Micro camper van, gonna break my back?

[Chippa Fate]

About to start my first build, but would like some feed back on a few points.

A bit back ground, I want a small van, easy to park, fits into city multi story car parks and economical. I think Citroen Dispatch size as a stealth camper. My main intended use is that of a mobile office with sleeping/living facilities to write that novel I always wanted to do, as I travel, spend a bit of me time (so solo berth). So a full size desk, Pc and office facilities is primary the rest is pull down/erect when needed, bed etc.

Life in a van you can not stand up in.
Has anyone had the …erm pleasure in spending an extended stay, say 2-3 weeks in a micro van with a roof high that will not allow you to stand up right in? Is it truly unbearable?

Camp sites if there is no gas burners, fire, hob or refrigerator, do I still need ventilation to stop over diligent site owners preventing my stay? Plan on all electrical cooking/heat/refrigerator.

Is there any regulations on the location of the external 240 volt power socket?
I was thinking of hiding it under number plate, front grill or in engine bay.

Has anyone seen/done a mobile sleeper office build…any plans, pic’s ect?

Hope to meet so of the members on my modern day walk-about, and TY in advance for any help advice you can offer.

Chipper Fate

 

[Go wild]

:welcome:

 

[n brown]

blimey don't know where to start!unless you spend the whole time on campsites or have a lot of solar panel,you won't have power for cooking fridge heating.maybe enough for lighting.being in a low van can be a strain,worse in bad weather when you're stuck in it.i've done offices,burger vans,tattoo parlours all sorts,i would consider a pop up roof,whats the crack with being stealthy,never really got that one

 

[dodge2transit]

i was saying on a other thread about small vans, so i chased up my old mate up the road and took this picy. 50 mpg its a berlingo ex wheelchair car

 

[donkey too]

Get a Bongo

 

[afl777]

Any sort of small to medium van with bed one side, porta loo underneath like mine, also boxes under the bed for storage. Narrow desk down opposite side from rear to sliding door. If you get something like a Mitsubishi L300 like mine, there is a hump behind the front seats that could easily, with the front passenger seat forward house a camp cooker. For extra room/standing room a drive away awning on the side is perfect to sit in, eat meals and chill.

Ange

 

[ellisboy]

Like Mr Brown said, you won't be able to cook,heat ,run a fridge and pc on 12 volt in a micro van,you'll need to use gas for cooking/ heating.You could run a small compressor fridge and power a lap top with a couple of decent batts and a split charge type system.

There's nothing worse than spending long periods in a van which you are unable to stand up in,so a pop top is good.You will also need to add some ventilation in the form of window or roof vent,
:cheers: Stephen & :welcome:

 

[reg]

I spent last year from April to December in the back of a Discovery MK1 Van while working away from home, Sunday to Thurs.
I've spent most of this year in it also, but 12 days at a time, through the snow and everything -12 was the coldest night.
Not one night was spent on a camp site
No heating, just a good sleeping bag.
The best investment had to be my Exped 7xl down filled sleeping mat, its the most comfortable bed I've ever slept on, you can put up with a lot of c**p if you get a good nights sleep.

Forget the electric fridge, drains power and what do you so desperately need to keep cool any way, buy milk by the pint, enough for the day etc and the same for food, your never going to be that far from a shop that supplies what you need.
Forget the toilet as well, public loos are everywhere if you look, good excuse to go the pub, fast food joint or the supermarket etc. Piss bottle comes in handy though, wide neck bike bottle does the trick, well marked up though, don't want to make a mistake in the middle of the night when your thirsty.
I would suggest a laptop rather than a full office suite, use a voltage converter (Maplins do a variety) to run from your 12v supply, if you need to print stuff then save to a memory stick and go to a library. A fold down desk would make spending time on your computer a much more pleasurable experience.

Go for a gas cooker with adequate ventilation of course, electric cooking needs lots of power which would tie you to camp sites etc.
Personally I just have camping gaz single burner stove, which suits me for the basic cooking I do, obviously tastes very as to how you want to live.

Double up your vehicle batteries, and fit a Voltage sensing relay on the second battery to supply your domestic kit, and fit a decent battery charger for use in camp sites.
Keeping to low voltage kit i.e laptop, USB charged devices etc. will give you a lot more freedom.
Fit some LED lighting in your van too, as the standard interior lights are a bit dull and power hungry.
Sunroof is very useful in the back of my Disco, plenty of light during the day when your shut in, and handy for ventilation, but you do get condensation on it when its closed, don't have it above your head when your sleeping.

Sorry for the long post but I lived on a boat for 7 years, and spend an awful lot of time in the back of van.

Have fun

 

[Firefox]

A few points

1. Some campsites may be snotty about accepting you if the van doen't have windows in it. Small black glass crew cab type windows may be OK. But rooflights can be your main ventilation/light source.

2 You really only have one choice of layout. Bed down one side and kitchen/desk down the other. I would have a permanent row of bed/seats 600mm wide 1800 long down one side for a bed/seating. You will need storage lockers for batteries, inverter, gas, water, potapotti etc and these can go under the bed base. The bed seats you don't use in the day can be a dumping ground for shopping bags and other loose items.

3. You will need a small porta potti for emergencies which can fit in an underbed locker, unless you want to go and do it in the street, as toilets are not always open or available when you want them.

4. You will need insulation espec on the roof. You can get dripped on 3 seasons round. Not a good idea with computers around.

5. You don't need a fridge. It's a power drain and space waster. Possibly a 12V cool box under the bed/kitchen?

6. I would go for a lap top not a PC. It's a big space saver. And leaves room for a printer/scanner/copier if you want one.

7. No regs that I have seen regarding 240V socket. I have seen people take the cable straight in through a window, door, or floor hole. This is perfectly OK but you must have a consumer unit with RCD's etc on the end of it.

8. I did a lot of camping in cars with no headroom for extended periods. It's great when weather is fine but can be a bit of bummer if it raining all day and you have to stay in the car/van. Sitting and lying down is OK though. Main problems I had were condensation, toilet, and getting un/dressed lying down all the time was a pain. You can solve most of that with a small van though.

 

[kangooroo]

About to start my first build, but would like some feed back on a few points.

A bit back ground, I want a small van, easy to park, fits into city multi story car parks and economical. I think Citroen Dispatch size as a stealth camper. My main intended use is that of a mobile office with sleeping/living facilities to write that novel I always wanted to do, as I travel, spend a bit of me time (so solo berth). So a full size desk, Pc and office facilities is primary the rest is pull down/erect when needed, bed etc.

Life in a van you can not stand up in.
Has anyone had the …erm pleasure in spending an extended stay, say 2-3 weeks in a micro van with a roof high that will not allow you to stand up right in? Is it truly unbearable?

Camp sites if there is no gas burners, fire, hob or refrigerator, do I still need ventilation to stop over diligent site owners preventing my stay? Plan on all electrical cooking/heat/refrigerator.

Is there any regulations on the location of the external 240 volt power socket?
I was thinking of hiding it under number plate, front grill or in engine bay.

Has anyone seen/done a mobile sleeper office build…any plans, pic’s ect?

Hope to meet so of the members on my modern day walk-about, and TY in advance for any help advice you can offer.

Chipper Fate

Yes, I've done this. I camped for 7 years in a Renault Kangoo panel van with a few internal alterations - ie a few lockers forming a sink unit with pumped tap fed via a jerrican and beanbag folding Z-bed. The 'sink' was a mere 99p plastic washing up bowl and was emptied via the rear doors into the nearest grid.

I'm just over 5'8" and never had any problems with not being able to stand upright. I've also had a Kangoo Roo with elevating roof and now have a Romahome Hylo but very rarely raise the roof. It's not important.

I lived in the Kangoo van for up to 18 nights at a time of which only 2 would be spent on sites.

I had no cooking facility (but carried a mini oven for use on sites with EHU), no fridge (just a 12v powered coolbox), my lights were £2.99 magnetic spotlamps running off 3AAA batteries and I carried a 12v 40Ah Ring battery pack to power my netbook and recharged it via the 12v lighter socket while driving. On campsites I ran the EHU cable beneath the rear door.

During the last year only in the van, I fitted fixed rear windows, a Fiamma roof vent and solar-powered fan and lined the roof and sides with bubble foil insulation beneath car carpet. These made a huge difference and enabled good ventilation at night in all weather and are something I would definitely recommend and wished I'd done sooner.

I thoroughly enjoyed my 7 years in the van, travelled from Lands End to John o'Groats, mostly wild-camped, could easily fit under height barriers, gained 53mg, could carry large loads and insurance was cheap (£175) with business use and no mileage restrictions. I regretfully sold it last year for more than its trade price and have missed it ever since for its cheap and cheerful camping. The only downside was it was very chilly in winter although I camped in -14 deg temperatures.

Would I do the same again - you bet I would and I probably will do in 2.5 years when its replacement will be sold.