Startup kit recommendations for rookies
Hello,
We are about to pick up our first caravan and would love to know recommendations for good kit.
Leisure batteries, towing mirrors, hitchlock or wheel lock, aqua roll & wastes, piping..
Do we need: chocks or ramps, noseweight gauge, special toilet paper etc..
Any recommendations for what we need to get going will be greatly appreiciated!
Comments
-
Welcome to this great hobby! We only recently ended our years of touring this way and it's certainly a great way of life.
Hopefully your dealer will sort you out with most of the absolutely essential stuff.
I think a good plan is not to buy too much special kit in advance. Plan your first break fairly near home so that you can pop back if you discover anything vital that you're missing. Then accumulate extras as you go along. When we finally stopped it was amazing the amount of "stuff" we'd bought over the years and hardly ever used!
PS - corkscrew/bottle opener and sense of humour need to be high on your list!
2 -
Ditto to what moulesy says. Hope your dealer will throw in an aquaroll and electric hook up cable.
Stay close to home for your first trip. When you go on site, have a look at how fellow caravanners are set up and don't be afraid to chat and ask questions. Try to manage with bare essentials and/or things from home until you decide exactly how you're going to use your van.
I'd consider a couple of decent chairs which you can use both for dining and/or relaxing, plus a fold away table to be pretty high on my list of things to consider buying. Try not to buy 'caravan specific' items as they're usually more expensive, i.e. ordinary toilet tolls and bedding will do just fine.
1 -
One thing you do not need is the, very expensive, special toilet paper.
Supermarket ordinary is fine.
Consider toilet sachets for the cassette tank rather than liquid, less weight and much easier. Pink for the flush tank is not essential.
You will need a means of levelling, we use decking off-cuts. Shape the ends at an angle. Decking is also useful for under the van feet.
Chocks.....we have some but have never used them.
Noseweight gauge is useful, but you can use the bathroom scales and a piece of wood instead.
Security devices will be whatever your insurer requires, but generally the more the better.
A van normally comes with an EHU cable, a water pump and sometimes a step, check they are all there.
Also a gas pigtail for whatever gas you will use is normally provided, but do check.
1 -
I would get van specific kitchen stuff, but not necessarily from a dealer. IKEA or similar have decent pots, cutlery etc etc, or take old stuff from home and treat the house to new stuff.
A low wattage kettle, and / or one to use on the hob. Also, if you want, a toaster and some type of BBQ.
If the fridge is small, possibly an electric coolbox ( 230v/12v) for drinks.
1 -
Thank you all for your helpful advice.
We have noticed there are lots of sizes for levelling ramps. Is there a 'best fit'? Our caravan is a 2016 Elddis Affinity 554.
Also, as we are total beginners, can you describe a gas pigtail and EHU?
We have now purchased the all important comfy chairs and bottle opener. (as well as battery and security bits)
First site is booked 4 miles from collection point and 15 from storage site.
Any recommendations for kettles, toilet chemicals (We like the idea of sachets very much)
A trip to Ikea for new crockery for the house is imminent too with the old stuff going into the caravan. (fab idea!)
Should we get camping style pots and pans? (We have heard that normal ones take ages to heat as have heavier bases)
thanks again all!
0 -
Kettle - I just bought an ordinary low wattage one; similarly a toaster - from Sainsbury's. Look at Quest brand.
EHU - electric hook up - cable required but dealer should supply.
Toilet chemicals - we only use Aquakem blue for holding tank and just clear water for flush. Sachets are clean and easy to use but more expensive. Many reports of black streaks from using the 'pink' in flush tank so we stopped using it.
Pans - we use ordinary pans and stainless steel dishes/cooking pots so nothing breakable. We also have a small selection of microwaveproof dishes.
Crockery - I still have and am happy with my aged Melamine crockery but my one concession on carrying glass is that I have china beakers and proper drinking glasses.
1 -
No, get decent pots and pans, the lightweight camping ones make it too easy to burn food. We have 2 decent Tefal non stick frying pans and 2 small and one larger pot , non stick, from IKEA 's mid range, all are of a decent weight, but not the heaviest.
Keep the plates etc lightweight, and wrap/secure them well for travel. Ww use the white lightweight glass ones from IKEA, plus a few old melamine ones. We have a pyrex dish for microwave use, plus a nesting set of plastic ones with lids that can also go in the MW.
As there are only the 2 of us, we have a smallish travel kettle, 750watts, boils enough water for 4 cups of tea, and a small teapot. We also have a lightweight camping kettle to use on the gas hob when necessary.
The gas pigtail goes from the bulkhead regulator to the gas bottle. There may well be one there already, there are different ones for butane and propane.
For the toilet, Aquachem or Elsan sachets, or you could try the Lidl/Aldi bio laundry pods. There is info on those somewhere on here.
0 -
EHU = electric hook up. That is, EHU bollard, EHU cable, EHU socket etc.
0 -
Exciting times! Where is that first trip taking you? A club site or a CL, might even be a private site.
Wherever it is, have fun, don't be afraid to ask for help - we all had to start somewhere and you'll find your fellow members more than willing to help if you let them know you're new. (In fact you might find it hard to get rid of some of them once they start handing out advice - LOL!
)1 -
Thanks again, we couldn't secure a Club site nearby, so its a small local site. The laundry pod idea is intriguing we'll look it up!
Any idea how we find awning size (haven't got the manual yet) I know its 1022 but not sure what that means for sizing!
0 -
Hope this might help. Measure from the ground, along the awning channel and down to the ground again.
https://www.awnings.co.uk/awning-size-guide.html
0 -
Spirit Level, you don't want to roll out of bed.
I have had experience of dealers supplying 10 metre mains cables, bargain for or purchase 25 metre, you will need it.
Put a label conveniently in the car with the height of your van, and the total length of car and caravan, and watch out for height barriers on supermarket car parks. (I nearly went into a multi-storey car park with a roof boot on the car, thanks frantically waving French gent for saving embarrassment. Although I would probably have remembered if the caravan had been on the hook.
Maybe).
0 -
"Any idea how we find awning size (haven't got the manual yet) I know its 1022 but not sure what that means for sizing!"
You don't have to have a full size awning unless you particularly want one. A 'porch' awning is anything less than a full size one and can be anything from a very small one that just goes over the door to massive ones - over 4m long and sometimes 3m deep and even then, some makes offer the facility to have a zip-on annexe, making it even bigger! Depends on the size of your van.
You need to measure how much 'straight' awning rail you have (along the top of the van) and then work out what size is best going to suit you, bearing in mind it's best to avoid the edge of the awning going over a window.
Then go to a dealers and look at some erected and see what suits you. There are those that favour air awnings (like me!) and those that hate them but this is a whole new debate and perhaps best left for later once you've got used to the van.
Good luck.
0 -
1022 is the length from ground, along awning rail and back to ground at other end of the van. 10.220 metres, otherwise known as size 15.
That is for what is known as a full awning, which has to be correct to fit. An alternative to the full one, is what is called a porch awning, which only attach to the caravan's awning rail along the roof and simply hang at the sides - usually sealed by pads and perhaps poles.
The porch ones tend to be lighter, a little easier to put up and cheaper, though they do not cover an entire side of the van, so not as spacious. The 'not made to fit' usually means you can retain the same awning should you later change the van.
The porch come as both supported by pole versions and now the newer blow up type, where air bladders replace the need for poles.
0 -
OK for the fine weather and when the rain falls straight down, but no so good when even a light wind gets up. On our last trip they had an open canopy behind us and left it up for the day as they went out. A bit of wind and the supporting poles fell, the canopy then flipped over the van, risking damaging the awning rail. We both got soaked rushing out to salvage things before there was any damage.
0 -
Sounds like lack of proper pegging down, but different makes stand up to wind differently.
We had a Fiamma roll out for many years, was quite surprising how well it did in winds when well secured.
We now have a Sunncamp Swift 390 canopy with integral sides, it is also good in winds.
1
