Just hired a campervan, what to expect?!
Discussion
Long story short.....
Carfest North tickets arrive, with rules that you can't park your car next to your tent ala Le Mans, so only having a two man tent & a miss's that doesn't do "cold & wet" I've went & done the only sane thing a man who doesn't think such things through shoud do, & hired a camper
It's a http://www.kendalcamping.co.uk/product.php?product... one of these, & it looks alright even if I do say so me self!
No idea what we can expect or what we should take, any hints from experienced campers?
It has a cassette toilet apparently, but I've never passed cassettes before & I don't think a festival with copious food & beverages will be the time to start. Any ideas? We've been told we must empty it before returning it, not pleasant I'd imagine?
The bloke also said it had a shower-do we have to fill these things with water? Where from??
Laura is proper excited, which is always good for a laugh & I'm looking forward to it too but really, consider I know nothing about camping (a couple of nights I can't remember at Le mans doesn't count) & point me in the right direction
Carfest North tickets arrive, with rules that you can't park your car next to your tent ala Le Mans, so only having a two man tent & a miss's that doesn't do "cold & wet" I've went & done the only sane thing a man who doesn't think such things through shoud do, & hired a camper
It's a http://www.kendalcamping.co.uk/product.php?product... one of these, & it looks alright even if I do say so me self!
No idea what we can expect or what we should take, any hints from experienced campers?
It has a cassette toilet apparently, but I've never passed cassettes before & I don't think a festival with copious food & beverages will be the time to start. Any ideas? We've been told we must empty it before returning it, not pleasant I'd imagine?
The bloke also said it had a shower-do we have to fill these things with water? Where from??
Laura is proper excited, which is always good for a laugh & I'm looking forward to it too but really, consider I know nothing about camping (a couple of nights I can't remember at Le mans doesn't count) & point me in the right direction
Well I'd hope so but I'm thinking along the lines of what we take &/or should expect. The bloke said bring bedding but what size, or just take sleeping bags?
If it needs water do we need something to fill it up with?
Does it have 240v for phone chargers etc?
Any hints or tips to makes it all go smoothly would be appreciated as we'll be tight for time so want to pack the car up ready to just switch over & head there
If it needs water do we need something to fill it up with?
Does it have 240v for phone chargers etc?
Any hints or tips to makes it all go smoothly would be appreciated as we'll be tight for time so want to pack the car up ready to just switch over & head there
Ask the hire place if it comes with a power lead or hook up. This will plug into the van and provide power, assuming the site has suitable power points for you to use.
The van should run off both electric (mains), gas (bottled) and will have a leisure battery which is charged when driving. Make sure they show how to turn the gas on.
As for water, you should be provided with a hose, Eldis use a funny connector for the van end, which will connect to a standard 'Hoselock' connector so you can fill up from a normal hose. Check if the site has water, if not fill up before, approx 75-100 litres.
It may be worth contacting the hire place prior to collection and ask if they will do a full handover as you haven't done this before. This will explain everything to you, don't be afraid to ask to do things yourself whilst they are explaining things.
There is an overhang on this things, so when you turn right, the left hand rear corner is pushed out further than on a normal van or car. If you are not used to driving a big vehicle, get someone to guide you whilst reversing.
I work at a place that has a motorhome hire, if the customer has never used a motorhome/caravan we go through everything, taking an hour or so to make sure they are happy with everything.
The van should run off both electric (mains), gas (bottled) and will have a leisure battery which is charged when driving. Make sure they show how to turn the gas on.
As for water, you should be provided with a hose, Eldis use a funny connector for the van end, which will connect to a standard 'Hoselock' connector so you can fill up from a normal hose. Check if the site has water, if not fill up before, approx 75-100 litres.
It may be worth contacting the hire place prior to collection and ask if they will do a full handover as you haven't done this before. This will explain everything to you, don't be afraid to ask to do things yourself whilst they are explaining things.
There is an overhang on this things, so when you turn right, the left hand rear corner is pushed out further than on a normal van or car. If you are not used to driving a big vehicle, get someone to guide you whilst reversing.
I work at a place that has a motorhome hire, if the customer has never used a motorhome/caravan we go through everything, taking an hour or so to make sure they are happy with everything.
Haha, spookily small world but I sold that actual van to the people you are hiring it from, you can even see our blue C***bells Motorhomes book pack on the dinnette seat!
Its a cracking little van and they're good people so Im sure they will make sure you're au fais with how it works before they let you loose but it wil be a steep learning curve!
Renters normally supply the van with all the basic kit like hoses etc, that one just has a normal cap you take off and bung a hose in to fill up so nothing complicated like the later ones, its one of the simplest vans to use and the manuals quite good so should be no probs.
On bedding I take a sleeping bacl to unfold to sleep on and a duvet to sleep under, the sleeping bag does a good job of smoothing out the bumps of the dinnette bed,dont expect to easily sleep two over the cab its great for one but very snug but doable for two.
Final tip, the ladder for the overcab bed is almost vertical,take an icecream tub sized box or similar to put under the ladder to put it at an angle,it makes entry/exit much easier.
Its a cracking little van and they're good people so Im sure they will make sure you're au fais with how it works before they let you loose but it wil be a steep learning curve!
Renters normally supply the van with all the basic kit like hoses etc, that one just has a normal cap you take off and bung a hose in to fill up so nothing complicated like the later ones, its one of the simplest vans to use and the manuals quite good so should be no probs.
On bedding I take a sleeping bacl to unfold to sleep on and a duvet to sleep under, the sleeping bag does a good job of smoothing out the bumps of the dinnette bed,dont expect to easily sleep two over the cab its great for one but very snug but doable for two.
Final tip, the ladder for the overcab bed is almost vertical,take an icecream tub sized box or similar to put under the ladder to put it at an angle,it makes entry/exit much easier.
Edited by nagsheadwarrior on Saturday 1st September 23:18
mojitomax said:
We are off to carfest north next week too. I can't remember but does te site have electricity or not?
I got an email through that says as the campervan permits were free they are charging 40 quid for the electrical hook up.nagsheadwarrior said:
Haha, spookily small world but I sold that actual van to the people you are hiring it from, you can even see our blue C***bells Motorhomes book pack on the dinnette seat!
Its a cracking little van and they're good people so Im sure they will make sure you're au fais with how it works before they let you loose but it wil be a steep learning curve!
Renters normally supply the van with all the basic kit like hoses etc, that one just has a normal cap you take off and bung a hose in to fill up so nothing complicated like the later ones, its one of the simplest vans to use and the manuals quite good so should be no probs.
On bedding I take a sleeping bacl to unfold to sleep on and a duvet to sleep under, the sleeping bag does a good job of smoothing out the bumps of the dinnette bed,dont expect to easily sleep two over the cab its great for one but very snug but doable for two.
Final tip, the ladder for the overcab bed is almost vertical,take an icecream tub sized box or similar to put under the ladder to put it at an angle,it makes entry/exit much easier.
I knew pistonheads was the right place to ask about this-it always comes up trumps Its a cracking little van and they're good people so Im sure they will make sure you're au fais with how it works before they let you loose but it wil be a steep learning curve!
Renters normally supply the van with all the basic kit like hoses etc, that one just has a normal cap you take off and bung a hose in to fill up so nothing complicated like the later ones, its one of the simplest vans to use and the manuals quite good so should be no probs.
On bedding I take a sleeping bacl to unfold to sleep on and a duvet to sleep under, the sleeping bag does a good job of smoothing out the bumps of the dinnette bed,dont expect to easily sleep two over the cab its great for one but very snug but doable for two.
Final tip, the ladder for the overcab bed is almost vertical,take an icecream tub sized box or similar to put under the ladder to put it at an angle,it makes entry/exit much easier.
Edited by nagsheadwarrior on Saturday 1st September 23:18
That's all great news, cheers mate! They do sound like spot on folk who are renting it out & I'm sure they'll keep us right, we just don't want to go away thinking "wish we'd brought one of those...."
So it sounds like we'll be better off kipping in the main room of the van then? More space for two like?
The water thing sounds easy & I'm guessing the heating of it uses gas bottles? Hopefully they'll supply those too.
As to the electrical hook up mentioned above, will we need this to watch the tv & stuff? Or does it use the vans battery
Also it mentions the van has heating-does this use the gas or the electric?
I'm sure these sound like daft questions!
Edited by LaurasOtherHalf on Sunday 2nd September 11:41
Unless the TV is a 12V, then you will need to be connected to the mains to watch it.
Some people prefer to use the over cab for sleeping as it leaves the 'living area' in tact, it won't need to be re-arranged each morning & night.
Probably worth making the bed up before heading out for the nights entertainment, a lot easier when sober.
Some people prefer to use the over cab for sleeping as it leaves the 'living area' in tact, it won't need to be re-arranged each morning & night.
Probably worth making the bed up before heading out for the nights entertainment, a lot easier when sober.
The tv that ones got is 12v digi tv/dvd/cd combo (we supplied it when they bought the van) so it will run off the leisure battery and the heating/fridge/water heater will all run off gas if you're not hooked up to the mains.
If you're not hooked up then you wont be able to use the mains 3 pin sockets in the van but if you are on hook up (doubtful) then you can bring mains stuff from home and use the 3 pin sockets in the van.
The downstairs bed is a workable size just make it up before you get too pished!
If you're not hooked up then you wont be able to use the mains 3 pin sockets in the van but if you are on hook up (doubtful) then you can bring mains stuff from home and use the 3 pin sockets in the van.
The downstairs bed is a workable size just make it up before you get too pished!
nagsheadwarrior said:
The tv that ones got is 12v digi tv/dvd/cd combo (we supplied it when they bought the van) so it will run off the leisure battery and the heating/fridge/water heater will all run off gas if you're not hooked up to the mains.
If you're not hooked up then you wont be able to use the mains 3 pin sockets in the van but if you are on hook up (doubtful) then you can bring mains stuff from home and use the 3 pin sockets in the van.
The downstairs bed is a workable size just make it up before you get too pished!
I must admit, it does surprise me that a van like this doesn't have an inverter and auto changeover for when hooked up to supply the mains circuits! Have no experience of campervans, I just kind of assumed they would work that way. Do they charge the batteries when on mains?If you're not hooked up then you wont be able to use the mains 3 pin sockets in the van but if you are on hook up (doubtful) then you can bring mains stuff from home and use the 3 pin sockets in the van.
The downstairs bed is a workable size just make it up before you get too pished!
The majority of motorhomes will have the leisure battery charged when plugged into the mains, they will usually also be charged when the engine is running. Some do have an auto change over, if connected to gas and then connected to the mains, they will switch to 240V mode. Those that don't have an auto facility will usually have a three way switch to allow the user to select the power option, gas, 240v & 12v.
S10GTA said:
My boss went to carfest south and said how very civilized it was. The showers and loos were clean. I doubt you will need to use the toilet or shower in the van.
Not sure which CarFest South he went to.. Was he Glamping or something, biggest problem in the plebs campsite was the miniscule ratio of showers to toilets - massive queues everywhere.
I did not have a shower for 3 days - washed in a bucket of cold water inside the tent
Made Le Mans look luxurious..
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