Sat navs and Brit stops

HeatherW

HeatherW

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Hi folks. Am edging closer to the purchase of first MH, and spent the day at NEC yesterday viewing a mind boggling array of goodies! I’d like to buy a sat nav that allows you to input weight/height of vehicle to help you plan where you can or can’t get to, and wondered if anyone had any recommendations? The van I’m buying will be just under 6 metres in length and just over 2 metres wide. Also, a friend has recommended ‘Brit stops’ book. Seems like a good investment for £28 - has anyone had any good/not so good experiences with it?? Thank you ?
 
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I have a sat nav I purchased from Ebay about £70 if I remember? but you can obviously spend hundreds on one. The one I purchased comes pre programmed with lots of camp sites / caravan parks / stop overs etc and you can also put in weight and dimensions, so far it has not let me down.
Regarding Brit stops I joined this year and have only stayed at one place due to deciding to stay elsewhere, but from my experience you dont really need to fork out on a brit stops book, there are plenty of apps etc ( Search for Sites is a good one ) that will help you find where you want to go and most pubs / restaurants will probably be more than happy to let you stay if you phone ahead and ask first and obviously use there facilities whether it be a few drinks or a meal. I will upload the link for the sat nav for you shortly, have to go and find it.

rover.ebay.com

7" Motorhome Sat Nav *UK &EU 2019 Maps* for Caravan POIs, Farms, Camping Sites | eBay

Video Step by Step Technical Support. davidosborne63 : Best sat nav I found on internet so far! iain_west : Brilliant product! Took us to France in our camper van with no issues. Picks up new French speed limits too.
rover.ebay.com
 
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I'm a fan of Britstops... it suits me
Others will probably be along later to say why it's a waste of money :rolleyes:.

Best recommendation is that it's only £28 (you could spend more than that on one night's pitch fee) so why not try it for yourself.

There are many Sat Nav options, costing from free to several hundreds of pounds. However they all rely on the same/similar mapping data so cannot be considered 100% reliable.

I use the free Waze app on my phone/tablet which uses Google maps... I also have a paper Truck Atlas if I want to check a route for suitability.
And often I preview the last bit of the proposed route with Google's Street View.
 
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To be honest with that size of van I would not worry about getting a motorhome or truck specific satnav.

We got the Britstops book last year and I would imagine very little changes from year to year so a one time buy will do for a few years, but what we use a lot is the Park4night app which works better for us.

park4night - Home

Share the nice spots where you like to relax with your camper, your equipped van or regular van
www.park4night.com www.park4night.com
 
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Two on Tour said:
We got the Britstops book last year and I would imagine very little changes from year to year so a one time buy will do for a few years
Click to expand...
Actually, there are quite a few changes from year to year... even during the year [which you get advised via a monthly email].
And of course the procedure is to display your current year's sticker and have your book to show you actually are a member... but of course that's rarely enforced.

As I said above - it's £28, what has the OP got to lose trying it for themselves.

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We've got a 6m van, 2.05m wide and just use a normal satnav, a Garmin 67, now obsolete but you can get a similar model for around £70 to £100. The only thing to watch for are height restrictions you will rarely if ever have to worry about width. We went under a 2.8m bridge this morning and we are 2.7m high - but we did it at slow walking pace. :)

You can use Google Maps on a phone or tablet and I've been trialling it with a cheap £70 tablet on our current trip. It works and reacts to traffic jams and roadworks but it hasn't been a total success but that might be down to the budget tablet which is very slow, annoyingly so at times.

I would give a simple satnav a go first then upgrade to one which takes onto account vehicle size if you find you need one, but I don't think you will.
 
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You don’t need a special sat nav for that size of van. Your main difference from a car will be when turning, always check your mirrors and ensure rear wheels are past any obstruction before turning, and height, keep alert for low overhead signs.
Use your judgement if sat nav tries to take you down a road that just looks wrong especially if you have set it for shortest distance. Setting for quickest is usually best but cannot be relied upon as the mapping software is relying on pretty basic road data and cannot always tell a narrow lane from a better road.
 
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I tend to agree with the other responses regarding the sat nav due to the size of your vehicle but you did ask for a sat nav that you can input weight and dimensions and most sat navs wont have that option.
 
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I bought the Flouren from flebay £31 . I am satisfied. you can iput all that you want free lifetime updates.
 
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Our van is shorter than yours, but we just use Google maps on the phone and if we come to a sign with a width or height restriction then we react accordingly.

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I bought the britstops book a couple of years ago and I have found it to be very good, but you only need to buy it once. As I travel alone the other thing I do is search online a place I want to stay and search what's on. Then I will phone up and ask if they have a car park and can I stay, I have never been turned away yet. I like my entertainment so I've had some brilliant stop overs. As for my satnav I only have a small van so my TomTom does for me.
 
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Thanks for all the great advice guys, you really are a helpful bunch ?
Think I’ll stick with my existing sat nav and google maps to start with and see how I get on. The Brit stops book sounds like it’s useful though and I think will be well worth a the money spent for a newbie like me!!
 
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Some people swear by them but i spent about 10 days swearing AT mine, a Tom Tom go camper.£350 of complete garbage.
Failed to see a glaringly obvious alternative route so nearby that I could see it from the road I was travelling on, just kept advising me that there was a 3.5 hr delay ahead and that I was on the fastest route!

Google maps found the alternative route in seconds.

It also had a habit of sending me down narrow single track roads no matter what settings I altered (including inputting size and weight).

Now always use google maps with trucker map as a double check for low bridges, if I think it is sending me down a narrow road I just bypass it and let it re-route.

Sent it back to Amazon and was glad to see the back of it, I was gobsmacked at how badly it routed me from A to B.

Graydo
 
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patricia the newbie said:
I bought the britstops book a couple of years ago and I have found it to be very good, but you only need to buy it once. As I travel alone the other thing I do is search online a place I want to stay and search what's on. Then I will phone up and ask if they have a car park and can I stay, I have never been turned away yet. I like my entertainment so I've had some brilliant stop overs. As for my satnav I only have a small van so my TomTom does for me.
Click to expand...
Love the idea of booking ahead for the entertainment, another great tip ??

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I bought the van then the Britstop book straight after. I then went for a jolly with no plans but to try the van out and see how we got on. The Britstop book helped me to poodle about deciding where to go and knowing that there was a safe place nearby to stop if I needed somewhere. It helped to look at map to decide what I wanted to do/see and then checked stops nearby. Every where I stopped was fine and met some really great people.
 
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Being a retired small business owner word of mouth is the best way to expand your business as advertising is so expensive. Brit Stops gives us a superb service and @ £28 you get an up to date book that makes traveling and staying in a safe place very cheaply. For those who buy one book then use it for a few years don’t help a small business expand
 
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StanandShirley said:
Being a retired small business owner word of mouth is the best way to expand your business as advertising is so expensive. Brit Stops gives us a superb service and @ £28 you get an up to date book that makes traveling and staying in a safe place very cheaply. For those who buy one book then use it for a few years don’t help a small business expand
Click to expand...
And why cheat the system for £28??? ! There are enough stops now to have a very nice road trip holiday if you fancy it.
 
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ceejayt said:
And why cheat the system for £28??? ! There are enough stops now to have a very nice road trip holiday if you fancy it.
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I agree. I also love the idea of being able to stop off in small places and hopefully meet some fellow motorhomers for travelling tips!!
 
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Is it worth buying the book now as it expires in Feb??

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Hi All, the only Brit Stops I can find on Amazon is The Brit Stops Directory 2014?
 
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My van is 6m long - Autocruise Pace. I have downloaded CoPilot to my smartphone and use that as you can put in your length and width. But the routes it can suggest could still be 'hairy'. For example, the Hardknott Pass, which wouldn't be a good idea. Like any SatNag, it isn't infallible but I get on with it most times.

C

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In addition to SatNav we have a card mounted on the passengers sun visor.

On one side we have the vehicles dimensions in metric for use in Europe and on the other in imperial units for when in UK.

When we approach a potential obstacle like a low or narrow bridge we don’t have to rely on memory to avoid a problem.

We don’t have to glance at it very often but when we do............
 
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We use Google Maps on the phone in addition to the sat nav that came in the van. The van one we been configured to "lorry" in the hope that we might avoid low bridges and narrow lanes. Generally this combination works. The traffic data on Google makes it invaluable.

Definitely have your van dimensions to hand instantly - we nearly came a cropper in the middle of Alnwick recently as we didn't realise there was a very low archway in the High Street.

We bought the Brit Stops book just after the van. We have used it just twice in 9 months. We probably won't bother buying it again. We rarely go to pubs or eat out, so for us, it worked out more expensive to use than a campsite - which would have had a shower and toilets and maybe hook up.
 
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In my opinion I think the problem with the Britstops book is that some people look at it as a cheap option, it should be viewed as a different option. There are some great locations but the costs vary depending what you spend, 2 x 2 drinks £16, add a meal and you are up near £40. Of course you don’t need to spend anything. It’s also a fantastic way to meet fellow motorhomers and swap stories.
 
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