Downsizing. Do you have to be small/thin/agile to make a pvc work for you?

BobtheBass

BobtheBass

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Hymer T-SL 668
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March 2014
Sue and I love our 7.5m van where we have lots of room to spread out, oodles of storage and most importantly a decent amount of space in the shower and loo. This doesn't stop us though occasionally looking enviously at pvcs and their owners, thinking about how much easier they must be to drive (especially for Sue), how many more out of the ways places we could visit, how much simpler they would be to maintain etc., etc.

The main problem with us though is that compared to pretty much all of the pvc users we see both of us would appear to be too big, as well as being less nimble than most and a bit on the clumsy side. How much of a hindrance in reality is size, both height and girth (!) to the enjoyment of a pvc? We understand that the way we use our van would have to change, maybe a bit more eating and relaxing outside or under an awning but really, almost without exception most of the pvc owners we chat to are small to normal sized folk who seem to lead much more active lifestyles than us with lots of cycling, hiking and exercise based hobbies. We enjoy cosy nights watching satellite tv in the van in France eating chocolate and drinking wine with a leisurely stroll into town maybe for the odd meal or drink. Constantly pushing past one another and squeezing through gaps to use under sized facilities whilst bumping one's extremities on hard sticky out bits doesn't sound like our idea of fun! Any bigger folk on here happily using pvcs? I should have said, I'm not enormous (6 foot tall and 19 stone) but not Wayne Sleep sized either!
 
We have some friends with a Cathargo PVC and when they went in our van (Frankia i740 Plus) the first thing they said was "Oh how lovely, there's no 'corridor'".
They are 'normal sized people too.
 
We're 6ft 2" and 5ft 8" ...and its fine.

As others have said, I think the only way to decide if its for you is to hire one for a weekend. Space is a very persons thing

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Ok, so I’m 5’11” and hubby is 6’1 . Yes we either get very very cosy at the middle pinch point or one has to step aside for passing. We have a rear lounge and use 2 single beds chosen both because we needed very long beds and because, like you, we are daytime and evening loungers!
The washroom is on the small size because it is in the middle on one side, larger ones are across the rear but then you have to have a front lounge. Having a proper shower with hair wash is not an option for me with my height and wingspan! A wash and rinse from neck down is about it.
We have an IH 630 similar to carolyn ’s new one .
The IHs with front lounges do have good lounging for 2 but one sits on cab seat. However the washroom across the rear is then generous and there is no pinch point. Certainly a better feeling of space in the front lounge version but not single beds.
Of course we go around the shows and consider whether this one or that is better than ours but not found one yet.
Horses for courses is the saying and it’s definitely a compromise inside made up for, in our opinion, by easy drive ability. Not so much in the parking, but on narrow roads. We also like the large sliding door and it’s lovely to sit on the turned round cab seat by the door with coffee. We wild camp and move about a lot so don’t set up camp, the large door brings the outside in.
 
Sandra and I would be described as cuddly and yes it would help if it was a bit wider.

But I would not change it for a wider van.

We did manage to turn on the electric plate on the cooker as we passed by which exploded the glass top but that aside it's got enough room for us. :D
 
We're not skinny minnies, as the larger of the 2, I'm 6ft and carrying excess weight - yes, there's a corridor and I like the bathroom door open to make it more comfortable when getting things out of kitchen cupboards or scrabbling in the garage but nothing is impossible!

The bed is a rear transverse which involves a bit of needing to get my legs up and round the bathroom side wall but again its ok - we have a 5.4m van and usually have our 2 dogs with us; Mark likes to sit on a captain's chair with his feet up on the dinette seat opposite while he watches a film on his notebook while I like to sit on the bed with my back against the bathroom wall and feet towards the rear doors while I read my kindle - the dogs will be where they want to be, maybe with me on the bed or down the other end with Mark.

I prefer not to use the shower at the moment but that's more to do with currently being in toe to knee compression bandaging on one leg and the kerfuffle of having to wear a waterproof cover rather than my size - I have happily showered there and will again once out of bandages.

Take yourself off to some dealers/shows and try them out, try everything, sit on the loo, shut the door as if for a shower, sit on the dinette with the table up, if it has a fixed bed then lie in it together, if its a bed from a settee then make it up and lie down together - you may find some things aren't quite right or feel like too much of a compromise but unless you try then you won't know.
 
There are vans with different layouts without a corridor but with a rear lounge. A friend has an AT with a rear lounge, it does feel more spacious. We have a pvc and think it's great, but the corridor thing is at times a bore. And we are not large. Well my tummy is but ... You just get used to it. The narrow corridor, not the tum. Well, I'm used to it.
 
We are on our 2nd one after having an a class for 5 years, you do get used to them, we loved our last one Rapido v53 of 5 years, and when we changed it seemed to have more storage than our present van, a Pilote v600g both 6m the difference is this has drawers instead of cupboards, a high 3 way fridge that we prefer,
and a bigger shower the sink slides over the toilet, both have transverse beds because of our parking is restricted to 6m. ?
And I'm 6' and not slim.?? Bob.

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Tim is 6’3”, I’m 5’7” and Sam is 5’8” and growing. Tim’s average build, Sam is slim but muscly and I’m much heavier than I should be, but less than I was.
We love the big sliding door ... also with the Campscout the bathroom can divide front and back into 3 areas. Right now, Tim is preparing dinner outside. Sam, who has Prelims next month, is studying n the Dinette and I’m lounging on the single beds at the back ... mooching on here and reading my book.
We started looking at VW T6s which we loved but couldn’t live with so this was an upsize rather than a downsize.
We do use campsite showers though ...
 
Nick and I are short, well I suppose I’m average at 5’5” and Nick is a fraction shorter and we are average build. Certainly not skinny. We do like the big U shaped lounge of the IH630RD which is probably why we’ve just bought our 2nd. It doesn’t feel cramped to us and we do like to lounge about in it in the evenings when it’s chilly. We’ve spent 7 or 8 weeks in it without killing one another yet so it suits us.
I have found one tiny change on the new one that I don’t like, my corelle plates don’t fit in the cupboard behing the cooker, we’re off on Tuesday so a packing rethink! They have moved the shelf by barely a cm., I reckon the only dinner plates that will now fit will be the melamine sort. My corelle are the smaller ones as well.
 
Look at the slimline coachbuilt vans, at least 2 of the manufacturers are doing them now. Ours is the Elddis Accordo and is only slightly wider than the Boxer van, (it has the standard door mirrors) but there is more room inside and no whoosh bang door ?

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BobtheBass said:
Sue and I love our 7.5m van where we have lots of room to spread out, oodles of storage and most importantly a decent amount of space in the shower and loo. This doesn't stop us though occasionally looking enviously at pvcs and their owners, thinking about how much easier they must be to drive (especially for Sue), how many more out of the ways places we could visit, how much simpler they would be to maintain etc., etc.

The main problem with us though is that compared to pretty much all of the pvc users we see both of us would appear to be too big, as well as being less nimble than most and a bit on the clumsy side. How much of a hindrance in reality is size, both height and girth (!) to the enjoyment of a pvc? We understand that the way we use our van would have to change, maybe a bit more eating and relaxing outside or under an awning but really, almost without exception most of the pvc owners we chat to are small to normal sized folk who seem to lead much more active lifestyles than us with lots of cycling, hiking and exercise based hobbies. We enjoy cosy nights watching satellite tv in the van in France eating chocolate and drinking wine with a leisurely stroll into town maybe for the odd meal or drink. Constantly pushing past one another and squeezing through gaps to use under sized facilities whilst bumping one's extremities on hard sticky out bits doesn't sound like our idea of fun! Any bigger folk on here happily using pvcs? I should have said, I'm not enormous (6 foot tall and 19 stone) but not Wayne Sleep sized either!
Click to expand...
Go for it and slim down to fit!
win win
 
It’s cosy, yes, but doable. We’re both 5’8 (and a bit) and I would describe us as ‘chunky’ ( both of us need to lose a stone really).

Overall we are quite active and get out as much as possible during the day but due to work commitments most of our touring is done off season so we do end up just chilling in the van a lot of the time. This evening for instance, we’re in France and it is p’ing it down so it’s drinks, nibbles and a movie.

You do need to adapt your usage but as we upsized to our current adria twin from a bongo we don’t feel cramped. The fixed bed at the back gives us our own separate lounging areas if need be.

The ‘corridor’ area is cramped. We can fit past each other but it is a squeeze. I’m sure OH does it just to take advantage:oops:, but it is easier if one person steps into the bathroom.

I get up in the morning first and then OH gets up while I sort breakfast so we don’t collide then. Given the choice I would go for either a tall fridge or a high level one to save constant bending or kneeling down to retrieve stuff.

The midship shower/toilet is best described as compact but useable. If you drop something in the shower, unless you are a contortionist, it’s likely it’s not going to be retrieved until you open the door. That said, we mainly use aires or CLs without facilities so ours gets used a lot - you just get used to it. And even with my long hair I manage a proper wash, rinse and condition.

I would do as others have suggested and hire one, but be aware that it takes time to find what works best for you.
 
We aren't small or slim but working on it! It is very friendly if we squeeze past each other :blusher: so normally step to one side to "shuffle" - would rather us have this than us being squeezed on the roads! With the layout strangely our 6m PVC feels more spacious than our previous wider coachbuilt. Due to clever design the bathroom & shower work well (although the toilet is a bit snug & a little high for me), storage & garage is copious & we love the sliding door bringing the outside in. With good capacity water & waste tanks, a large refillable gas bottle & standard bottle as back up plus room for solar on the roof we can camp anywhere which is important to us. Don't have to be level anymore to keep the 3 way fridge happy as angle doesn't affect the compressor one. Comfortable lounging in the Captain chairs or on the bed. Happy to not have to pay out for expensive dealer hab. services to maintain a shell warranty anymore either so overall annual running cost is lower. One downside is not many wave at van conversions :(
 
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We’re short ( well, I’m short at 5’ 2” and he claims to be tall at 5’ 8” :) and both well in the middle of normal BMI and still have to squeeze past each other in the corridor. Well worth it for the benefits you mention though.
 
We have owned a panel van since the 27th of July this year. Wildax constellation 3XL and we love it it suits us to a T. The storage is huge. We have looked at many.:cautious:
We nearly bought one in 2014 but the storage underneath the beds was non existent. Instead, we bought Majestic 115 to dip out toe into the market and then Benimar 231.
Each van has taken us on a journey to beautiful places . The husband has always wanted panel van and he needs 6ft 3 bed and me just 5ft 3.5.
Okay so his hair brushes the vent in the shower when he washes but it’s fine he says.
In my opinion it’s so different to drive , feels more solid and more for us relaxing? not to mention no rattles.The work surface is huge the fridge tall and big , and the outside comes in when the door is open. 33 nights already in it.We are looking forward to our first winter and many more wonderful journeys.

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Yes to Stumpie - we have an Adria Twin SGX with the Sky Roof thingy, whatever they call it. Was fabulous to lounge around with a glass of fizz and the most amazing all round sunset views. The bed is amazingly wide (both for us titches and after a VW). The loo / shower is small but clever, and I think this is the best compromise of size and space for us.
 
We went from a 7.5m coachbuilt to a 6.36 pvc and although it’s tighter we love it and it suits our needs right now. I’m 6.1 and OH is 5.7, we’re no fatties nor are we slim Jim’s.

We’re currently in the south of France for 2 weeks and when we use sites we put our air awning up, it takes 20-25 mins and gives you loads of room. We never use the awning for overnight or just a couple of nights and still have loads of room, yes you’ll have to make compromise in some departments but gain in others
 
I'd suggest you need to think of the differences caused not just by width, but also length if possibly downsizing from a 7.5m coachbuilt. as PVCs don't get much more than 6.4m. That will be a fair bit of storage gone, or that squished in shower/wc, or even whether you can have a dinette with lengthier beds. I don't think you'd get a van with a double width bed you can edge down the sides so with a read bed are you happy with two singles from the side bench seats, or to have more of a clamber up from the feet? Don't just think of corridor width, even the gap between two lengthways bench seats will be narrower, possibly creating a bit of foot jousting if you want to kick back?

As a singleton, I can't comment on the squeeze past someone else bit, but I suspect even coachbuilts need you to think about who is going past where. So in my only 5.4m PVC for a 6'0 18st bloke with rotund middle bit, I do have to think about where to stand alongside rather than in front of many of the kitchen cupboards and oven doors. The shower is useable, if I accept the lack of elbow space (the limited water is more of the challenge for someone used to draining a full home hot water cylinder in one go), and the wrapping effect of the curtain - if trying a van at a show do pull the curtain round I hadn't and despite seeing the entire larger tray wrapped around the wc, I didn't realise I'd only be using 2/3 of that area when showering.

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Bob(OP)

I will answer in what I perceive as your priorities

Lifestyle

So you enjoy France, lounging around etc. Your current MH suits that.

Size of MH

Length makes little difference. All vehicles have width, so one just has to take them into account. I doubt whether OH would drive more in a PVC.

Your personal sizes

Difficult to comment, but there are 'pinch points' in any but the biggest with slide-outs.

I have been under pressure to look at PVCs, but that is mainly because she only has 3.5t licence and in Poland one has to take test on a 4t truck, which spooked her. Then on a visit to N&B they said they had a partnership with a school to do the test on an Arto like ours, which she has driven off public roads and was surprised how easy it was because of visibility. Having driven many commercial vans I consider our visibility far superior.

Reading your OP in its totality I would think you are better to keep it.
 
Hi Bob,

We got rid of our 14-month old 7.5m Pilote for our current 6.36m Globecar PVC and I'll say now that it's the best thing that we could have done.

We always wanted to venture down the small tracks but never felt confident with a big fat motorhome so we missed out on many adventures. The Globecar now affords us a huge degree of idenpendence and flexibility (we're now on a back-2-back tour of Shetland) and with the two of us and a big dog we have no issues in the van at all.

The problem with PVCs is that there are so many to choose from and we spent months looking for the right one. In the end we chose a Summit 640 and, in terms of floor area, it has more usable floor sace than our previous Pilote; it's just as well since we've only started travelling with our Rottweiler since we bought the Globecar - there just wasn't enough floor space to take a big dog in the Pilote.

We find that our internal walkway space is big enough for the two of us but we have our own little jobs while travelling so in theory the two of you shouldn't have the need to be running up and down like a yo-yo. Some shower-toilet systems in PVCs are crap but you'll soon ID which is good for you.

In all honesty we loved the Pilote C-Class so much that we bought a PVC with the same layout; huge fixed bed at the back with a great interchangeable toilet-shower system and a nice spacious front lounge.

We've been moving around Shetland and the Highlands since August and we never see any C or A-class in the places we go. We also don't see any British built PVCs as they seem to cling desperatly to campsites and are not exactly built for off-gridding IMO.

If you do go down the PVC-route then buy it and go off for a full week or two (not just two days) as you'll then come back from your holiday fully 're-programmed' to your PVC and its space.

All the best,

Andrew
 
nicholsong said:
Bob(OP)

I will answer in what I perceive as your priorities

Lifestyle

So you enjoy France, lounging around etc. Your current MH suits that.

Size of MH

Length makes little difference. All vehicles have width, so one just has to take them into account. I doubt whether OH would drive more in a PVC.

Your personal sizes

Difficult to comment, but there are 'pinch points' in any but the biggest with slide-outs.

I have been under pressure to look at PVCs, but that is mainly because she only has 3.5t licence and in Poland one has to take test on a 4t truck, which spooked her. Then on a visit to N&B they said they had a partnership with a school to do the test on an Arto like ours, which she has driven off public roads and was surprised how easy it was because of visibility. Having driven many commercial vans I consider our visibility far superior.

Reading your OP in its totality I would think you are better to keep it.
Click to expand...
You are probably right, there may be too many compromises but I can still see some advantages that are attractive.
 
We have a 5.2 mtg AS Symbol,,front lounge rear large side kitchen and small shower loo.I am a chunky 13 stone,,better half a trimmings 9 stone,,loads of room because we don't walk around The van together,,Only one moves at a time..Best van we have ever had,,great single beds,,good storage,good lounge..BUSBY.
 
Why not hire one for a few days and see how you get on, cheaper than buying one if it doesn't work out.

We have looked at PVC's we don't reckon we could survive in one. I'm average 5'10" under 12 stone the boss is small 4'10" 7 stone. She didn't like out last Hymer an Exsis A Class as kitchen was opposite shower room forming a pinch point.

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