Must have 5 accessories for newbie!

[flying banana]

Nothing can come before fresh milk.....

beer?

 

[flying banana]

I have a beach too. but baffled by people telling you about worktop protectors and under sink drawers? any way. my top 5. fridge. I have a dometic 26l thing.runa whisper quiet and chills those beers great. doesn't fit betwixt the seats though. the one that does is very small. bbq or cadac safari chef. beers for your fridge . burgers for your cadac. and some top tunes on a 16gb sd card. boom. that's my top 5.now your talking a camping trip like no other. enjoy.

 

[Elizabeth Silman]

We found that many things land on the kitchen top, and despite carefulness, it is glass and will easily be scratched. So only from a esthetic perspective.

But this of cause only applies to OCEAN and COAST owners ;-)

I use that sort of foam mesh that you can buy in rolls and cut to size. It is mainly for non-slippage but works well on the worktop for non-slippage and protection. It is washable too. Mine is blue to match the van.

 

[MattBW]

• For me in my beach. I have bought many things I never used and some I always use. I have left out the usual things like hookup cable etc.

Must Have:

• Mattress topper. If you intend to sleep downstairs you need a mattress topper (unless you have a 2 seat beach which is the same bed as the cali). The 3 seat beach lower bed is horrible without a topper. We find the bed upstairs perfect as it is but some find it hard. If you dont plan to use the lowe rbed you dont need one.
• Waeco or compressor fridge, awesome, awesome thing. The VW fridge is ok but cant really give you extended holidays of use, its designed to be used with the engine running and isnt very efficient.
• Inka seat covers, for our dogs these waterproof covers are ugly but very effective at keeping the seats clean!
• Alpkit Brukit Wolf, for boiling the kettle without getting our pod out. Absolutely amazing, boils 800ml of water in about 90 seconds.

Nice to have:

• Slidepod: This isnt a must have but it makes life so much easier for us and we absolutely love it for fair weather holidays and weekends away, kitchen, sink and loads of storage all in one. It does mean our fridge has to go in the rear cab but we fix it to the rails and its good to go. We don't like cooking inside our vans so this is the perfect solution for us.
• Heater: Webasto, if you want to camp in cold weather its briliant but not required. A decent 800w radiator can be enough.
• Window bags: Got these from a forum member and I'm almost tempted to put them in the must have. Absolutely brilliant, storage is always the challenge in the beach and these have pretty much sorted where we put our clothes and toiletries.
  
• Mosquito nets: I got mine cheap from a fellow forum member who had sold his Cali. They fit in the windows (are standard on a SE/Ocean) but really do keep the bugs out and the fresh air in.
• Awning: Drive away we have a Outdoor Rev Cayman Tail and the Fiamma wind out awning. The wind out gets used a lot more.
• Cadac, love this and as it runs on the same canisters as the Slidepod, never without fuel.

Things that we don't use as much as we thought:

• Rear seat pockets, use these a lot to keep cables and such but weren't as life changing as we expected but we wouldn't be without now..
• Fiamma LED rafter, again brilliant but its quite big to carry around and doesnt get used much.

Things we want:

• Isofix internal topper for the Beach. Brilliant but expensive.

 

[MattBW]

A few other useful things:

Brunner pan set.
NASA Battery monitor very handy.
Suitcase solar panel




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[Victor]

We use the little UHT Dairystix and get them in packs of 50 from Amazon for £3.50. Space for the wine comes first!

UHT milk? Joke post right?? How can anyone drink UHT by choice

 

[Cali-on-Camping]

UHT milk? Joke post right?? How can anyone drink UHT by choice

Because it's better than milk that has gone off because I had no space for it in the fridge due to beer and wine.

Winter isn't an issue; the outside temperatures keeps my beer cool and we can indulge in blue top milk.

 

[MattBW]

Because it's better than milk that has gone off because I had no space for it in the fridge due to beer and wine.

Winter isn't an issue; the outside temperatures keeps my beer cool and we can indulge in blue top milk.

We drink lactose free (or lactaise added as it should be called) because V is intolerant of dairy and for some reason it lasts a lot longer in the fridge too. Worth a go for the van


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[pete&gill]

We have a little cheap plastic circular spirit level - pop it on the sliding ashtray cover in our T5 when pitching camp and it gives a useful reading. However - come to think of it do you get an ashtray in the T6?

 

[Angelcity]

Bottle opener is a must.. Don't forget that

 

[Wongo]

If you want longer lasting milk but don’t like the caramel in UHT, those filtered ordinary milks (Cravendale etc) last much longer than standard milk but have the exact same taste

 

[Photo Nan]

Not got our van yet but we have got a T6 conversion and my tips are.

Storage tent/toilet tent
Induction hob ( I use when on hook up why pay for gas as well)
Mr D’s Thermal cooker
Ridge Monkey
Cadac
ACSI membership (if you are heading to Europe off peak great sites at a low price)

 

[Buds]

Ridge Monkey got two the XL and Toasty
Cadac Safari Chef quick release
Outwell folding kettle
Kampa electric cube heater if on hookup
Jerba Camper Vans fly screen for side window midge proof

 

[Velma's Dad]

Diesel is a must-have. Fortunately available at any... errr....

 

[Borris]

Nothing can come before fresh milk.....

A cow?