Swift Basecamp 2
Why this model?
• We don’t want a bungalow on wheels. (Parted company with a 20 year old Lunar Ariva a year ago.)
• We like small and “quirky”. I like the shape.
What deters me:
• The interior is stark. Bleak almost. Mainly black.
• I like cosy. I like to “cwtch up”. “Hygge” is, I believe, the Scandinavian term.
• Laura Ashley / Cath Kidston kind of theme as opposed to utilitarian.
• Has anyone made a Basecamp cosy and less stark? (Rugs / throws / cushions / colour / fairy lights …)
• And I dislike the colour orange when it comes to décor and they all seem to feature orange. (I am talking myself out of this aren’t I!)
Inspire me please! Can I be cosy in such a van?
Comments
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Having read your "Why", one van springs to mind, Eriba.
Colin
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@eribaMotters I didn't mention that in my OP as it would have made it rather long We did have an Eriba on our list. (I love the Rockabilly!) Spent a good deal of time looking at models. We live very near main dealer. But they all seem to have the problem of mildew around the pop up top, even on new ones. Do you find that to be a problem?0
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We have always liked Eriba’s, but never owned one, had a good look around some and always come across as well made, robust. That said, I think if we ever decided to go back to a caravan, we would definitely put a Barefoot at the top of our list. We looked around one on a CL and they are a really nice, quirky outfit. We have never wanted to tow a mini bungalow with all mod cons behind us, much prefer something that is more “camping”, as we love being outdoors most of the time, so a Barefoot would be a perfect sleeping and cooking pod.
You can do a lot with fabrics, soft furnishings to make any kind of van more homely, less utilitarian, we have rescued and refurbed a couple of vans during our touring life, and we always felt comfy having the interiors just as we wanted them. I don’t do beige, cream, stark white at all, black makes things quite dark inside. We bought designer fabrics and had seating recovered, curtains and blinds made. Even things like loose cushions, throws maybe even a little bright rug could make a new van more homely. We have even re covered the interior walls, painted woodwork, but these were old classic vans.
I like Airstreams as well, but don’t like the leather interiors a lot come with.😁
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@Takethedogalong Oh don't get me going on Barefoot Caravans. I first saw one on a site in Belgium and asked to have a peek at it. The owners were only to happy as they were so proud of it and I fell for it, big time.
The thing is, we still have our motorhome and that will stay. Replacing the caravan is purely for use in the UK. While it is the case that we are confined to the UK atm and would prefer a caravan here, for all kinds of reasons, the motorhome, once we (hopefully) begin touring "over there" again, will be our main vehicle. Thus, a caravan will very much secondary and I wouldn't want to spend "Barefoot money" as it were (wonderful though one would be).0 -
I wondered if you still had your MH. Can understand not wanting to spend Barefoot money. We have made the sad decision to let our old Cotswold Caravan go, as we have the MH as well. Our little MH gets us around UK lovely, possibly with the exception of Cornwall, but for down there we could either book a cottage, or simply hire a small car. We love the tiny little lanes, the hidden places.😁 Hope you find a comfy compromise.
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Since 2003 we have owned 4 Touring's and currently a Feeling. Non have had a mildew problem as if we have had to pack away with the pop-top fabric wet we have always made sure the top goes up when home or it to dry out.
Whilst I still love the classic shape of the Touring I would NOT buy a new van. Even with the £5K discounts available on forecourt stock they are over priced and living on historic build quality reputation. Whilst they still compare well in build quality against "normal" vans, the quality of materials used has been in free fall for some time. Cabinetwork is made of poor quality plywood, hinges are week, screws rust and doors fall off in transit. I would also advise caution if buying anything less than 4 or 5 years old, as the new owner will not have had time to repair and strengthen things where needed. Anything over that looking good probably is good and worth buying.
It is for these reasons I went for a Feeling. The build is super. I have not had to fix anything since collecting mine new in June 2023. It tows very well, even with my modest 1.5L petrol Audi A3. The theoretical payload of 500kg is immense, but realistically nearer 400kg by the time bike carrier, battery, mover weights are taken into account.
The Barefoot has been mentioned and this is very nice. If we had not wanted a fixed bed and separate dining area I would have considered one, but would needed to rob a bank first.
Colin
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That’s very interesting what you say about Eriba’s @eribaMotters Build quality and robustness of fittings was one of the things we noticed the last time we explored a new Eriba. It was something like 10 years ago now. We haven’t been impressed with any of the British makes either Caravan or MH the few times we have had a look around. I think the only other thing we looked at and pondered was a small Hymer MH, but again that was a good few years ago.
We are pondering on having all the interior revamped in our VW Gatcombe, new seat covers, curtains, wall coverings, floor coverings. It won’t be cheap, but the underlying fixtures and fittings are very good, so we think it better value to do up an older good MH. Hopefully it will see our touring days out.
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The changes came around 2012/13 when full production started in Germany after closing the French site down in 2010. A bit more Tech and a fully galvanised framework were big steps forward, but Hymer skimped on the basics of cabinetwork. They went for a low density lightweight plywood that does not hold screws well. The engineered hinges gave way to folded back/flap cheap versions and some bed frames did not fare well. The result has been cupboards parting company with carcases, with toilet doors often found on the floor when you get to site. Reports of water ingress around rear high level stop lights and windows has increased. Numerous owners have experienced swelling of the front gas locker door. Even though this has been in the warranty period for water ingress Hymer have rejected claims. These doors cost £1,200 to supply. Internal screws also like to tarnish/rust as the zinc plating is thin. Pop-top clamps have also failed in a lot of cases, with owners having to put temporary straps over the vans to make it home. Part of the failure is due to the re-design of the roof, meaning it has to be raised and lowered in the correct order. Dealers were unaware of this and therefore owners also did not know. The 4 broken clamps cost £260 to supply. At the front you will find a pair of vacuum formed light surrounds on the bottom exterior running lights. The plastic on these is paper thin, having been formed outside the working limits of the material. Owners have put there fingers through the plastic when washing vans.
These known issues have been ongoing for over a decade and yet Hymer are not addressing them and the vans keep selling for an inflated price.
The same cannot be said for the Feelings, so Hymer still do know how to build a caravan. Since June 2023 I've done about 6K to 7K miles over 15 to 16 weeks of use, not a lot but enough to find faults. As a matter of caution I have put a turn button on the bathroom door, swapped window fitting screws out for stainless and re-fitted the front grab handles with more mastic. Nothing has broken or fallen off, I have done these works as preventative measures over a few hours, just in case, as I am OCD and like things to be as close to perfect as possible.
Colin
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Sorry to read that sad Eriba story.We bought one which was identical to this in 2007 and ran with it far and wide for 14 troublefree years. It was wildly impractical by modern standards but I loved the style. Do I like the style of the Swift Basecamp? Not a bit. Frankly to me it looks tacky, inside and out
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Thank you @Takethedogalong and @eribaMotters for your interesting comments. A few thoughts.
Recently, we have taken to having more cottage holidays in the UK since relinquishing the caravan, realising the limitations of motorhomes in narrow lanes! That would be a sensible option. One could have a good deal of cottage rentals for the cost of a new / newish caravan. (And hotel breaks too.)
Not familiar at all with the Feeling. I must look.
We have not been impressed with the quality of the new Eribas which we have viewed. Fabric panels for decoration which seemed to be coming adrift. What's that all about?
I have a inkling that I am not going to convince myself that I can make the bleak blackness of a Basecamp cosy and cute ("Barefoot-ised" as it were); and I am not sure I can get past the mildew of the Eriba pop up tops as every single one we have looked at (many) has been marred with that.
Another idea which has now occurred to me is to remove the swing out bike rack from the motorhome (I feel that my cycling days might have come to end) and use an A Frame to tow my little Fiat 500 – in the UK only. Happy without another vehicle “over there”. It’s a thought.
Lots of thoughts.0 -
On the other hand, a Symbol Plus is not a big van and I can’t imagine there are many places you can’t take it. I’d have thought it not worth the expense or bother of A-framing with all that entails or of buying a caravan.
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Our MH is 6metres with our bike rack or Fiamma box on the back, so not huge, and possibly a bit narrower than some of the slab sided MHs out there, and as I said, we have been all over the UK in it for the last 11 years with few problems. Cornwall was only “different” because we are very used to getting to some of the more remote beaches down very narrow lanes, but we had a great holiday in our MH simply thinking of where we could go easily. There are some extremely easy parts of the UK to be in a MH, Northumberland and the Borders area of Scotland being two. If you want to be close to towns in the UK, then it might be a challenge compared with using an MH in Europe, but we use pub stops and overnight stops to give us this option.
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Yes @Tinwheeler one might think that. But an interesting encounter with a service bus and a camouflaged tree branch on the Lizard Peninsula some years ago - in which the motorhome did not fare well - made us cautious. And our recent 10 day trip to the South Hams (an area we have known and loved since the 1980s) pointed up the difference between getting about in a motorhome (even a campervan with motorhome pretentions) and a car.
@Takethedogalong we have had successful motorhome tours elsewhere in the UK including a lovely 5 week tour in Scotland. But taking it to a site we love (Rhandirmwyn in the Cambrian Hills) again showed up the limitations. And we loved our customary annual week in the caravan there.
But I can rationalise all I like. Truth be told, I like caravan trips and I miss having the option. It’s a sentimental thing.0 -
Yep, been there and done that many a time without issue.
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There are indeed hazards out there, we haven’t been immune, took the end cap off our Fiamma awning in Norfolk one evening on @a low branch. Mind, we do live dangerously, we got our MH down to Caerhays beach car park last time in Cornwall, but it was “breathe in” at times. And we had a generous 2 inch per side getting onto Dartmoor around Ashburton one time🫣 OH lives his driving life on the edge (Fire Engines, extreme off roading in 4x4’s, etc…) and does sometimes need an “are you sure” reality check.🤭 We find it’s usually things coming the other way with nervous drivers that are the main hazard. Getting off the top of the Long Mynd at the Church Stretton end wasn’t for the faint hearted, but we did it🤭
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Have you considered a Bailey Discovery? We felt they are far nicer inside than the basecamp, and if you want to carry bikes, you fit an A frame rack, rather than carry the bikes inside the van itself like the BC. We don't like the layouts of the Eribas, though of course that is obviously very subjective. If you were to go with a Bailey, a word of warning on the motormover. I had to replace the power leads to the control unit from the supplied 8mm (I seem to remember) wires to 16 mm wires to compensate for the power loss due to the distance from the battery. Other than that we are very happy with our D4-2.
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Thank you @wh1nbrew Haven’t checked in here for a few days so apologies if it seemed as if I were ignoring you.
I am not familiar with that model. There is one available at a dealer’s in South Wales, but it’s a good 2 hour drive from us so viewing that will have to wait. But it’s certainly one to bear in mind.
Carrying bikes is not planned. The bike reference up thread is because I am considering removing the swing out bike rack from our Autosleeper Symbol and towing a car on an A frame (UK only) instead of buying another caravan. Motorhome stays!0 -
Hi @Not_going_gentle I can't help with regards to a Basecamp 2 but we do have some good information on caravans including some smaller designs from the most recent Caravan Design Awards.
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