Kit Recommendations

calibeach76

calibeach76

Messages
452
Location
Pembrokeshire
Vehicle
T6.1 Coast 150
Well as many of you know I pulled the trigger on a Coast yesterday. Now looking for a driveway awning among other things. I never had one of my own on my old Beach but borrowed a friend's fir a trip. Does anyone have any strong feelings either way between pole v air and any particularly good models to look into. Ideally, I'd like as small pack size as possible but that said a good footprint for 2 adults and 2 kids to be able to make use of. I'd like it to be quick and easy to put up and down too. Also any suggestions on useful stuff now we will have an onboard kitchen unlike our old Beach ⛱ all welcome. Do many of you cook on board? Is the ridge monkey worth it?

Many thanks
 
calibeach76 said:
Well as many of you know I pulled the trigger on a Coast yesterday. Now looking for a driveway awning among other things. I never had one of my own on my old Beach but borrowed a friend's fir a trip. Does anyone have any strong feelings either way between pole v air and any particularly good models to look into. Ideally, I'd like as small pack size as possible but that said a good footprint for 2 adults and 2 kids to be able to make use of. I'd like it to be quick and easy to put up and down too. Also any suggestions on useful stuff now we will have an onboard kitchen unlike our old Beach ⛱ all welcome. Do many of you cook on board? Is the ridge monkey worth it?

Many thanks
Click to expand...
Hi, no awning experience to share.
But with regards to the cooking questions.................we do cook on board and have a couple of RM XL toasters. Despite the XL suggestion they are not. Only small. 100% worth the spend in my opinion. Great for fry ups, as they keep the smells and fat spitting contained. Flat breads / garlic breads etc too. Think of it as a tiny oven. Pasties etc, if you can fit it in there then you should be ok.
Trick is to keep the gas as low as possible to avoid burning. We have 2 stacking pans with detachable handles (They were a Middle of Lidl special for about £16) and 2 RM XL's. And of course the obligatory collaps kettle that sits in the washing up bowl and still leaves room for small bottle of Fairly and dish sponge :)
 
Very useful info Stu@rt. I'll be taking a look at some IKEA storage boxes I think for the side cupboards too.
 
calibeach76 said:
Very useful info Stu@rt. I'll be taking a look at some IKEA storage boxes I think for the side cupboards too.
Click to expand...
For sure. We have those too. Almost made to measure. We also went for the Oftast( If I recall correctly) crockery. Didn't fancy plastic or bamboo. Although heavier, the ikea recommended on here in other threads is still lighter than normal crockery and tougher too. Separated with those pan protectors and stored in the boxes you mention
 
Last edited:
We are 2 adults and 2 young kids. We have a drive away awning, used twice, never again. Other people swear by them!
 
subthree said:
We are 2 adults and 2 young kids. We have a drive away awning, used twice, never again. Other people swear by them!
Click to expand...
Great. Was it the faff of attaching and positioning the van each time that did it for you? I found you could never get tension on connecting tunnel right after detaching
 
IMG_20220318_202804_068.jpgRidgemonkey is brilliant - this was our first meal in our new van. Awnings are a bit marmite. We have a Vango Galli 2 Compact - ideal for 2 of us with a dog. Airbeams make a big difference, I was able to put it up in 10 minutes on my own (to the point that stuff could be put in it) and another 10 mins to finish all guylines and pegs. Ikea Kugis are ideal for cupboards - lots of different options available now in terms of colours and sizes. After our first weekend away we bought the wardrobe shelves from Yes Campervans - for usbthey make the wardrobe usefulbrather than being a dumping ground.
 
subthree said:
We are 2 adults and 2 young kids. We have a drive away awning, used twice, never again. Other people swear by them!
Click to expand...

2 adults, 1 Tasmanian Devil.
Never used a drive away awning and never would. Prefer Campervans to tents.
Ridge monkey worth buying. Great for toasties in the morning :)
 
Ridge monkey is a must have in my opinion. we use ours at home also.
Awning is a pain in the arse to transport. We try not to take ours but if needed it has to go in a bag on the bike rack as it would pretty much fill the space behind the rear seat, which means we can only take one bike. It includes a sleeping annexe as well though. Once up it kind of makes the van feel dark.
We've also got the comforts side panels attachments which take up no room to transport but can't be used as a driveway.
 
Family of 4 with a beach.
We have a Dometic cross air awning:
Pros big enough for us (a bit tight for all 4 to sit in with our extensive kitchen area and laundry drying but we mainly sit outside or pile into our friends bigger awning), air beams are faster for us than poles, connecting tunnel ace for storing porta potty and childrens bikes. Very sturdy when windy.

Cons; the air beams make them bulky to when packed away. Nearly divorced husband when trying to line up the van so we could get the connection just right. Get slightly obsessed with drying it out and always end up getting it out on the drive way when home to ensure fully dry. It’s something about that thick material around the beams that doesn’t want to dry! Bit of an effort to put away. Heavy!

We have bought a cinch which we are yet to try. But here are my thoughts anyway:

Pros: very easy to put up and down, similar size to the cross air, drying at home will be really easy. Can position where I want within reason so I could also use the wind out awning or place right next to the door. Comes with 4 doors.

Cons: no tunnel for my porta potty so I’ve got to decide whether to have it in the van or in the cinch. Not sure how sturdy it will be in winds yet, but comes with extra storm poles.

We haven’t gone any bigger because of the thought of packing it away. We used to have a berghaus 6xl and quickly down sized to a 4man before getting Sandy Beach.
 
Mattsv said:
View attachment 91022Ridgemonkey is brilliant - this was our first meal in our new van. Awnings are a bit marmite. We have a Vango Galli 2 Compact - ideal for 2 of us with a dog. Airbeams make a big difference, I was able to put it up in 10 minutes on my own (to the point that stuff could be put in it) and another 10 mins to finish all guylines and pegs. Ikea Kugis are ideal for cupboards - lots of different options available now in terms of colours and sizes. After our first weekend away we bought the wardrobe shelves from Yes Campervans - for usbthey make the wardrobe usefulbrather than being a dumping ground.
Click to expand...
Cheers that looks tasty. did you cook all on the RM?
 
El&Ed said:
Family of 4 with a beach.
We have a Dometic cross air awning:
Pros big enough for us (a bit tight for all 4 to sit in with our extensive kitchen area and laundry drying but we mainly sit outside or pile into our friends bigger awning), air beams are faster for us than poles, connecting tunnel ace for storing porta potty and childrens bikes. Very sturdy when windy.

Cons; the air beams make them bulky to when packed away. Nearly divorced husband when trying to line up the van so we could get the connection just right. Get slightly obsessed with drying it out and always end up getting it out on the drive way when home to ensure fully dry. It’s something about that thick material around the beams that doesn’t want to dry! Bit of an effort to put away. Heavy!

We have bought a cinch which we are yet to try. But here are my thoughts anyway:

Pros: very easy to put up and down, similar size to the cross air, drying at home will be really easy. Can position where I want within reason so I could also use the wind out awning or place right next to the door. Comes with 4 doors.

Cons: no tunnel for my porta potty so I’ve got to decide whether to have it in the van or in the cinch. Not sure how sturdy it will be in winds yet, but comes with extra storm poles.

We haven’t gone any bigger because of the thought of packing it away. We used to have a berghaus 6xl and quickly down sized to a 4man before getting Sandy Beach.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that's really useful. I couldn't decide when we borrowed our friends to use with the old Beach if it was worth it or a faff. If we didn't have child car seats I'd be more inclined not to use one I think. on our French tour in 2020 we bought a basecamp from decathlon for a base to store food, kids bits and a small kitchen and tbh it worked well.
 
calibeach76 said:
Great. Was it the faff of attaching and positioning the van each time that did it for you? I found you could never get tension on connecting tunnel right after detaching
Click to expand...
Took up far too much room in the van and ours is a Vango Faros Low, so as small as you can get. The second time we used it was in St Ives when it was blowing hard. If we had driven away, without putting the awning away, it would have been halfway to America by the time we got back.

We now have a awning room for those occasions when we might need extra room. We have the Calicap one from Germany, incredibly small, fits in the tailgate.
 
calibeach76 said:
Cheers that looks tasty. did you cook all on the RM?
Click to expand...
Cheated a little bit - bolognese was prepped before we left but the veg and flatbread was all done in the RM - very tasty. We have two RMs - a combi and an XL, both are brilliant.
 
calibeach76 said:
Thanks, that's really useful. I couldn't decide when we borrowed our friends to use with the old Beach if it was worth it or a faff. If we didn't have child car seats I'd be more inclined not to use one I think. on our French tour in 2020 we bought a basecamp from decathlon for a base to store food, kids bits and a small kitchen and tbh it worked well.
Click to expand...

I can check what car seat I have.
Ours fit in the footwell up front. We swivel drivers or passenger seat and then bung in the footwell, out of the way.
 
Stu@rt said:
Hi, no awning experience to share.
But with regards to the cooking questions.................we do cook on board and have a couple of RM XL toasters. Despite the XL suggestion they are not. Only small. 100% worth the spend in my opinion. Great for fry ups, as they keep the smells and fat spitting contained. Flat breads / garlic breads etc too. Think of it as a tiny oven. Pasties etc, if you can fit it in there then you should be ok.
Trick is to keep the gas as low as possible to avoid burning. We have 2 stacking pans with detachable handles (They were a Middle of Lidl special for about £16) and 2 RM XL's. And of course the obligatory collaps kettle that sits in the washing up bowl and still leaves room for small bottle of Fairly and dish sponge :)
Click to expand...
They have gone up since we bought them last year, but Lidl have these back on the 10th April for £20. A bargain I think compared to the posh Tefal ones. We bought the set of 3 stacking saucepans, buy only keep the 2 smaller ones in the van.

Ernesto Pan Set with Removable Handle - at Lidl UK

Ernesto Pan Set with Removable Handle - In 3 different sizes Removable locking handle Healthier frying; high-quality cooking surface so less oil is
www.lidl.co.uk www.lidl.co.uk
 
Absolutely agree with all the above about weight and bulk of having a DA awning. But we find it useful if staying on a site for more than say 5 days. Is much easier to throw a load of stuff in the awning and go out in the van for the day, and never previously had a big issue with re-aligning on return (used to place pegs at centre of each wheel). Another issue with an air awning is the effort required to pump it up, so an elecric pump is a must! I find that most DA's available have sloping walls and lack a feeling of space in them (I'm also 6'6"). So I was excited by the Dometic hub, hex and club offerings. Particularly the Dometic Club AIR Pro DA 260 and its old-school look! I was not excited about the price though! In the end, we have recently used VIP discount and bought:

Kampa Motor Rally Air Pro 260 Drive Away Awning – CampervanBits

vwcaliforniaclub.com vwcaliforniaclub.com
As a Kampa awning it is old stock but I've been reassured by the shop it is suitable for the Cali connection height. So far have only inflated it on the driveway but very happy with the quality and versatility. We should have been away this week for its debut, but are both isolating with the dreaded CV19! :sad
 
Thanks for that info. All very useful. I agree, I think if staying fir more than 5 days a DA is great, otherwise a faff. The one I borrowed was an Outwell. Took about 30 mins to put up fully. The decathlon badecamp we used over 3 weeks in France touring was quicker easier and loads smaller to store...
 
Sad said:
In terms of storage, I've just bought various sizes of:
They're supposed to be delivered today, so I can post later on how suitable, or otherwise, I think they are ;)
Click to expand...
That's great. Tbh I'm really interested to know how you pack and how you use the cupboards to the best of their capabilities. My wife's idea of travelling light differs somewhat from mine shall we say. She even said today "will we take the nespresso machine with us...?"
 
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Reactions: Sad
soulstyledevon said:
I can check what car seat I have.
Ours fit in the footwell up front. We swivel drivers or passenger seat and then bung in the footwell, out of the way.
Click to expand...
Would be useful. Thanks much. Ours are cybex jobs and are huge but now the eldest is a bigger 6 year old I may break it down into the booster base only...
 
calibeach76 said:
Tbh I'm really interested to know how you pack and how you use the cupboards to the best of their capabilities.
Click to expand...
There are as many ways to pack a Cali as there are Calis! Search the forum for some options, this might be a good place to start:
Just to give you an idea:
We use under the sink/hob for everything food related.
The bench drawer (we call the cellar) is sectioned with the fabric ikea things, and this has games, books, the front window blinds, charging cables, errr... Can't remember what else is in there!
The cupboard above the bench (the attic) is PJs and warm clothing.
Wardrobe is clothes.
Rear cupboard has towels, wash kit, loo roll, first aid kit, simple tools, spare bulbs.
calibeach76 said:
She even said today "will we take the nespresso machine with us...?"
Click to expand...
You can get manual machines to use nespresso capsules!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M4J94WY/?tag=unique09f-21
 
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