Zizzy
VIP Member
Back from our first trip in the 'Van. We booked for two nights deep in the Dales, it was our first time playing with all the equipment and the accessories and it was certainly tested to the limit by the atrocious weather! We were two adults and my daughter, Isobel, who is a wheelchair user.
The Good:
The 'Van. (JCT600 York) Amazing! Everything is so neat and well thought out and it all worked. In contrast to many, I love the wardrobe, I stashed everything but undies in it. I am entranced by the sink - how civilised is that tap? We aren't using the waste water tank (an idea stolen from Hubert) and it was a doddle with the washing up bowl. The amount of storage space is amazing, we have to take loads of quasi medical supplies for Isobel (incontinence pads, liquid feed etc.) plus her wheelchair and we have bought lots of bagged accessories but there was still loads of space. The fridge is generous and could take many more bottles of Cava than we brought, Hooray!. Thanks to this forum, my cupboards are lined with rubber matting and ingeniously filled and we had no rattles!!!
The Mutze cap. (Campervantastic)I don't know what it would have been like without it but we were warm and dry up top during two nights of horizontal rain and high wind. It didn't flap and it dried quickly so we took it off in a rare dry interval to reveal bone dry bellows for us to lower the roof. It packs away small and reputedly fits in the tailgate although we didn't try this as I am nervous about stretching the tailgate bag or damaging the chair.
Brandrup Second Skin Seat Covers: (Steve Mann from SMG - very helpful) Achingly expensive I know, - but they look amazing and for us they are a necessity as they will inevitably get some hammer from Isobel. We are getting the matching Brandrup cushions from Steve as soon as they are in stock again, with the white covers so they can double up as pillows for us up top.
Taylormade Screen: Easy to put on and dries in a flash. Again I can't compare using it against not using it but we didn't run the heating overnight and the temperature was fine in the morning despite the appalling weather. It was certainly cold outside.
Vango Kela: (Rob at BMVS - very helpful) Didn't turn a hair at the wind. It feels very well made and seems to repel water, drying very quickly. It is very roomy, - I'm glad we didn't go for the Sapera. It took us a while to put up but I'm sure it will be quick now we know what we're doing!
Micro Fibre Towels: big but pack up teeny-tiny, and they dry you effectively before drying themselves in a nanosecond.
Outwell Collapsible Kettle and washing up bowl: practical AND pretty. The kettle has a good capacity and seems to boil quickly compared to other kettles we've had when tent camping.
Kampa Easylock Wood effect flooring tiles: these were a godsend in the wet weather. We put them outside the side-door on the grass in the gap between the main awning with groundsheet and the Van. At the end of the trip I rinsed them under the outside tap.
The Bad:
The weather! It rained, and rained, then it got bored of raining and decided to dispense with raindrops and escalate to buckets. Did the van/Mutze/Vango leak? No they didn't. Did Isobel fall on her arse in the mud when being helped into the van? Yes, a couple of times. My fancy pump dispenser for the washing up liquid leaked. It took ages to get the Vango awning and Mutze on for the first time. In their defence, this is a reflection on us not them. Unlike most people on this forum, who seem to be ingenious and resourceful, - we are like Laurel and Hardy. If we were shipwrecked after a plane crash we would quite rightly be the first to be killed and eaten by our disgruntled companions. Now all the bits and pieces are in place and we know what we are doing, the Mutz will be on in 5 minutes and the Vango Kela in 15 or 20 including pegging.
The Ugly:
Yours truly didn't realise that it is the inside fly-screen bits rather than the outside doors that secure the doors to the groundsheet on the Vango Awning (in my defence it was late and getting dark by the time we got it up). I didn't do it up after my last loo trip on the first night. The next morning there were pools of water in the awning thanks to the horizontal rain coming in under the door. All Kev's clothes were soaked (he had spurned the wardrobe) as was anything else left on the floor of the awning. Bailing out water with a mug and then mopping up with a pair of Kev's underpants hadn't formed part of my fantasies about California ownership. I got to try out my portable rotary dryer prematurely and Kev got to wear pyjama bottoms for 24 hours. The next night in equally foul weather the awning remained completely dry with the doors properly secured.
Love the Van, it really proved itself. We all slept like logs and as I walked back from my rare ventures to the toilet block, peering out from my hood through the rain and mist, I was taken by surprised at how beeauutiful it looked.
No photos of it yet as standing around in the rain wasn't tempting but next time I promise!
The Good:
The 'Van. (JCT600 York) Amazing! Everything is so neat and well thought out and it all worked. In contrast to many, I love the wardrobe, I stashed everything but undies in it. I am entranced by the sink - how civilised is that tap? We aren't using the waste water tank (an idea stolen from Hubert) and it was a doddle with the washing up bowl. The amount of storage space is amazing, we have to take loads of quasi medical supplies for Isobel (incontinence pads, liquid feed etc.) plus her wheelchair and we have bought lots of bagged accessories but there was still loads of space. The fridge is generous and could take many more bottles of Cava than we brought, Hooray!. Thanks to this forum, my cupboards are lined with rubber matting and ingeniously filled and we had no rattles!!!
The Mutze cap. (Campervantastic)I don't know what it would have been like without it but we were warm and dry up top during two nights of horizontal rain and high wind. It didn't flap and it dried quickly so we took it off in a rare dry interval to reveal bone dry bellows for us to lower the roof. It packs away small and reputedly fits in the tailgate although we didn't try this as I am nervous about stretching the tailgate bag or damaging the chair.
Brandrup Second Skin Seat Covers: (Steve Mann from SMG - very helpful) Achingly expensive I know, - but they look amazing and for us they are a necessity as they will inevitably get some hammer from Isobel. We are getting the matching Brandrup cushions from Steve as soon as they are in stock again, with the white covers so they can double up as pillows for us up top.
Taylormade Screen: Easy to put on and dries in a flash. Again I can't compare using it against not using it but we didn't run the heating overnight and the temperature was fine in the morning despite the appalling weather. It was certainly cold outside.
Vango Kela: (Rob at BMVS - very helpful) Didn't turn a hair at the wind. It feels very well made and seems to repel water, drying very quickly. It is very roomy, - I'm glad we didn't go for the Sapera. It took us a while to put up but I'm sure it will be quick now we know what we're doing!
Micro Fibre Towels: big but pack up teeny-tiny, and they dry you effectively before drying themselves in a nanosecond.
Outwell Collapsible Kettle and washing up bowl: practical AND pretty. The kettle has a good capacity and seems to boil quickly compared to other kettles we've had when tent camping.
Kampa Easylock Wood effect flooring tiles: these were a godsend in the wet weather. We put them outside the side-door on the grass in the gap between the main awning with groundsheet and the Van. At the end of the trip I rinsed them under the outside tap.
The Bad:
The weather! It rained, and rained, then it got bored of raining and decided to dispense with raindrops and escalate to buckets. Did the van/Mutze/Vango leak? No they didn't. Did Isobel fall on her arse in the mud when being helped into the van? Yes, a couple of times. My fancy pump dispenser for the washing up liquid leaked. It took ages to get the Vango awning and Mutze on for the first time. In their defence, this is a reflection on us not them. Unlike most people on this forum, who seem to be ingenious and resourceful, - we are like Laurel and Hardy. If we were shipwrecked after a plane crash we would quite rightly be the first to be killed and eaten by our disgruntled companions. Now all the bits and pieces are in place and we know what we are doing, the Mutz will be on in 5 minutes and the Vango Kela in 15 or 20 including pegging.
The Ugly:
Yours truly didn't realise that it is the inside fly-screen bits rather than the outside doors that secure the doors to the groundsheet on the Vango Awning (in my defence it was late and getting dark by the time we got it up). I didn't do it up after my last loo trip on the first night. The next morning there were pools of water in the awning thanks to the horizontal rain coming in under the door. All Kev's clothes were soaked (he had spurned the wardrobe) as was anything else left on the floor of the awning. Bailing out water with a mug and then mopping up with a pair of Kev's underpants hadn't formed part of my fantasies about California ownership. I got to try out my portable rotary dryer prematurely and Kev got to wear pyjama bottoms for 24 hours. The next night in equally foul weather the awning remained completely dry with the doors properly secured.
Love the Van, it really proved itself. We all slept like logs and as I walked back from my rare ventures to the toilet block, peering out from my hood through the rain and mist, I was taken by surprised at how beeauutiful it looked.
No photos of it yet as standing around in the rain wasn't tempting but next time I promise!
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