My new VW California, my experience so far, part 2

[sbmcd]

Now have a solution for getting my two man sit on top kayak onto the roof, I bought one set of trade 3 step trade ladders from Tesco.

http://www.tesco.com/direct/trade-3-tre ... 2-9850.prd

snip at £34, It is still a two man (my wife Barbara and I) lift but very straightforward, we place the rear shelf mattress onto the roof between the bars and travel blanket over rear door roof area during the lift as a “just in case” precaution.
The ladders also very useful for securing tie down straps and they take up very little space in the back of the van.

Sticking pop of roof seals helped solved by application of silicon spray (3 in one from Halfords) on a cloth as recommended by VW, still sticks a little but much less.

During our last trip I realised that I needed a water fill hose of some description as we ran out of water and had no means of filling our tank from the available tap! As usual did some online research, since normal round garden hose takes too much space went for flat hose option (like a fire hose). I bought something described as “Brunner” flat hose on line from Camping Caravan outlet, it was huge, poorly made and the “flat hose” was in fact 3 small hoses side by side so sent that back PDQ. After more hunting, and reading many poor product reviews on line finally bought one made by Sthil, the chain saw people for £34. There were no reviews by RV users for this available but that was not surprising given the manufacturer. But I know Sthil made quality products and this is no exception, it is very compact and well made.

http://www.stihl.co.uk/STIHL-Products/P ... older.aspx

I know some people recommend only food grade hose but since the water is in the hose for such a short time I did not bother with this, there is no “taste” from the hose.

Now a bit of DIY, had been looking at the rear door tents for use as possible shower / toilet space, knew I had sides from my old pop up that were never used. After a few measurements we sewed these together with my wife’s sewing machine (OK she did all the sewing), even has a zip door entrance, only used it for showers at the moment, it is amazing how good a shower you can have standing in a basin of hot water and using the 12 v submersible shower spray (put the pump in the basin to recycle the hot water).

http://www.leisure-bargains.com/product ... wer%20unit



Photo taken at wild camp spot at Sheigra OS NC 182,601

Finally our solution to midges eating you alive while you sleep, I posted this separately, see

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7000#p61937

 

[calikev]

Good work I love the tailgate tent