Winter Camping - Best Buys

[brickinit]

Hi to all and a very happy New Year

We've just got back from a couple of days on the Norfolk coast from a site with EHU and can say the best things we bought for comfort were thermal screens and a small fan heater (brand new off e-bay @ £8 inc postage)

It was comfortable through the night without the heater on and it took minutes to warm the van through in the morning (aided by Mrs B boiling the kettle on the hob)

Any one else found any useful items to help with winter camping? (Propex etc taken as a given of course!)

Mr B

[Robin!]

We use the thermal screens from justkampers. They are not the thickest though. But we also use a small oil heater which I found was never boiling but did take the chill off.

[Chantuz]

Those thermal screens are expensive tho arent they what are those fan heaters you bought, do you have the ebay link?

[gti mad man]

propex ftw

[Robin!]

Those thermal screens are expensive tho arent they

Think they were £60, good for extra privacy too.

[wee bugger]

But we also use a small oil heater which I found was never boiling but did take the chill off.

We're just back...had a fan heater which is great for instant heat but too much inside the van if left on for long, so we took a small oil radiator - silent and has a thermostat so we left on all night on a mid heat! also cheap fleece blankets(from Ikea)...one of the kids slept on an airbed under our bed and we used the blankets to cover cold spots - air vents and bottom of slider

[The_blue]

Silent, cheap, no battery required, keeps the van warm just on pilot light.


Oh and in a close 2nd place is the ebay adaptor to fill propane cylinders for less than £5 using petrol station LPG paid for its self in 3 fills.

[Chantuz]

So where would i find one of these heaters?

[The_blue]

on the bay

You do need to chop a fairly big hole into the floor to fit it though. 5x9 inch ish

[brickinit]

Hi

We just kept looking on e-bay for the screens and the fan heater but ended up buying new JK screens and won a bid on a BNIB heater (if you're qick there's a similar on at £2 + £5 ending in 5 minutes!)

The screens were expensive but made such a difference so if the budget's tight it may be worth keeping an eye out in classifieds etc and bagginf a set for next year

Mr B

[wee bugger]

We made window screens for £9....poundland sell silver bubble screen protectors for...yes you guessed it £1 each...complete with suckers - cut to shape and voila!!! probably not as good as JK ones but they work(in our heads)

[Davy MacLean]

Silent, cheap, no battery required, keeps the van warm just on pilot light.


Oh and in a close 2nd place is the ebay adaptor to fill propane cylinders for less than £5 using petrol station LPG paid for its self in 3 fills.

Got a link for the ebay adaptor I know a few people who would like that!

[ricicles]

we found our propex heater was to noisy to have on overnight and uses lots of gas, going to try thermal screens as we have woken up in the morning before to find thick ice in the inside of the windows, we also do not have the luxury of a hightop and found that the condensation freezes in the inside of our poptop vinyl. i am planning to make a second inner skin for it from some sort of breathable material just waiting for fluff to teach me how to use the sewing machine.

[mig]

Oh and in a close 2nd place is the ebay adaptor to fill propane cylinders for less than £5 using petrol station LPG paid for its self in 3 fills.

Got a link for the ebay adaptor I know a few people who would like that![/quote]


Do some resaerch on the ebay adaptor,very dangerous unless you know what you are doing and no garage in the UK will let you use it if they realise what you are doing

[AngeloEvs]

My compact 2Kw fan heater(B&Q) being small is easy to store, has a built in thermostat and you can set the temp. via the digital display (extremely useful for leaving it on overnight). Has two power levels. Had it for three years without any problems and cost £18. Also have the JK screens but get a lot of condensation behind them so keep plenty of cloths handy. Carpets and rugs on floor during the winter help too.