What were the 'essential' things we needed to get for our new Autosleepers Broadway EB motorhome?

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So, what are the really essential accessories for our first motorhome?

What do we actually need? What isn’t a necessity but would be nice to have?

These were the kind of questions we discussed for a long time and we constantly changed our opinions from day to day. However, from admittedly, our very limited experience and perspective thus far, we’ve tried to focus on what we consider are the absolute essentials for safety, security, comfort and convenience. Our initial list is below and focuses on touring the UK only for the time being. Hope it helps. We are no experts and we know that this list will get altered regularly as we gain experience and readers share tips and advice. At a later, much later, date we will add another blog post about complete packing lists for your motorhome – when we think we know what that ‘complete’ list entails.

 (Note – where we have shown specific products, we are not endorsing them, nor are we gaining financially from mentioning them. We are merely showing you what we actually purchased).

Essential for Safety

·        Food grade hose pipe - to fill water tank. Bryony came with a flat hose attached to a Whale pump insert for the side of the van. However, we purchased a 10m long hose (avoiding the flat hose or hose on a reel types as we were advised you would have to uncoil it all anyway to use it). We secure our coil with two old sail ties. We also got various Hozelock tap fittings – push on and screw thread.

A little PS! Two trips out and we have discovered that 10m isn't long enough for the hose. it's great when you have a MoHo service point but on those sites that don't.......it can be a long way to a tap! And it takes a lot of trips to fill a water tank using a 10 lt jerrycan! So, back from Dorset we are ordering another 7m food grade hose so that it can clip onto the existing 10m one. And, another thing we have discovered is that waste water drains aren't always conveniently where you would like them to be - so we are getting 5m of black plastic flexi hose to push onto the waste tank drain tap for times when the drain is too far away! 

·        240v electric cable – 25m long stored loosely coiled in a cable bag. Again, we avoided the reel type as a cable coiled in any way is a severe fire risk and we didn’t want to risk forgetting to uncoil the whole cable when pitching up at a site late one night. (Always fully lay it out or flake it down under the rear of the motorhome in long lengths). We also have left over from Florrie, our old caravan, a 10m cable as well. We have yet to take that with us on Bryony. Accompanying the cable, we also carry a socket to three pin plug cable, so that we can plug her into the house supply on occasions.

·        Gas supply – we have a refillable on-board gas tank. Given the scarcity and concern over forecourt supplies in the UK currently, we may well regret this later on. Time will tell. There is also a major shortage of 6kg Calor gas propane bottles at the time of writing as well. Given our complete inexperience in motorhome matters, we don’t feel equipped to make comment here about this gas tank given we have only been out once or twice in Bryony so far. So, we refer you to an amazing motorhome blog ‘Wandering bird’ by Kat. She will have the answer or recommendations at https://www.wandering-bird.com/gaslow-fitting-instructions/  In the meantime we use these two apps to help locate supplies of gas -  ‘myLPG.eu’ and ‘Autogas app’.

·        A leisure battery – Bryony came with one and we have only just discovered where it is located on the motorhome. So, we know nothing about it. Your dealership will advise you further on your needs. Some people, apparently, fit two leisure batteries in their motorhomes.  

·        A fridge – Bryony came with a three-way fridge – powered either by gas, 240v or 12v leisure system. We regard a fridge as a food hygiene issue and therefore an essential safety item.

·        Levelling blocks - we needed them immediately. Our first grass pitch sloped downwards and sideways. We have the Fiamma  blocks shown below.

·        Mud rescue mats – We used these first trip out (see our blog post on our first trip to Dartmouth). The Giant Milenco Lattice Mats work, in a fashion. See the above post for further details and the lessons we learned using them. Be aware that they are just over a metre in length, so make sure they can fit in one of your external lockers before buying a set.

·        A tow rope – yes, we’ve used this first trip out as well. A kind caravanner with a very large 4 x 4 rescued us from some very deep muddy ruts caused by our spinning front wheels when the mud mats had failed to work! Make sure any tow rope is for greater than the weight of your vehicle. Ours is the AA one rated at four tonnes. Rather snazzy and very effective!

·        Essential roadside safety gear – warning triangle, hi-viz vests x 2, torch.

·        Essential toolkits and tyre changing equipment – Bryony came with a proper spare wheel and full jack and tyre changing equipment boxed under the passenger seat. In addition, we carry a socket set that has wrenches, pliers and a small ratchet screwdriver set. There is an ‘electrical’ box containing spare wire crimps, electrical tape, fuses, cable tidies, wire shrink tubing – basically everything to affect an electrical repair on Bryony. We are currently ‘discussing’ whether we need to add in a spare bulbs kit – translated this means one of us is trying to justify the expense of it to the treasurer!

·        Fire hazard equipment – fire extinguisher, fire blanket, CO alarm, smoke alarm. Absolutely essential. We have the large extinguisher down by the driver’s seat but also a smaller one in the kitchen area. One of us will knock out the initial flames using this one, whilst the other is reaching for the larger extinguisher – a lesson we learned when tackling a large kitchen fire in a neighbour’s house whilst waiting for the fire Brigade to arrive. The fire blanket resides in a locker next to the TV.  We have CO and smoke alarms.

·        First Aid Kit – one of us is very safety paranoid and thinks anything less than a 50-person first aid kit is leaving us woefully unprepared for any eventuality. Thankfully, the ‘other’ one of us is more pragmatic and realistic. Our First Aid kit is one that can be used in the motorhome, out on cycle trips and adventurous walks. Its aimed at outdoor adventures and then has a few burns dressings etc added in.  It also contains a few basic medicines – paracetamol, Beechams capsules, Dioralyte, Imodium etc.

·        Dash cam – we accept this one is ‘debatable’ for the essential safety list – but we periodically use it. It comes in handy if you ever need ‘evidence’ after your wing mirrors have been hit by someone else! Go on, ask how one of us knows that! Fortunately, it didn’t happen on Bryony!

·        Wing mirror protectors – talking of which, one of the best investments we made. These are big, bright white and highly visible to oncoming traffic and our experience to date is that other big vehicles tend to edge away from us as they approach. They are pricey but worth it! These are from MirrorGuard - https://www.mirrorguard.co.uk/

After two short tours, one of us can report that the wing mirrors really do stick out. The passenger side one has obtained some scratches after 'close' brushes with Devon and Dorset hedges!

·        Reversing camera – nothing fancy, ours just shows the rear of the motorhome and a bit of the road behind. Great for keeping an eye on the bike rack as you are driving along, we keep ours switched on permanently. Vital when reversing in supermarket car parks! The GapDecaders have done an excellent post on reversing cameras which can be accessed here https://thegapdecaders.com/motorhome-reversing-camera/

·        Solar Panel – ours is an 80w. We are a little worried it won’t be efficient enough during winter to top up the vehicle and leisure battery but time will tell (Florrie, our old caravan had a 100w panel that was super-efficient). We have the harmony control panel on our Broadway set to SMART charging so the panel switches automatically between charging both vehicle and leisure batteries as and when.

·        Awning – a Thule Omnistor wind-out one - for sun protection. We know we will be touring this next year in the UK but we live in eternal hope!

The awning can be seen on the top of Bryony in this photo taken on our recent Dorset coastal road trip. Here we stayed at Manor Farm in Seaton, Devon. Touring pitch No. 1 with it's own decking , picnic tables and stunning views across the valley. 

·        Sat Nav and decent road atlas – Maggie is chief navigator. She has only ever made three navigation mistakes in thirty-seven years of self-drive exploration and that includes places such as Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic! She uses a mixture of the on-board Boxer cab sat-nav, our portable Garmin one, this atlas below – which we have found to be excellent – and her extraordinary innate navigational ability and common sense!   

·        Garmin InReach Plus Personal Locator beacon – another ‘debatable’ addition to the essential safety list, one of us never travels anywhere without it. Apart from its SOS button and built in maps and satellite navigation system, it also links to a mobile phone app that allows you to send pre-typed or actual ‘live’ text messages to named contacts on your phone. There is a monthly subscription fee and various additional costs but, out in the wilds, with no cellular coverage, it really does come into its own.

·        Toilet and tank chemicals – We think this is a crucial matter of sanitation and health safety rather than one of comfort. We use Thetford products, more out of habit than any other reason for these are what we used in Florrie, our old caravan. Other chemicals are available such as Fenwick, for example. Blue in the toilet cassette, pink in the cistern and the ‘new stuff’ for the grey waste tank. This last year we switched from toilet cassette blue to ‘green’, environmentally more friendly fluid. We also use Puriclean to flush out the freshwater tank and system periodically and definitely before the start of a trip when Bryony has been on the storage site for any length of time.

·        A decent large torch – and a couple of headtorches as well. Ours are dual power - rechargeable or off batteries as well.

Essentials for security

Our aim is to reduce the chance of break ins or of our whole motorhome being stolen. Should the worse happen and we find Bryony missing, we also want to reunite with her as quickly as possible. Psychologically messing with any potential thieves’ mind-set is the name of the game here. We want them to think that ‘targeting’ our motorhome is just too much dangerous hassle!

So, what are the things we can do to make it secure when we are sleeping in it, when we leave it during the day whilst off exploring and when we take it back to its normal storage location? This is what we have done thus far:

·        Steering wheel lock – we chose a STOPLock Elite with its high security rating and as recommended by our insurers. A great tip from the Autosleepers FaceBook forum has us turning the steering wheel fully so that the front tyres point outwards from the cab framework. Locking the steering wheel in this position by removing the ignition keys and then fitting the steering lock, makes the vehicle very difficult to tow/drag up onto a trailer or recovery vehicle! Apparently! We hope!

·        Thatcham category 2 – 1 fitted alarm – we had this alarm fitted by the dealer before we drove Bryony off the forecourt on the advice of our insurers and it helped reduce our premiums. It pays to discuss the different security features with your insurer first as they will tell you which ones they approve of.

·        Thatcham Tracker – came already inbuilt. All we had to do was activate the subscription. Our Autosleeper Broadway comes with the AutoLOCATE app which allows us to use mobile phones to not only track where Bryony is, but also to monitor her battery levels daily and over time. The app sends us text and email alerts if anyone tries to move her or if the batteries start to fall below a certain voltage.

·        Habitation door deadlocks – came factory fitted, but we are also considering fitting a Milenco door lock as well – see later points.  

·        RDF key wallets – it is a sad truth but thieves are highly sophisticated and they can clone keys or override immobilisers etc. We store both sets of motorhome keys in separate RDF wallets which prevent wireless signals reaching them. Hopefully, no miscreants should be able to override the locks on the motorhome when we are sleeping soundly inside!  As we have said before, one of us is highly paranoid! Of course, it goes without saying, but it is so easy to forget – always, always, know exactly where your keys are, never lend them to anyone other than your dealer, and always ensure you lock your doors even if you are only moving a few metres away from your motorhome. Thieves are opportunistic!

·        Milenco door lock – we haven’t yet fitted one of these but we are debating it. In the interim until we have fitted one, we refer you to what Kat at ‘Wandering Bird’ has to say on them, based on her first-hand experiences. Visit: https://www.wandering-bird.com/motorhome-security-door-locks/  See picture above. 

·        Front passenger seats – this is another tip we picked up from the FaceBook Autosleepers forum, which if you are new to Autosleeper motorhomes, we would thoroughly recommend. People have been an immense source of help and reassurance. Anyway, if you are leaving your motorhome for the day in a side street or a car park, whilst you are off exploring, turn your seats to face backwards into the habitation unit and then use a chain and padlock to lock them in place so that they cannot swivel back to their driving position. Potential Thieves will have problems trying to drive your motorhome away.

·        Thule VeloCompact three bike tow bar mounted bike rack – we are huge fans of this bike rack. It has been worth every penny. It locks onto the tow bar and then each arm is lockable, hence we see it as an essential security item. The upright section can be folded down, the light units and wheel supports pushed in to shorten the width of the frame. A push down step allows you to tip the whole unit with bikes on horizontally to gain access to a rear panel mounted boot or garage door. We had a tow bar specially fitted to Bryony at the dealership. One important point – do not trust what anyone tells you about Thule bike racks fitting all standard 50mm ball hitches. Ours didn’t! We nearly had a disaster! Our tow bar fitter had to come back and swap the tow ball head for a different type with a greater vertical height to the tow ball. Our rack just wouldn’t fit or lock onto a shorter height ball unit. In addition, ensure that your fitter makes the tow bar extend out far enough from the back of the habitation unit to allow the bike rack handle to go fully up into its upright vertical position, otherwise the handle will hit the back wall of the habitation unit and won’t therefore allow the rack to latch onto the ball securely! A spacer will need to be fitted. You have been warned!! We also link the rack and bikes together with a D Lock and run a heavy chain and lock between the bike rack and the motorhome chassis, before covering our E bikes with a Fiamma three bike cover which is held in place by additional bungee straps. Basically, we are trying to make it as awkward as possible for potential thieves. When travelling or leaving the E bikes on the rack unattended, their batteries are hidden away inside the motorhome.

·        Window security measures – we are resigned to the fact that the windows are vulnerable and a motivated thief will eventually get through them either with a hammer or crow bar. We are currently looking at the following things to help slow potential thieves down. Firstly, is there is any merit in covering the windows with window security film? Secondly, are these gadgets from Lock M Out worth a try? Thirdly, a different approach - fitting loud alarms to each window – these are the ones we are currently investigating.  https://lock-m-out.co.uk/product/poly-plastic-fix/ and https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Security-Magnetic-Batteries-included/dp/B073XBCNYS/ref=sr_1_30?dchild=1&keywords=small+electric+window+alarms&qid=1603307578&sr=8-30

·        Security stickers for various windows and external locker doors – we hope that sticking various warning stickers to the insides of all windows and on the external locker doors may remind potential thieves that our motorhome is alarmed and tracked and this may warn them off. We have got various stickers from Platinum Place https://www.shop4stickers.co.uk/campervan-rv--caravan-security-stickers-22-c.asp

·        External locker doors – are alarmed. We can ‘prime’ them when we leave the motorhome. Should anyone try to break into a locker, their ears are going to really hurt!

·        Registration number on your roof – friends shared this approach with us. They have their registration number in huge stick on vinyl lettering on the roof of their motorhome, so that should it be stolen, Police can use ANPR on major road networks to search for it.

·        Securing your storage site/location – 24hr CCTV, onsite 24 hr warden, locked gates, perimeter fence, restricted access, key or code entry and CASSOSA registered are all good starting points. We refrain from commenting on how to secure your motorhome safely at a home location as we have no experience of this. If any experienced motorhomers have tips on this matter, please let us know and we will update this section immediately.

·        This website gives a few other good tips which we have yet to consider https://www.caravanguard.co.uk/news/tips-to-prevent-motorhome-theft-22127/

Essential for comfortable living

Only our personal opinion based on our very limited experience of one trip in Bryony thus far. We will update this page regularly as our experiences grow.

·        Toilet paper – Being newbies to this, we have opted for the ‘proper’ caravan/motorhome toilet paper stuff. However, we suspect that cheaper, thinner, ordinary household toilet paper would probably work just as well. We await anyone’s advice on this matter!

·        Bathroom cleaning products – as above, we are erring on the side of caution and currently use Thetford bathroom cleaning products until someone advises us otherwise!

·        A 12v handheld vacuum cleaner – One of us thinks this would be a good investment. One of us thinks that someone can put a little more effort into using the small dustpan and brush set. Yes jury is out on getting one and the treasurer currently has the upper hand in the argument!

·        A mattress topper – definitely an essential. Ours was donated by a kind relative. It crushes down small, expands fully and we inserted it into an old duvet cover.  Hey presto, one homemade mattress topper which we use ties on to crush down further. We are told that Duvalay are the ones to go for!  (We then carry a high tog rating duvet and pillows).

·        Crockery – keep it simple by carrying only what is enough for the occupants on-board plus two spare mugs and gin glasses for visitors! We use the melamine set that came as a freebie with Bryony. We haven’t quite succumbed to plastic cutlery though, after all there are standards!

·        An external gas point – Bryony came with one. We guess most motorhomes do now. We aren’t yet big BBQ fans……but we might do so in the future when we see a good deal on a Cadac.

·        Heating system – ours is a blown air system from a Truma combi boiler, which also supplies our hot water. At least we think that’s what it is.  We are still trying to work out the systems in our motorhome, trawling nightly through the myriad of handbooks we were given. Whatever it is, it worked well on the first trip out and so we can’t comment much other than we consider heating to be an essential comfort for winter touring. There are wet heating systems as well, Alde seeming to be very well received. We had this on our old caravan and it was brilliant. Hopefully these websites will help inform you about heating your motorhome, until such time as we can comment on our particular system with some degree of knowledge and insight. https://www.hortoncommon.co.uk/alde-heating-for-your-caravan-or-motorhome/  and https://www.truma.com/uk/en/products/truma-heater

·        An oven and a microwave - our oven operates on gas and electric 240v and there are three gas hob rings and one electric hotplate. We rarely used the oven section but we used microwave frequently in the old caravan when on a site with 240v supply and so will probably do so likewise in Bryony. The oven may become the bread storage unit!

·        Some folding chairs

·        Thermal silver exterior windscreen – we bought one after much deliberation. It seems to offer dual advantages – a cool cabin during a hot day and a ‘toastie warm’ one at night when temperatures fall. We got a universal Milenco one and this may prove to be a mistake. It has taken a bit of working out how it fits and one of us put it on back to front twice before the other helpfully intervened! It certainly darkened the cab and gave us privacy and saved us using the papery pull across screens on the windscreen and door windows. Condensation seems to be an issue in many motorhomes but we didn’t get any on our first few nights away. Whether it was because we fitted this exterior thermal screen each night or not, we have no idea. Whilst we can see the advantages of it when you are on an established site, we have yet to decide whether it is a good thing to have when wild camping. Our current view is that in an emergency, should we fall victim to an attempted break at night, pulled up in a layby or car park, we want the option of being able to drive away quickly. Getting out to take off the screen seems to defeat this object and puts us at the mercy of whoever is trying to invade us. We feel we need to research this situation more carefully before we do our first wild camping trip! Advice and tips welcomed on this matter.

·        Tyre inflator – having driven a 4 x 4 and towed a boat for some time, a tyre inflator kit is a standard part of our kit. Ours is a Halfords plug in 12v model and its epic. It will inflate to a preselected tyre pressure and also pumps up our inflatable canoe as well.

·        Adtex 12v TV – lots of team debate about this but in the end, we had a 19” one on a bracket installed. Sometimes it is just nice after a hard day’s bike ride to flop in front of the TV and chill out. It’s a basic model but plays DVDs, has USB and HDMI ports. Great for the UK, possibly less so when on the continent. https://www.avtex.co.uk/ .

·        Kampa groundsheet - for putting under the awning when its raining. Saves trampling mud into Bryony. That’s the logic. The reality may prove significantly different when we first try it!

 

Essential for convenience

This all depends on what people view as ‘convenience’. In our case it is………

·        Collapsible bucket - 10lt, folds down flat and is used solely for periodically draining off the waste tank, when staying in one location for a long period of time.

·        Various USB chargers and cables - one of us is a complete gadget freak and one of us just uses a mobile phone!

·        Assorted bungees and straps – so far, they have held on the bike cover and been threaded through draw handles to stop one of the draws (and as it so happens the oven door) from continually opening whilst we are driving around. One of us believes we can NEVER have too many bungees or sail ties!

·       length of black pipe for waste water outlet – for those times when the waste pipe tap isn’t in a convenient place for the motorhome waste water draining point!

·        Watering can – to fill up the toilet cassette and the toilet cistern. Bright red for ‘danger’ so it isn’t used for anything else!

·        10lt water jerrycan - this is used to top up the on-board tank if we are too far away for the hose to reach.

·        Folding portable solar charger – We use the BIG Blue 5W. It is taken off the dinghy and comes travelling with us. Great for when we are off grid (we haven’t been yet but someone lives in hope of that day) or for day walks or cycle trips, it folds flat and is very lightweight. It is a better way to charge mobiles, tablets and GoPros or to charge up power-banks rather than draining the leisure battery. Leave it outside (its waterproof) or on the dash board.

Guess who really enthuses over this bit of kit which travels with him most places and especially on his dinghy cruising trips? 

·        Power banks – someone has too many of these and he is forced to make choices as to which one he is allowed to bring on a trip! A tough decision since apparently some of them have been on many of his world travels and are regarded as treasured personal possessions! He normally opts for the 25,000 mAH one.

We hope these lists have been helpful. Many of you will have differing opinions as to what should be added or taken out, so please contact us and let us know. We will amend the lists regularly as our experience grows and people give us tips! In the meantime, take care out there and have fun motorhoming.   

Steve and Maggie 

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