Are Fly Screens worth the money?
We have a newly converted Crafter camper van and we are heading off to Europe and North Africa in a months time, planning to live in our van whilst travelling for a full 12 months.
We are looking at the final accessories for our van and considering the value of fitting a fly screen to the main sliding door; we have decided that the back doors will not be left open for prolonged periods so probably do not warrant the use of fly screens.
Your experiences and help would be appreciated.
Cheers
Alan
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Definitely a fly screen on the sliding door and all windows. Only this last week we were in Oxfordshire on a CL surrounded with trees and hedges. There were a few too many wasps around for our likeing. We were in the van, all windows and sliding door open and all fly screens in use. One or two wasps kept on coming onto the fly screens and would presumably have come in if screens were not there. I don’t think they will stop midges but are really useful against other bugs.
Memo to self: buy one of those tennis racket shaped electronic fly swats.
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Depends where you're going but temperature in Europe, especially in the south can be very high, the middle of Italy is currently over 40C, so your campervan will be come very hot and very warm or stuffy at night. There will be a variety of insects to deal with some of whom like the taste of blood.
Relations with MH in Italy always have flyscreens and I've seen them used them a lot.
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Over the last 20 years I've had 5 caravans, all with fly screens on windows and door. I would not be without them.
Colin
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Definitely fit them to windows and your sliding door and to any opening roof vents as well. They’re invaluable in Scotland in the midge season so will be absolutely essential in hot climates in my opinion.
If you have the means to power it, a fan will be a useful addition as well.
Good luck on your journey. 👍
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Yes, especially if going to Southern Europe and North Africa, for keeping out mosquitos if nothing else. I would also take mosquito coils and we have a wee electric mosquito repellent device. Also carry a can of 'knock down ' flyspray to rid the van of biting insects if some manage to get in(they will!)
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As Lukeledge says mosquito coils and a can of insect spray. We usually buy abroad as the products available there seem to be more effective than those available in the UK.
As for the "wee electric mosquito repellent device" I had one of those many years ago but I found it didn't work. A friend also had one and found the same as me, but he reckoned that it worked well as an elephant deterrent as they never troubled him 😁.
On a more serious note, Deet treated mozzie nets can be very useful in some regions as can Deet repellent, but keep it away from certain fabrics as it can cause them to rot.
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As regards mosquitos, if we are in any doubt they are about or still water is nearby, at night we have a plug in deterrent that you slide little tabs into. These come individually wrapped in foil. These seem to be effective.
Outside we have a Citronella oil burner for sitting out at night.
Avon Skin So Soft is also excellent and a bottle of this lives permanently in the van.
Colin
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Agree with folk and eM re Avon skin so soft it works well over here and yes to door fly screens.
We have had a lot of very small black flies not midges and they do bite and we have the Tiger Mosquitoes here but you can get insect repellent for them here in France, as to bad bites I have found that a bottle of Lavender essential oil is the best thing to put on them as I tried it last week when bitten the swelling and itching went instantly so will be putting that in my toilet bag when we are away.
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A nice tip about the Lavender Oil. I may give it a try. The more conventional treatments are antihistamine cream or hydrocortisone cream, a corticosteroid, both readily available OTC.
Incidentally OP, beware of processionary caterpillar, especially if you are taking a dog with you.
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I'd forgotten about after the event. We carry Anthisan bite & sting cream along with whatever hay fever tablets are cheapest.
Colin
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I am going to issue an apology now so listen up all you campervanners.
SORRY.
Whenever we have found ourselves next to a camper van on a club site we always seemed to be woken either last thing at night or very early in the morning and came to curse "the slidey door" and cursed them not so silently under our breath.
We never had a fly screen that came with the caravan so made our own but used velcro to fasten them. It was only 5-6 years ago when we acquired a pull over fly screen did we start to see how easy it was to make a noise when opening and closing it, especially one that clicks into place.
So a double apology, one to Campervans with slidey fly screens and another to those other members on site who always curse hearing our door. At least we don't do it early in the morning or late at night!.
😱😂😂
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In principle a flyscreen on the main door is worthwhile especially if you are going to go to "buggy" places as it seems you are. However a full blown fitting is liable to cost several hundred pounds.
We have had the two different iterations of the same van since 2012. Initially we could not find a suitable screen (although there are various available now) so we got our convertor to fit a small sized curtain rail above the sliding door and fitted a cloth screen. (£10 from Dunelm if I remember rightly) which has been transferred to our current van and does the job (as well as being a privacy screen when needed).
On the general subject of accessories I would counsel you to resist the temptation to buy lots of things initially but rather to use your van a bit and see what accessories you really need.Accessories are big business, for example in the German Movera catalogue for example there are literally 100s of things you can buy.
We love the compactness and agility of our campervan but a trade off is that space and payload need to be managed so that is another reason to hasten slowly in the accessories department.
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Above should read 100s of pages in the Movera catalogue
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Hi
Thank you to everyone that has taken the time and effort to respond to my initial question. Our van has fly screens on all the windows and vents so it is just the sliding door that I am looking to cover; and as the only responses are very much in favour of having the protection of fly screens, I am now researching the option available.
If anyone can recommend a supplier it would be appreciated and once again thank you for your help it is greatly appreciated.
Alan
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It can be a problem finding a ready made sliding screen in a cassette that will fit in the narrow space between the door and kitchen unit. Perhaps if you measure the available gap it will help when checking out the offerings from the likes of Remis. You may need to revert to something held up with magnets or the like.
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I have found a recent online copy of the Movera catalogue in English (its actually the Swiss version). It lists a Remis flyscreen for a Sprinter/Crafter 2006 on. I think your new style Crafter is an exclusively VW/Man version but the body/door dimensions may be the same, I say that because Rimor say 2006--on with no cut off.
There is a company called Nova Leisure who distribute Accessories. Their website says they are strictly wholesale only so I doubt if they will supply supply you but they might help you with product availability and/or direct you to a retailer who can. The attached screenshot if visible shows the product. I cant find any UK dealers for the link but there must be Remis suppliers in the UK
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Your van looks very similar to ours, we also don't have a fixed fly screen on the big door. We have looked into it and found we cannot get one fitted as the kitchen cabinet sits to close to the door opening thus no room for a cassette type screen.
I have made my own screen using a rail at the top and fixing small magnets down the sides and bottom that cling to the metal sides of the opening.
Having said that a cassette type won't fit there are other types that may do with a little adjustment.
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