in the morning ,done it

[erm, sam]

With regard to Moose's when is a van not a van type requirment, I could recommend the great Mitsubishi L300. It is about as small as I would want to go whilst still being usefull. We have a 9 seater which folds down to a bed. With a two ring "camping" stove, not in situ, it is great for not so long trips. With the stove outside but near the door you can make a brew on a rainy day without getting out of bed. Small enough to get through the credit card only lanes on french Peage (max height 1.8m, I think) but big enough for a two week trip. Something like this...
http://www.banz.co.nz/travelcars/images/van360.jpg

[SA Chris]

in Scotland just find a spot off the roadside ,never been asked to move on,

I believe the rules are different in Scotland to England. I think you can camp anywhere in scotland, provided you are not within a certain distance of a settlement. Some counties are more anal than others though and put up "no overnight parking" signs all over the place. Depends on what the local constabulary are like though.

[Andy B]

A few years ago we had an escort van that we had decked out and slept in. We were up near cape wrath and planned to catch the ferry and shuttle bus the next morning but the car park there had a big 'no overnight parking' sign up. We went to see the ferry skipper to ask what the score was, and he promply offered to get his pipe cutter out and chop down the sign for us. In two years we rarely had bother sleeping in our van. The only places we did was at Compass Point in Devon (or North Cornwall), where we got a ticket. and at the burbage west car park, where the ranger moved us on.

[Paul B]

the mitsubishi l300 looks very similar to the vw t25's etc, think they're good vans for short trips or the weekender style vans for exactly that but for a long ish euro trip it would just be grim surely? I too am heading off around europe next year in a van

[The Sausage]

hi ho slackers. hey jo, have just bought a toyota hi-ace, so will be round to scope out your vito and pick up some tips. i'm oof round europe for 4 months next year too. when are you off paul? it's got 2 batteries already (2.5l diesel), would a 3rd be handy for running a couple of lights/stereo etc. i don't really understand electricity, so any tips on setting up lights etc would be very handy. has anyone used solar panels? ta

[jfw]

yes! another van - there's no going back! 

2 batteries should be enough - unless you're running some serious hydroponics or an electric oven or something. or more seriously if you may be stationary in one place for a long time (we got in situe for a while at ceuse but driving to the supermarket charged us up - jump leads are always good to have)

the thing to watch with them is whether it switches automatically to charging one then the other - or whether you have to switch it to say which one you want to charge.

don't know anyone with solar panels sounds cool - but don't know what you get for what size? i get this idea they may be good for charging stuff like laptops, mobiles - not so great for doing bigger stuff (but may be totally wrong).

[Paul B]

the device needed is called a split charge relay, simple to wire and available from halfords etc. Ive got a solar trickle charger that plugs into your cig lighter and will keep the battery topped up. They're cheap too. Might be an idea to get a leisure battery that is capable of jumping your starter battery, that way you can jump yourself if your in the middle of nowhere, I know its not great for the leisure battery but now and again wont be too bad.

[jfw]

good knowledge on the solar trickle charger i didn't know that!

have some waddage 

[Nibile]

cool!!!!!!
 

[JR]

the device needed is called a split charge relay, simple to wire and available from halfords etc. Ive got a solar trickle charger that plugs into your cig lighter and will keep the battery topped up. They're cheap too. Might be an idea to get a leisure battery that is capable of jumping your starter battery, that way you can jump yourself if your in the middle of nowhere, I know its not great for the leisure battery but now and again wont be too bad.

yeah, split charge relay is the shit.  Get an inverter on it and youve got full on mains if you need it, depending on the wattage (peak and steady) of the inverter and power of the battery.  You can also use an advanced regulator which is much more efficient but they are harder to fit and mean messing with the alternator and stuff.  If you want to run the stereo straight off the leisure battery so it doesnt ever drain the starter remember to wire the ignition switch into the battery too then it doesn't go off when you turn the key, small thing but annoying. 

2 batteries should be fine.  Remember if you know the ampag of what you're running you can work out what battery power you need.  Just add up the total amps.  Say youve got 20 amps total and an 80Ahr battery, you've got 4 hours with everythign running if its fully charged.  Low voltage dc lighting is probably the way forward for ease but running mains energy saving lightbulbs out of an inverter is good and makes for better light.

I'm not sure about jumping off your leisure battery perhaps it works, but it must knacker the battery.  They are not designed for surging.  Are you not better wiring and cahrging into your starter on demand from the leisure, let it reach equilibrium and then, providing you had enough charge in the leisure battery initially it should start.  Would take longer, but would not damage the leisure battery.  Never tried either method mind.

Paul, surely you only get a minute amount of charge from trickle charging from solar to a battery that size? unless you leave it permanantley mounted and wired?  How long did it take to fully charge say a normal 8 cell laptop?

Ive got a 85Ah leisure battery and a the wiring including split charge relay etc for sale at the moment if you're interested.  Just used it for 7 weeks in europe in the transit van i'm selling, its in good nick.  Got a buit more knowledge if you need it, but im sure paul also knows the score.