What things are considered 'Essentials'? (1 Viewer)

[euphony290]

We are taking delivery of our first motorhome in early June after taking our time to choose one. It is a 2010 Burstner, Nexxo T664 and, needless to say, we are really looking forward to the new experience. We live in Normandy, France, and have bought this LHD version as it's probably safer on mainland Europe; although more expensive that the UK's RHD equivalent I expect.

A few of my many questions are:

1 What do you experienced campers (if that's the right term?) consider the essentials to carry with you (i.e. toolkit, spare bulbs, electric hook-up cable/s, puncture outfit or spare wheel, toilet chemicals etc?)

2 What GPS's are considered good for motorhomes/camping cars? (I have a Garmin Nuvi 765T for the car but think I'd need something I can programme the dimensions of the vehicle into).

3 Any recommendations on alarm systems (illegal entry; gas etc).

Please feel free to offer any further advice as I know there is so much to learn about touring in this vehicle and we don't particulalrly want to start out less prepared than we should.

Many thanks and regards
euphony290

 

[Peter & Elaine]

I suspect your going to get a long list of must haves
And you will proberbly do the same as Elaine and I on our first trip
We loaded everything and I mean everything 90% of what we took we did not use
In no particular order
Wife
Bedding
Booze
Food
Dog
Fuel
Half a tank of water
20 meter hook up cable
Short length garden hose and a few connectors
A small selection of tools screwdriver pliers
Clothes (check wife's as she will have 10 pairs of shoes Ect)
And go enjoy

Nearly forgot cash and her cards to buy what you forgot

I bet we've all done it

 

[vwalan]

forget the gps . have an adventure .forget toilet chemicals .best thing is have an open mind .

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[chaser]

We are taking delivery of our first motorhome in early June after taking our time to choose one. It is a 2010 Burstner, Nexxo T664 and, needless to say, we are really looking forward to the new experience. We live in Normandy, France, and have bought this LHD version as it's probably safer on mainland Europe; although more expensive that the UK's RHD equivalent I expect.

A few of my many questions are:

1 What do you experienced campers (if that's the right term?) consider the essentials to carry with you (i.e. toolkit, spare bulbs, electric hook-up cable/s, puncture outfit or spare wheel, toilet chemicals etc?)

2 What GPS's are considered good for motorhomes/camping cars? (I have a Garmin Nuvi 765T for the car but think I'd need something I can programme the dimensions of the vehicle into).

3 Any recommendations on alarm systems (illegal entry; gas etc).

Please feel free to offer any further advice as I know there is so much to learn about touring in this vehicle and we don't particulalrly want to start out less prepared than we should.

Many thanks and regards
euphony290

1 breakdown insurance, nowt else, y do it yourself
2 mobile phone, or better still a tablet, I prefer nexus 7 but it is up to your choice
3 smoke and gas but entry ?? They'll get in if they want anyway
Just have fun , don't worry

 

[1948]

I would hold fire in buying anything you think you need, my garage is full of motorhoming things/gadgets etc. which I thought I needed which I wish I never bought . Once you settle into your motorhome, buy only when you need to .

 

[landscaper]

WE are fans of the Tomtom GPS - we are on our second one (first one purchased in 2001). We also like our Cobra alarm system. You will find that you will go through your MH after the first twelve months and remove loads of stuff and put some new stuff in! Enjoy your motorhoming!

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[stcyr]

Bonjour et :welcome:...


we're in Basse-Normandie - whereabouts are you?

 

[Another Lesley]

Answer 1. Plenty of wine, snacks and remember to pack your sense of humour.

Answer 2. We bought the TomTom designed for campers and lorries....excellent piece of kit :thumb:

Answer 3. A couple of dogs and me with my curlers in works as a wonderful deterrent to thieves and vagabonds. :wooo:

 

[Carol]

Welcome to motorhome fun, we prefer the Tom Tom for gps with full European mapping.
You will need all the normal things electric hook up cable, various tap adapters, start getting together some foods that you know you will use, to give you a basic stock, leave these in the van, along with the saucepans frying pan, Tin opener utensils, all these things you can leave in the van.
I would not start buying extras until you get a idea of what you need,

Van Blitz are well worth checking out for your alarm and you would get a funster discount.

Keep posting and asking questions :thumb:

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[mitzimad]

food
like carol we carry enough essentials to make a couple of meals from, pasta rice tuna chopped tomatoes couple of tins of soup, carton of longlife milk ready to bake rolls jam (cartons weigh less than tins and do less damage when they escape)
that way you can always rustle something where ever you wind up nothing worse than turning up late and theres no shops hunger makes for a miserable night
tools
a basic tool kits is essential even if you have emergency cover they dont seem to come out when swmbo wants an extra hole in a belt or sandal or a door handle comes loose on a cupboard the amount of tools you carry is dependent on your ability to use themas a minimum i carry a small socket set a set of short spanners half a dozen screwdrivers stanley knife junior hacksaw hammer roll of adhesive tape roll of duct tape and a few different cable ties
i also carry a long half inch breaker bar and a socket to fit my wheel nuts as the one supplied in the fiat tool kits is made of rubber
entertainment
we have no telly as we dont want to do what we do at home so we carry a few travel games ,cards, books
we have smoke and co alarms fitted if by gas you mean the urban myths of people being gases in their vans forget, it the russian army with the help of all their scientists managed to kill half the people in a theatre seige when they tried to gas them i think we would have had a lot of casualties on the motorways of france if this was happening
theres very few places in europe you cant get anything you suddenly find you need and necessity is the mother of managing with out

 

[Barclaybasher]

Our first van (coachbuilt) had
no toilet,
no fridge,
no TV,
no oven,
no waste tank,
no EHU,
no leisure battery,
no alarm
............with 3 kids we had a great time (in France as well)
..........what you don't have you don't miss
............and less to go wrong:thumb:

 

[euphony290]

Many thanks to all contributors. I have some valuable info now and, perhapos because I am ex-services, I prefer to be prepared and will probably be one of those who take too much and don't use half of what's onboard. Something easily overlooked is to have the vehicle weighed when you have everthing onboard; not sure where I can get this done in Normandy but it's a very good point.

Thank you also stcyr for your contribution and it's good to read you are in the Basse Normand region too. We are just North-East of St Lo; where are you?

We will need to await delivery of the MH to see what is actually onboard and then shop-'til-we-drop for the bits and bobs but really appreciate the many suggestions made thus far.

Please continue to offer help/advice as it all counts.

Regards
euphony290 :thumb:

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[Dave and Ginny]

A polarity teser and make up a lead so that you can switch it. We have just returned from our first trip and I had loads of reverse polarity on a variety of sites in both France and Spain! I did'nt have any 'converted' adapters made up so ended up having to swap wires about in my 25m cable.

 

[davidbaldam]

For me I only need fuel and my beautiful wife, for Carole she must have the making of a cup or two of tea. The rest you can buy on route otherwise you end up carrying to much.

David

 

[magicsurfbus]

In addition to the items listed by others:

A Multimeter is very handy if you suspect the electricity's not getting though to where it should.

We carry two 25 litre plastic jerry cans for drinking water and grey water, which often saves us having to queue at busy MH service points.

I also carry a pair of drain cover lifting handles for those God awful service points that expect you to empty your loo cartridge through a grille.

A solar shower bag is worth having in sunnier climes as a cheap source of hot water.

To my mind the most essential essential is a solar panel - it gives you greater freedom and flexibility about where you can stay and for how long.

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[Toffs-G]

Hi

I agree with a number of posts be careful with what you think you need. When we got our first Motorhome we ended up filling the garage with so much we didn't need.

So in future we reckon on these
EHU Cable
Hose for water top up with a few connectors
Levelling blocks
Folding chairs
Lightweight camping table
A few tools just in case
Spare bulb kit
Warning triangles just in case

Other than that clothes, wine, food and away you go.

We had the Snooper s7000 sat nav with the ACSI campsite database which we found to be quite good

Good luck and congratulations on your new purchase:thumb:

Cheers
G

 

[grumps147]

I reckon our best extras from the standard were, in no order of priority:
1. A second leisure battery
2. Solar panel
3. Alugas so we can fill almost anywhere and not be paying calor prices
4. Raskelf duvalay

Lots of threads on here for a variety of issues if you search, but especially sat nav. This seems to be a matter of personal preference. We have recently moved from Tom Tom to garmin.

Good luck