Our vanlife setup

[MarkVw2017]

Your in a van, living life, living the dream #vanlife it ;-)

 

[Sp0_0k]

Whats your Instagram account

Instagram Sp0_ok

 

[Digger]

Kayak gumotex ruby with my mods for fishing. Motor brushless haswing protruar. Lithium own made battery. The beast goes slowly 2-3knots but for half a day.

Thankyou

 

[YOLO]

After 3 years our setup is pretty settled and working great, so can share how things work for us.
This setup is for long sefsustain travels, aka vanlife.
We spend over half year living in a van after all.

We chose Beach 4motion packed with almost all options. 204hp with DSG, though wanted 150 which wasn't available for faster order.

2seat bench option, which we found simply amazing due to more space to work with and a great drawer.
Will be posting photos with description below.

This is an exceptionally good post. Thank you for sharing your van life with us. I’m off to buy a 12v rice cooker

 

[Lottielady]

Gorgeous bull terrier!!!!

What slow cooker is it? Does it run off the leisure battery?

 

[Bobshire]

Hi @Sp0_0k
Was this a mishap or is the rice cooker the slow cooker you meant.
Thanks for sharing your experience
B

 

[Lottielady]

Hi @Sp0_0k
Was this a mishap or is the rice cooker the slow cooker you meant.
Thanks for sharing your experience
B

Sorry was after the slow cooker make.

 

[Lottielady]

Gorgeous bull terrier!!!!

What is the slow cooker make? Does it run off the leisure battery or do you need electric hook up?

 

[GillianC]

Yes, heat is more than enough to cook anything. It is just slower than usual cooking. Not using the tray.
We throw raw frozen meat or fish, so it unfreezes and cooks within 2-3max hours. Might be even overdone resulting in too dry food but never burnt.
The pot is just 1liter so we use 2. But it's small size is perfect for eating from it, holding like a big cup.
Locks securely so you can throw it around without spilling.
Makes insanely tasty jams from apples if you leave it for the whole day.
P.S. smells might distract some during the drive

Thank you. The apple jam sounds great!
One last question...I haven’t received the cooker yet so can’t see the instruction book but do you cook on the high setting for the whole time? It seems to suggest that it cooks on high for 30 mins and the goes to ‘keep warm’?

 

[Sp0_0k]

Please check the posts above about the cooker which mentions the make a link where to buy and how in which modes it works for us.
We carry all the water in the door pockets, that handle 2l square bottles perfectly. So 8L per door. Though the right door carries a thermos (better to buy a quality one that holds hot water over 24 hours)
A small hack, the right door gets a flow of hot air from diesel heater so you can keep some bottles warmer in freezing temps.
We carry extra 4 bottles in the bucket at the back that get switched with empty ones in doors.
So 22 liter water in total. Played with different canisters which are a waste in the end.
Bottles are replaced once/twice a year so not bothered about cleaning the canisters or manipulating big bulky containers.
2-3 bottles are very easy to fill in lots of public places (asking at fuel station) compared to 10l canister which gets lots of unwanted attention.

 

[Tanya]

Drawer holds the 3 light camping pots and a fox kettle with special bottom for faster effective boils.
Heater ecomat 2000.
Some chargers with cables.
Diy tube for directing heat to the tent. 450g gas canisters and ultralight spider gas stove. (sits on a table with a tube going to gas canister) Hate campingaz design with stove fixed on top.
Gas is used majorly in the morning for boiling eggs and some water to thermos to be used during a day.

View attachment 44477

Hi
The DIY tube for directing heat to tent- can you perhaps share a pic?

 

[Sp0_0k]

The heating plastic tube is from construction store. ~11mm diameter and ~16 to 11mm reduction tube. You can see modification cuts and fixing method on images. The top of the tube hangs right under the tent entrance with part of the flow going directly under the bed. It hangs on a plastic curtain with a metal wire hook.
It runs on 2-3level heating max which is more than enough down to -20'c. High level temperatures might damage the plastic I suppose.
We always prefer sleeping in a tent due to small air pocket at the top holds temperatures best. Sleeping downstairs at freezing temperatures is a mess. You are cold because of cold air drafts and have stale hot air to breathe.

 

[Amarillo]

I’m loving this thread Spook. You are taking living in a Cali to a whole new level. Who’d have thought that sleeping in the roof would be warmer than on the bench seat in the extreme cold!?

 

[Esandar#1]

This is an amazing thread and lifestyle you have Living long term in a Cali Beach, and plenty of cold locations too - wow! I tried to explain to my wife that 5x 2L water bottles would be better than a 10L pouch, but she was insistenent so we now have a 10L pouch that has never been used...! I have alos looked at your Instangram account. There are many stunning images there. Are you using a drone to capture many of them, and are they all images you have taken? If yes, then incredible! Thanks, Ian

 

[Sp0_0k]

Esandar, you might end up throwing away that pouch soon anyway Regarding Instagram, yes shoot everything myself, carrying lots of gear, couple drones, lots of lenses and a gimbal, which is a serious van space consideration as well.
A major thing with van travel is a harmony of all the participants. I don't think it was all even possible without my wife being so openminded. Yes we were at some stage thinking that you can only sleep in hotels and only do your things in a warm bathroom Refreshing icy lakes give you a completely new perspective of life.

 

[kp64zl]

Agree -- storing water bottles in the door pockets is a brilliant idea

 

[Sp0_0k]

We sometimes end up with a wet tent and no time to wait for it to dry.
We have a topper which didn't fit our practicality. Yes it will keep the tent dry, but packing it up under the rain in the morning will leave you and the topper wet.
So a simple hack with a raincoat to keep sheets dry works like a charm.

 

[Sp0_0k]

Here is a part of our electrical setup.
x2 cig socket extensions.
One goes from behind the driver(left) seat and is top rated up to 20 amps. So it is a leisure battery one.
Own made extensions with 6mm2 cables to prevent any voltage drop.
A cig plug with no built in fuse (which is in most cases a cause of overheating plugs) A custom made fuse box on a cable which accepts standard car fuses (quick easy change and a variety of cheap different rate fuses)
This one is used to power 2 slowcookers, mostly while driving using "free" alternator power.

2nd extension is going from a custom built lithium battery. And can handle 50amps or even 150 connected directly to a EC5 plug. I use those everywhere as a standard to power higher current devices like kayak motor.
The battery is Lifepo4 winston cells rated at 160ah (2kwh) But those are 210ah in reality well over 2,5kwh. I run it without bms but in a better controlled environment, balance charging and monitoring with wattmeter (green box) which gives precise capacity and consumption ratings.
This one is majorly used for powering laptops charging drones, cameras etc.
I keep it completely independent from cali circuitry. Charged from hookup or from alternator when driving. It holds power for almost a week of use wo recharging.
Might add solar pannels (which have own downsides) or just integrate it with leisure battery.
The battery is securely kept with belts and weighs just 22kg so very easy to remove for winter storage while parked.
On top of the storagebox goes all our bedding well guarded by a bullterrier. She is belted on the bench during the ride.

 

[Sp0_0k]

Here is our portable shower solution. Doesn't take much space, always clean and dry and tends to produce endorphins in large amounts

 

[Sp0_0k]

Ultra portable foldable stove Meva spider, runs on 450g Meva cartridges. Used for boiling some water for the thermos and cooking eggs in the morning.
Cartridges are like 5eur and one easily lasts over a month for us. Really hate ones going on top of a cartridge. We also have played with a bulky Campingaz stove for some time.

 

[DrJuanKerr]

Ultra portable foldable stove Meva spider, runs on 450g Meva cartridges. Used for boiling some water for the thermos and cooking eggs in the morning.

Did you bother with any of the many adapter kits for the stove?

1. KOVEA PAT adapter for "click-type" camping gas canisters
2. KOVEA Butane Adapter for low cost aerosol-type canisters
3. KOVEA P-Adapter for puncture/pierce-type canisters

 

[willwander]

Great thread, I have stove envy, but I have an SE

 

[Sp0_0k]

Did you bother with any of the many adapter kits for the stove?

Nop. Meva has a thread type which is fine. I like campingaz click-turn one but didn't find a spider design at that time. Their cartridges are more expensive as well. Meva are the cheapest.
We considered getting 2kg one but it takes too much space, requires pressure valve etc. Current method worked the best for us.
Carrying 4 cartridges covers us for the longests travels, and hiding 3 of them in storahe is very space saving as well.

 

[Sp0_0k]

We even still carry this zombie-apocalypse Biolite stove. Pretty compact and very nice for long stays in the wild. Used to cook on it a lot outside.
Might throw it away for more wise use of space

 

[Lorri]

Van has recently been fully unloaded of all useful and useless stuff purchased over past two n half years and reloaded ready for our trip to Scotland.
Front doors - r/h his l/h hers :-
Torch either side / phone chargers / munchies
Water container on floor beside kitchen cupboard (behind passenger seat)
Collapsible kettle in sink
Right kitchen cupboard
top half :-
Cutlery draw with larger utensils sitting on shelf underneath.
Lower half :-
Cadac and additional parts (paella pan/pizza stone)
Left kitchen cupboard
Top half:-
2 small saucepans / jug / collapsible colander / plates / bowls / mugs / glasses
Lower half :-
First aid kit / foil / cling film / kitchen roll / cleaning kit inc OXO mini dustpan n brush
Under bench draw:-
Food stuff (tea & coffe etc is left on a tray on top of fridge when van is on site).
Wardrobe :-
Waterproof coats / fleeces / couple of thermal throws / 4 lge micro fibre towels
On top of bed shelf :-
Two types of bed topper / duvet / pillows (all come level with top of bench seat)
Under bed shelf :-
L/hand side - 2 Vango umbrella chairs / parasol / Vango windbreaker
Rear - portal loo (unused in 2 1/2 yrs / 35l r.u.b for cables and awning light
Front - two small his n hers cases
An under bed box for his n hers footwear (sits on top of suitcases)
Tail compartment (vw chairs removed as uncomfortable) :-
Roof topper / thermal front screen cover / rollout awning wall kit / diy tailgate awning
Rear little cupboards :-
Top : his beautification bits n bobs / small micro fibre towel
Middle : her beautification bits n bobs / small micro fibre towel
Lower : small tool kit
Overhead cupboard:-
Generally empty but if next mornings weather looks dodgy we put the next days clean clothes in there and toiletries.

Sorry to bore the pants off you :0)