Thinking of useful extras for motorhome

Would agree with you peedee.

If we were to go back to a MH, screens would be on my list of extras, use them both summer and winter. Along with a Sat dish, refillable gas, and solar panel. Wouldn't bother with an extra battery as we hardly ever stay off grid, so with a panel and refillable gas we can manage a few nights no problem. Would love to have self levelling but the cost and weight could restrict that. 

EDIT just thought of another couple of things I would add is an external BBQ point and an external mains and 12v point, comes in really handy for cooking outside and plugging in the cool box.

I share your view Peedee. It does make me wonder if the people who are so keen not to use them don't actually camp in winter in the UK? Ours rolls up, even wet, and we pop it in its bag and it goes in the shower. If its still wet when we get home we put it in the conservatory to dry. I have tried using a Karcher on the inside of the screen and got covered in water as its difficult to move round easily on my Peugeot screen. Perhaps in the summer, with less risk of condensation, we might not bother to take it as we do have pleated blinds but will certainly use it the rest of the year.

David

David, i guess these are one of those marmite extras but, although they are very popular, they arent for us.

as i said, we only 'do' the UK when the weather is good so perhaps we wouldn't get the same benefit that some might.

also, i dont want to have to go outside and remove them on a cold/wet morning just so that we can see out of the van...

...and i don't really want a bag of wet kit (or anything else) in my shower as we might actually want to use it...we dont always use sites...nor do i want in the cab, either.

'outside' things live outside the habitation area..

our A class cab is a bit different to the normal Sevel model which, being wider and having much more space on the dashboard area, makes things much less cluttered at the front.

...so, we dont have a normal rear view mirror, i have a permanently-on reverse view camera which, along with the sat nav, lives in an area unaffected by the use/position of our vertical windscreen blind..

it is just pulled up from the bottom to give a bit of privacy or from the top to act as a large sun visor....

when fully closed it also provides sufficient insulation to keep the cab warm when its cool or keep the sun out when its hot without resorting to external screens.

however, i certainly agree that on a cold uk morning it wouldnt prevent some condensation but as 90% of our vanning is done in warm/hot weather those occasions dont warrant fitting/unfitting external screens daily.

...and theyre not cheap for A classes either...

We were parked up in Montrieul-sur-Mer on our way back to the UK in October last year and ready for a fairly early start.

It had been raining overnight, it was cold and windy and as we were getting ready to move it was coming down in chats and chiens.

It took me about a minute to open the Remis blinds and remove the moisture from the inside of the windscreen and I stayed warm and dry.

The guy in the Motorhome nearby was also getting ready to move on.

It's the sort of the time when you wish the video had been running.

He was getting wet through, the exterior screen was flapping about sending water everywhere and the performance to get the screen in a bag was pure drama.

It took a few minutes as he gradually became saturated despite his coat and hat.

We watched the performance as he struggled to cope, his female companion not to be seen, and eventually he threw the screen and wet bag in his garage and a lip reader would have had a field day as he clambered into his Motorhome.

He must have needed to get changed from his wet clothes - but he probably didn't.

We set off, dry, warm and thanking our sense in getting a Karcher Vac.

Everyone to their own.

If it was raining cats and dogs and I was in no hurry to move off,  I would have settled down for another mug of coffee and waited for it to abate otherwise it is no hardship to put on the wet weather gear which would probably have been necessary if I wanted to dump black and grey waste.

peedee

Boleroboy

l have an underslung gas tank which was filled to 75% when l weighed the MH 1/2 tank of fresh water which we always travel with, l had the bear necessities of food we always shop once a day when away. Clothes shoes, wifes ipad maps toilet fluid,toolbox, wife weighs 55 kilo just a slip of a girl, there was full tank of fuel, l weighed it day before we went away for a week, What l will be adding extra is, 2 half sets of golf clubs two push golf trolleys, the tow bar, Thule towbar XTC ebike carrier plus to e Bikes with Batteries 100 Kilo, Not weighed the golf clubs and trolleys yet but estimate 80 kilo for all, Will need to find out what a 100 watt solar panel weighs, think l saw 3.1/2 kilo for the road pro. l calculate about 120 kilo,s left for those both items. We will see, if we are over, we will have to see what we will have to remove, don't fancy increasing upto 3800 Kilo.

Heethers

Keep Safe

We was at the castleton site first week in December the night before we left rained continuously until we left put the wet weather gear on opened drivers cab door unhooked folded on the screen then drivers side folded over  pulled it off folded in half into the bag placed in the shower arrived home, into the bath stood it up dry next day granted it wasn't blowing force 9 but still windy and l needed help off the wife to hold it on the screen. Has l said we haven't got the cab blinds priced them up 600 quid, think l will stick with the silver screens mine has the front opening flap so we can see through the windscreen through the day My Brother has a B class 2018 Hymer with cab blinds and says he still suffers from condensation. Silver screens for his are nearly double the the price of mine, he uses the Karcher

Hi, H....yes, looks like that will knock you back to 120kg or so, sounds a lot but is easily used up...

with most of this additional weight (golf clubs/trolleys and tow bar/bike rack/ebikes) being loaded behind the rear axle, this is where you might get a problem although you appear to have 340kg spare, so shouldt be an issue...

id be more concerned that youd use the 120kg before then...

as earlier, the only way to be sure about this is to sort the towbar, load the bikes and golf gear, OH and everything else and then reweigh.

the fuel tank should be full as on long trips we often 'fill up', water half full if this is your usual state and take it from there... 

I think you'll be OK but always good to check... 

Only been MH ing a year, but another vote for the silver screen. We bought it before we even picked up the van, on advice of friends who have had a MH for years. We found it equally usefull in summer to stop the cab area getting too hot when shade is limited. We do have Reims blinds and have used those in summer if only stopping for a night. However, as soon as the weather cools down at night you get condensation behind them. In northern France last October, I took off the silver screen the night before leaving as rain was forcast, but wished I hadn't. It took me ages to clear the condensation. We have a garage, so if it's wet it just gets quickly rolled and thrown in. The actual time to remove it is only about 1 minute. True putting it away in the bag is a fiddle and takes longer but we only do that at the end of a tour and take it home to dry if wet.

My top 5 are:

External gas barbecue point;

Cadac 2-Cook Pro Deluxe barbeque - small and versatile;

Truma Aventa Comfort Air- Conditioning system;

External 13 amp Plug socket to run Swiss Luxx low-wattage teppanyaki grill;

Pair of axles stands to use at the rear to getting rid of the bouncing and swaying (Box of 4 for £25 as opposed to £300 for a pair of after-market corner steadies.