Long Trips - What makes life comfy?

[DanC]

Its a Dormi, just pack it and go. You will soon figure out what is surplus or not. If you want a modern camper, buy a modern camper. I have an awning as it is great for sitting under, I have a propex heater so I can camp when it is proper cold. I have a 12v socket as I like to watch films and occassionally use the fridge (brilliant for my seafood platter purchased in Dorset and transited back to Cumbria). Plenty of bedding and you are good to go, mine is a 2.25 petrol, yes an original engine! 200-300 miles a day is the limit, oh and cab heater? Get a fan, run all day and it can hit 40 degrees in the cab! Oh and don't get a diesel heater, they are loud and anti-social..,,

[Ian]

I've done a few long distance trips in my Dormie which I have to say is really set up for one person. Me. My wife's idea of roughing it is going to Las Vegas without reservations. Even the dog won't go. Such a princess.

I removed the right side back seat and built a cabinet that contains storage and a small porta-potty with a shelf for books on top (including the Green Bible). As with any small space, the rule in the Dormobile is a place for everything and everything in its place before leaving camp each day. I have two sleeping bags - if it is hot, I sleep in the lighter one on top of the heavy one. If it is cold, one goes inside the other. I'm good for a week off the grid before I need supplies and a laundry.

Somewhere in the Mojave Desert. Breakfast. Tea. What more does one need?

I don't have a satnav which I consider to be the work of the Devil. Nobody has adventures with a satnav in charge, except when it steers you in the wrong direction (which they can do and they can be pedantic little blighters). Besides which, I like maps. There's something about turning the pages and planning your next day before turning in for the night, then stopping along the way next day for a brew and checking the map. Can't wait for the next trip!

Cheers,
Ian

[AlexB]

Mark. One other thing, that is almost an improvement rather than a compfy item, but will give piece of mind, is to fit antiburst locks.

Not seen or looked for second row ones, but have them on front doors on the Blue Dormobile and the White one

And, while I am on about door locks, a proper station wagon rear door lock with the lever that sticks up over the table is a great addition should you not have one

[RMS]

Oh and don't get a diesel heater, they are loud and anti-social..,,

They don't have to be noisy!

The one's I sourced recently are relatively quiet, and silencers can be fitted to exhaust and air intake.

The ones still fitted to Patrick's & my Carawagons are old technology Eberspachers which can sound noisy on quiet mornings - at some time I will replace mine with one of the modern ones, with silencers.

It would be interesting to have a side-by-side comparison with the Propex and a modern Webasto

[jerryd]

Can't imagine why you'd want a heater

I think I tend to agree with Ian....... "As with any small space, the rule in the Dormobile is a place for everything and everything in its place before leaving camp each day."

I've done lots of sneaky upgrades but have retained the original look of the vehicle and it works perfect for me. I can honestly say that I would not want an original "dormobile" with old furniture that rattles around, poor interior lighting, no mod cons and a gas bottle jumping around under the driver's seat

Some of the items I've upgraded to make my trips more comfortable......

led lighting , electric fan, buit in 10"tv/dvd/cd player, inverter, filtered water to the sink, spring loaded drawer unit under sink, external shower, larger unit above cooker/ sink unit, two additional lockers above rear seats, larger wardrobe (can house the fridge) various power points throughout. I altered the seatbox and made it more user friendly both for sound and storage,

An awning is a must over here as it doesn't take long to burn when outside The other useful item is the expedition roofrack. If the whole family go camping we throw the oz tent, table / chairs, bbq / box, bedding, etc onto the rack, leaving plenty of space inside. I think it's important to keep the kitchen area accessible at all times so one can stop and make a snack or a brew

Only other thing we enjoy occasionally is sitting round the camp fire playing "travel scrabble" (stores perfectly in the sink)

[Marque]

Thank you Gentlemen. You advice much appreciated. I am keen to stay old school Dormobile but with sympathetic enhancements to givedaughter and I some comfort etc. Wife despises the camping concept from prior life experiences (well before i came along). Keen to ensure my daughter is much more adventurous than wife who is a real princess. Does not have a castle though which i thought was part of the deal!

Kindest regards
Mark

[Jabbawocky]

Hi Mark

Mods I have made to my Dormobile;

My wardrobe was missing so when I made one I fitted shelves, fitted a cut out underneath for a Porta potti and repositioned the water bottle shelf to allow a nato water bottle to fit into the bottom space.

Auxiliary battery fitted and 4 din sockets fitted, one for each rear seat, one for the side awning light and one on the rear n/s panel for when the fridge is in the rear awning.

Cooker unit has a large drawer inside to house all our crockery.

I have made boxes to fit in the rear passenger footwell, two boxes under the rear seats. a box either side behind the rear seat to provide storage and further support to the seat backs when folded down as a bed. People are a lot bigger these days!

I already have a toolbox under the passenger seat and under the middle seat. My Calor gas bottles are a good fit in the bottle carrier and never move? my strip light have been replaced with slightly more modern unit and is good.

I have fitted storage nets to the back of the front passenger seat for William to keep his stuff when traveling.

I the front I have a CB and a Garmin GPS 12, which I mostly use as a speedo. I have added a Cig lighter outlet in the side of the dash and this powers a 3 way splitter.

Outside I have awning rails fitted to both side gutters and a awning rail fitted to the rear roof above the Dormobile gutter. I have a 2.8m Caravanstore awning on the side and have fitted straps to hold the awning away from the doors when travelling. Rear awning was specially made to my design by http://www.tentvaletingservices.co.uk/
. I have two jerry can holders fitted to the front. I make roof racks and my rack is a copy of the large size Brownchurch rack supplied during the late 60's. I have fitted age related alloy wing top protectors to strengthen the wings and cover two large holes.

I think that is just about everything. No magic bullet to Guarantee a good trip, but the extra storage has helped to reduce the risk of disaster.

You keep mentioning your daughter and your hope she will love camping. I'm not sure if any of us actually like the camping chores and I believe a successful trip is where the 'camping' is kept to a minimum and spending time doing fun things is at a maximum. Camping can be hard work and you must always do everything to try an make life as easy as possible. Not easy is a relatively small space!

Cheers Mick

[Marque]

Thank you Gentlemen.

Mick you do raise a good point. I am sure EuroDisney will placate daughter to such a degree that Dormi trips are forever ingrained as a positive experience. That is my plan. Quite a bit of re-commissioning to do though in the meantime. It all takes longer than I think....

Thank you for your advice. Very much appreciated. Keen to keep the old school smell of EP 90 on a warm day & give my girl some memories that only an oily rag can bring back.

I post as "Marque" on S2c forum in case anyone is interested in the immediate activities.
Kindest regards
Mark

[Teriann]

At about three months into a trip I feel a strong need for more space inside the Dormobile and start lusting after one or those really large off road RVs. And that is just with one person and a dog in the Dormie. I agree with Ian in that a Dormobile or Carawagon is really sized for one person to travel comfortably and it you have two or more you really need to have a hybrid camping style with your cooking and sleeping inside and the rest of your camp outside the vehicle.

In answer to the question of what makes life comfy to me it means 3 things: a good night's sleep, good food and a portapotie (Us women do not like exposing our lower half to the outside world).

For a Dormie a good night's sleep involves a good sleeping bag and an insulating mat if sleeping up top or an air mattress of some kind when sleeping below.

For cooking nothing beats a good compressor type refrigerator to allow you to eat fresh food. Anodized thick wall pots have excellent conductivity and allows you to cook foods more evenly using less propane than other types of cookware and of course I use the broiler all the time. I like fancy thick plastic dishes for eating. They look like china, don't break and have a low heat conductivity so they do not draw the heat out of your food before you can finish your meal. I also use a cloth place setting and matching cloth napkins for that feeling of a bit of luxury on the trail.

I don't know if they have them in Europe but in the US wineries often have small wood presentation cases that are made for one, two or three bottles of wine. I have one that holds three bottles. It fits inside the area of the folded up Dormie wardrobe jump seat, alongside a box of cereal.

On the wall next to the sink I have a knife holder for my sharp knives and a little basket shelf to keep dish washing supplies then I'm camped.


The gray kit next to my knives is my signal kit for attracting rescue. If I'm in need of help I don't want to be shy in attracting attention. I can pop orange smoke in the daylight and have very bright signal flairs for night.

The mirror on the inside of the wardrobe cabinet door can become a grooming station with the addition of some holders to keep grooming items. I have two wooden holders below the mirror in my door to keep grooming toiletries together in an easy to access location. The second holder is directly below the one in the picture.



There is a lot of wasted space under a Dormobile cooker. That can be vastly improved by aking a page out of the Carawagon play book. I once looked inside of a two door command Carawagon and noticed modifications for increased storage in the left rear corner. The top and side of the side bench behind the rear wheel arch was removed and the floor under the side bench area was cut away then an aluminum drop box was added to lower the floor in that area down to the bottom of chassis level. That significantly adds to the under cooker storage area and makes it more versatile for storing cooking gear. On the opposite side of the vehicle I have mounted my second battery and an emergency shut off switch under the side bench area.

There is empty space across the back above the the rear door. I have added a short cabinet across the back above the rear door. This is the perfect size to store small boxes of tea. I can easily carry seven tea boxes for different varieties of tea. And of course adding a door to the Dormobile spice cabinet makes it a lot more useful.

Painting the inside top of the Dormobile fiberglass roof makes the interior feel cleaner and more cheery.

Anyway, these are just a few of the things I have done to make life a little more comfy on long trips.

One thing that I noticed right way with LR Dormobiles is that people who spend a lot of time traveling in them become focused more on having the interior best fit their needs and people who do not travel on long trips tend to be focused on concourse like originality.

[Marque]

Thank you Lady & Gentlemen
Kindest regards
Mark