All things camping & campervan

Mine’s more like a thick plastic than a canvas/textile material so isn’t too bad. Only once have I found the first signs of mildew or mould on it and it just wiped off easily but don’t want to be complacent and get to spring with a problem to sort out.

How many of you are there and are you having captain’s chairs fitted ?Because to me, that layout would be pretty cosy on a rainy day

Just me and wife. Plus the 2 dogs.
Rear seat is belted and crash tested…if we have to use it as car and transport the kid. No way he’s coming with us on any trips :rofl:

Cosy…sit next to each other at work…turbos side by side. We’re fine.
The standard conversion we just weren’t comfy, had the bed out instantly.

Keeping bench seat up front… Mainly for ease of travelling with the dogs. They need to be close.
Normally I have both on my lap, so a spare seat will be bliss.

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we have 2 swiveable front seats. dog lies on the RnR bed when travelling and he’s fine with that - he’ll occasionally lie on the floor but seems to prefer the RnR. we have him harnassed into the seat belt buckle.

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You can get swivels for the bench seat if you do want to turn it round. They’re a bit more involved than a normal one (it’s a bit like doing a 3-point turn) but does give you the option of extra seating once parked up.
I always think the cabin area in a campervan is a waste of space once you get where you’re going so anything to make better use of it is a good idea. We have 2 single seats up front and both swivel but we never bother with the driver’s seat as it’s a bit of faff and can only be partially turned anyway. We use that for a big bag of clean clothes once parked up then another bag in the passenger footwell for washing.

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same in motorhomes as well - once you spin those seats there’s a fair bit of unused space there. we’d usually stash some stuff in there like rucksacks and if skiing, boots and helmets (they get some warmth to dry out)

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Yeah the one we rented last year had the bench on swivel. Found it cumbersome and then just dumped some bags on it. Neither of us wanted to sit in it.
Hoping our bags will live under the seats on the layout we have. I have got a bracket to fit onto the bench seat to give me few degrees of tilt - but it also folds flat - so hoping can use that as a dumping shelf (or on the odd occasion have the bike - think covered up and without wheels it might sit nicely on top of that out the way of living space.

This was some of the issues we had with the rental - esp getting into the mindset that the place your living is still your vehicle. We needed to drive one night; bed was down, seat was swivelled. So there was faff involved going out. Hoping that the living space doesnt warrant us chucking the bed out early, so we can still drive, and regardless of if the bench is folded or not - we can still drive it (unlike when its swivelled and you can’t see out the passenger window).

There’s a bloke building a mobile home on George Clarke’s programme tonight and he’s literally built a log cabin on the back of an old VW chassis.

It looks beautiful but it must weigh a hell of a lot. God knows what it’s actually going to be like to drive

You had exactly the same thoughts as me. Then he added actual ceramic tiles into the kitchen area. I do wonder about the guys that do self-build campers.

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Didn’t Jezza do that with a button back chair and added stove pipe? :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Only after he’d filled the floorpan with a couple of tons of concrete :grimacing:
The one on the TV tonight was a T4, same as mine, and whilst you do get the odd coachbuilt on that chassis they’re pretty rare and always at the smaller end of the scale. I genuinely don’t think that was safe, too heavy, too much rear overhang, top heavy and underpowered.

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Right - quick trip to deepest South Wales; and left the van with them!!

Most things were straight forward. As per @JaRok2300 they have a 3 piece bed board which can be moved around so can store stuff up top - at the expense of head space of course.

Budget limiting us with roof options. Need to see if they can do a scenic canvas on a LWB. I couldn’t recall our rental having the plastic window up front; or that the mesh sides only open to the mesh (I thought they’d be like a tent where you had a double zip). So bit worried about ventilation if there’s no scenic option. But they suggested that was the norm; and a quick google seems to suggest it is.

Now trying to desperately think if we have everything covered :face_with_monocle:

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I don’t have scenic canvas (side elevating roof) and the only ventilation up there are 2 Arch shaped windows (there’s one for the kids) in the ends hat unzip to mesh but can’t be opened completely. Never had an issue with lack of ventilation and with both open you get a nice bit of draft running through.
ETA - I do have a car type sunroof in my poptop (bit weird but was there when we bought it) but rarely open that.

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Today at the Caravan Show just started on Channel 5 with piece on poptops & VW Campers.
Presenters are particularly annoying though😬

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And a splittie being converted to EV on Vintage Voltage on Quest too.

Vans got a pop top :raised_hands: :raised_hands:

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Nice :+1:

YES!

That’s looking nice.

Unlike the inside… :scream:



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rustic is in right now :joy: