The best and worse things you ever bought for your van.

[Fisherman]

Ok I don’t know if this has been done before but the best thing I ever bought for my van cost £10, it’s now £12.99 on Amazon. Wildebus put me on to this it’s a great bit of kit that allows you to accurately check your fridge using Bluetooth without opening the door. I can point to my van from my home and get readings. Here it is on eBay, for some reason I cant copy and paste from Amazon.

Room Thermometer Hygrometer, Bluetooth Digital Indoor Temperature Govee | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Room Thermometer Hygrometer, Bluetooth Digital Indoor Temperature Govee at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

The worse thing I ever bought was a canopy which cost £950. In over three years I have used it twice, won’t bother with one for the next van.

 

[campervanannie]

Best thing I bought was the Sportbrella brilliant for sitting out on rainy days,windy days and sunny days here is mr and mrs Edina with Taya modeling theirs including Meg modeling in the upright position and other members that have gone on to purchase their own.

The worst thing, sad to say I have a garage full of useless camping items it may take a while to pick the worst of the worst

 

[trevskoda]

Worst thing i have never used is an awning, still in the garage at home, best bit of kit was the new high ratio diff/axle for the van.

 

[Robmac]

Yep, Sportbrella after Annie introduced us to it.

It makes socialising outside so much easier whatever the weather.

 

[Jo001]

Big things - the satnav (probably saved my marriage life a few times), the solar panel and high spec leisure battery.

Little things - subscription to this site , the plastic basin that fits the sink perfectly, S hooks to hang the fairy lights, a canvas six-bottle bag to stop bottles rattling, a folding step 'cos I'm titchy, 12 volt charging cables for the tablets, phones and so on, a bathmat for just inside the leisure door so you can take dirty shoes off without tracking mud in, a road refresher spillproof dog water bowl, plastic baskets to hold stuff in the overhead lockers.

 

[yeoblade]

.This?

 

[Moped]

Best large purchase - Quest Screen House 4 pop up gazebo. Popped up for 90% of site visits and used as an outdoor kitchen. Need a good garage though for storage. It sits nicely under the wind out canopy when we are on certain CCC sites which limit your pitch width to 5m.

Best small purchase - usb type c to hdmi lead enabling us to stream downloads from the phone to the TV

Worst purchase - blue tooth tyre cap air pressure readers - didn’t realise our van had tyre pressure loss warning sensors already fitted.

 

[jagmanx]

Best refillable Lpg and solar.
Worst Fire blanket and extinguisher as we have never used them !!!

 

[izwozral]

Best = sat nav.
Worst = a Swift Bessacar.

 

[barryd]

Best probably has to be the scooter rack by a hundred country miles. 14 years later and over 40000 miles on three different bikes, still going strong. Gaslow and solar useful additions also.

No real bad ones but an impractical choice was the Airdeck dinghy and outboard. Just too awkward and heavy to easily carry about, store and use. Went like the clappers but Mrs D hated it. A few years later I bought the Sevylor Madison Kayak which has been used all over Europe from the Scottish islands to the Med. It's brilliant.

 

[Jo001]

Oh yes - Gaslow of course!

 

[trevskoda]

Fitting of incorrect solar regulators, sorted to an mppt after reading wildbuses threads.

 

[GMJ]

Best? probably a CADAC Carri Chef 2

Worst? There's still time....

 

[suneye]

Best: I made a curtain that goes across the van so I can stay in bed, have a wash, go to the loo without having to worry about curtains or doors being open/ed. worst: anything to do with wifi

 

[2cv]

Best definitely refillable gas bottles. Worst probably a level checker, never used but only cost £2.

 

[SimonM]

Best - Gaslow bottles. Rear air suspension. Solar panels. Most important spare WC cassette.

Worst - can’t recall but it would have been thrown out.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

Rubber/silicone matting saved so many things from going flying when we forget to stow them away.

Plastic baskets for the upper lockers to keep things organised and falling out.

This tin opener, we have an electrickery one at home as Liz has terrible arthritis in her hands, but she finds this really easy to use.

Amazon.co.uk

A stackable SS pan set.

two folding on hob toast thingies.

 

[Moped]

Mrs Moped reminded me of worst buy. We sometimes forget the worst buys as they get put away never to be used again.

We saw an electric bbq in go outdoors for half price £22. Thought a bargain let's have it.

First time of using it kept tripping the hook up rcd. Electric mini oven fine, microwave fine, expresso coffee maker fine, electric bbq trip.

Didn't check the power requirements. You rarely get 16amp in Europe so it got put in the shed never to be used again.

Subsequently bought a Cadac gas bbq which we use virtually every day when on a campsite. Best cooking device ever for cooked breakfasts without splashing oil all over the van kitchen workspaces and hob.

 

[Borders2]

Best, in no particular order: Membership of this site as we are wilding all the time. No sites for us ta. Pressure pan, solar panel, 2nd leisure battery, spare cassette, steamer set. 12v water pump to transfer water from the drums in the garage to the tank. Suitcase genny which is now 10 or so and still going strong.

Worst? The Tomtom very expensive truck model that chose to die at the worst possible time. Bah.

B2

 

[northman]

Best - Gaslow system, solar panel and a host of small items like a set of different-sized tap adapters, a roll of Gorilla tape and a pack of resin putty, which have all saved my sanity at some time!
Worst - a Thule awnings so big and complicated that I only used it twice; I could have built a bungalow quicker.