Cali beach newbies

[Melanie Day]

We picked up our Cali beach on Friday (bought from an advert on this site) and at the moment we are in eskdale for 5 nights.

We already had booked to go camping so we have taken the camper to sleep in and get familiar with what accessories we need to buy!

We are 2 adults and a toddler age 3 .... Already got mattress protector and already thankful !

Generally enjoying ourselves and our new camper and keep thinking of things to buy....why is everything either £100 or £500!!!!

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[MarkVw2017]

Already looks amazing! Welcome and massive congratulations on your amazing new machine, it looks great in all black, all you need now is a night rider light on the front! I have to wait until Oct til i get mine Keep us posted with your adventures!! Have a good holiday!

 

[Gary&Heather]

If it's the one I'm thinking it is you just beat me to this vehicle and I believe it also had a fantastic spec congratulations and welcome aboard I must admit it looks a beauty have you named your campervan yet...

And yes I know what you mean about everything being £100-£500 the best thing to do is just try living with the vehicle before making big purchases that way you will minimise wastage and have a good read of the forum.

 

[Melanie Day]

If it's the one I'm thinking it is you just beat me to this vehicle and I believe it also had a fantastic spec congratulations and welcome aboard I must admit it looks a beauty have you named your campervan yet...

And yes I know what you mean about everything being £100-£500 the best thing to do is just try living with the vehicle before making big purchases that way you will minimise wastage and have a good read of the forum.

Phil who sold the van said he had a lot of interest so we moved at speed....as we too thought the spec was great.

We named the van after Womble Phil (the sellers) dog who seemed reluctant to get out so we could take it home.

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[MattBW]

Don't buy anything in the first month or two, you will waste money for certain. Use and it and with time you will work out what you need. It took us 2 years to get camping in our beach super smooth. No need for it to take you that long but it will take time.

The must buy things for us that have made the biggest difference were:
Rear window Bags - frees up so much space from luggage.
Seat pouches for more storage
Slidepod/Cadac/Cooking setup -
Alpkit Bru Kit - for boiling water for tea in record time.
Webasto Compressor fridge
Insect inserts for windows (these should be standard on the beach imho)

Yup that's pretty much the whole list.

Nice to haves but not crucial
Mattress topper makes the 3 seat beach lower bed actually comfy. Probably crucial for more than 2 (we sleep in the roof)
Drive away Awning for more space and holding your pitch from invaders We rarely use it sadly.
Solar panel for extended stays without hookup
Wind out awning
Battery monitor of some kind

Rarely used (should probably sell on)
Awning light bar
2x Kampa Quartermaster Units
Roof bars

Long gone
Roof box (wasn't useful as it had to be emptied every time we stopped), gave it away after our Scotland trip. Roof couldnt be raised properly even with it empty.

 

[MarkVw2017]

Don't buy anything in the first month or two, you will waste money for certain. Use and it and with time you will work out what you need. It took us 2 years to get camping in our beach super smooth. No need for it to take you that long but it will take time.

The must buy things for us that have made the biggest difference were:
Rear window Bags - frees up so much space from luggage.
Seat pouches for more storage
Slidepod/Cadac/Cooking setup -
Alpkit Bru Kit - for boiling water for tea in record time.
Webasto Compressor fridge
Insect inserts for windows (these should be standard on the beach imho)

Yup that's pretty much the whole list.

Nice to haves but not crucial
Mattress topper makes the 3 seat beach lower bed actually comfy. Probably crucial for more than 2 (we sleep in the roof)
Drive away Awning for more space and holding your pitch from invaders We rarely use it sadly.
Solar panel for extended stays without hookup
Wind out awning
Battery monitor of some kind

Rarely used (should probably sell on)
Awning light bar
2x Kampa Quartermaster Units
Roof bars

Long gone
Roof box (wasn't useful as it had to be emptied every time we stopped), gave it away after our Scotland trip. Roof couldnt be raised properly even with it empty.

Some great tips there @MattBW thak you, now please get that review of the slidepod up and running. Seen your cooking, looks great from that pod but be nice to see it in greater depth

 

[andygenders]

awesome we brought Ted (2018 Black Beach) a month ago - and have managed to survive with the basics so far. what have we brought - hook up cable and euro adapter / kitchen items / cheap gas cookers / Dunelm mattress toppers (we sleep downstairs) / porta pot (yet to be used) / storage boxes / windbreak ..... we decided we would spend the first months trying to see what we missed, and so far nothing....

check out our journey on instagram @vw_campervan_vagabond

 

[Melanie Day]

awesome we brought Ted (2018 Black Beach) a month ago - and have managed to survive with the basics so far. what have we brought - hook up cable and euro adapter / kitchen items / cheap gas cookers / Dunelm mattress toppers (we sleep downstairs) / porta pot (yet to be used) / storage boxes / windbreak ..... we decided we would spend the first months trying to see what we missed, and so far nothing....

check out our journey on instagram @vw_campervan_vagabond

I should of mentioned we have all the camping kit so wabt to continue to use as much as possible...quick gas burners, wind break, kids chair, so will be trying to find out what things are essential on our travels!

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[Amarillo]

Rarely used (should probably sell on)
Awning light bar
2x Kampa Quartermaster Units
Roof bars

We find awning lights very useful, and have a set of four Vango lights:

These are very flexible, and can light up the driveaway awning, the wind out awning, an outside area, two of the above, or all three.

 

[MattBW]

Some great tips there @MattBW thak you, now please get that review of the slidepod up and running. Seen your cooking, looks great from that pod but be nice to see it in greater depth

I have another pod in my van at the moment the Egoe by Nest (also from slidepods) which I am currently reviewing for a mag. Once that is completed and the final photoshoot completed (hopefully this weekend) the slidepod will be back in my van and I can finish my review video (have a few missing features and shots to film).

If you are near Warks you can always see mine.

 

[Richy]

why is everything either £100 or £500!!!!
We have that this as runnng joke in our house

We’ve had ours 2 years now and just about have it sorted.
The most important thing we never leave home without is our jetboil, can’t start the day until I’ve had my tea or coffee.

Hope you enjoy your very nice van

 

[Dom Walsh]

I have another pod in my van at the moment the Egoe by Nest (also from slidepods) which I am currently reviewing for a mag. Once that is completed and the final photoshoot completed (hopefully this weekend) the slidepod will be back in my van and I can finish my review video (have a few missing features and shots to film).

If you are near Warks you can always see mine.

Hey Mark, I've just seen your comment from around a year ago and wondered how you got on with the Egoe Nest? Would you recommend it? What works well and what doesn't? Cheers

 

[MattBW]

I can only compare it to my slidepod which I love.

Pros
Great use of space as the storage is made of lots of drawers of various sizes and even a large space for a fridge. We used that space for pans as if it had a fridge in not sure where our pans would go.
Sturdy overlander look and design. Metal and wood.
Removable cooker unit for cooking away from van or can be used in situ. Each burner can be completely removed which is awesome
Built in chopping board and knife.
Removable water system very nice.

Cons
Heavier than the slidepod due to construction which we did notice in our meagre 114
Burners were very powerful but we struggled to get them low sometimes.
Water pipes dripped for some reason maybe a faulty part?

I’ll find the issue it was in VW bus (I want to say 79 but I’m not sure).

For me if it was lighter I’d have probably seriously considered buying one, storage is superb but the slidepod weight close to half the weight of the nest, has a better build quality and simpler engineering and that’s why’s we’ve stuck with it. The engineering design of the egoe pod was absolutely brilliant but did need some very minor snagging tweaks for me that left it in second place.