14 Essential Items Every Motorhome Needs & 4 Things We Wish We Had Never Purchased!

[@PoshcatsCamping]

Great list of “must have” items. We have a 5 litre fresh water container as we are water phobic and don’t trust the main tank for drinking. This is big enough and is still tap water but we use for tea, coffee and cooking needs. The sat nav issue is one we grappled with with a caravan and a motorhome and finally invested in the CAMC Garmin system which is loud and large so I don’t miss a turning (well not as often 😉) Really enjoyed your video, we have enhanced alarm and tracker but now I am off to buy a new steering wheel lock as you just reminded me. Safe travels 👍🏻🚐 Trev

[@MakeDoAndMend1]

With our small van. Space and weight is important. So for example why did we have 6 dinner plates cutlery , mugs, cups etc. There is only 2 of us. Tips from us. Clothing can be stored in pillows and cushions. Get yourselves some shower caps. On muddy days slip them over your boots or shoes when popping in and out of van. Saves taking walking boot off and on. Stores heavy items tin food lower down in van. Write your van dimensions, weight in imperial and metric down and keep it handy in sun visor. Helps with barriers etc. If you are driving in a hilly terrain it's a good idea to drain fresh water tanks. Waste water and keep fuel so it's not full. This can lighten your van by as much as 1/4 ton. Cheers from old George

[@jamesandrob]

More great advice. Love the shower cap idea!

[@SilvertopMotorhomers]

Wow. Some brilliant advice and suggestions here George!

[@ruthkirby9277]

Microfibre towels are essential in our opinion. We agree that a waste water carrier is a good purchase although it wasn’t something we thought we would need. Thanks for your ideas🙂

[@jamesandrob]

Ah yes. We should have included our micro fibre towels. You’re right they are essential. Dry quickly and are a great space saver.

[@SilvertopMotorhomers]

Any particular brand/size you use Ruth as I’m looking into these at the moment

[@stellam8157]

Great video! Oscar is adorable 😊

[@bluesaint72]

Excellent ideas. We collect our new van in 2 weeks time - this has been a great help. Thank you

[@mariemiller1734]

I'm a newbie, this has been very helpful, thank you. Also love your little dog, he's so attentive when you are talking, georgous.

[@jamesandrob]

Ah thank you!!! Glad the video was useful!

[@despinaforbes2564]

I love how Oscar is looking at you, like he understands everything you say!😃🥰😃

[@jamesandrob]

He was definitely paying attention! X

[@kosmosjk]

A whistling kettle for on the gas hob and a corkscrew/bottle opener/can opener are on my list of must haves :-)

[@monkeyboy2297]

if you like your coffee, as I do, have you tried an aeropress? I bought one on our travels, we live in our van full time, and for me coffee is an essential. the aeropress is so easy and quick to use, easy to clean and makes great clear coffee, americano style, with no sediment. they're around £30 and come with, I think, about 350 filters

[@RobertDaCosta]

Great advice! Thank you. Will check it out. We love our coffee!

[@thegrinch8161]

This is a very interesting video to watch and unlike my converted ex army lorry and she’s got solid sides and a round roof with a bigish skylight and two reasonable sized side windows on each side. As for heating I built in a small potbelly stove with a jack but I also have to admit that I am a wee bit jealous of your setup

[@jeffshaw4553]

Brilliant thanks for that just bought out motor home 4 weeks ago we bought a waste carrier last week from go outdoors if you sign up to their £5 a year membership you get big discount in store we paid £50 for it and we needed it on first trip out but didn’t have one then this is when we realised some sites have bad access for Grey waste first site had raised man home and second one we couldn’t get any where near it so it’s massively helped us out 👍🏽👍🏽

[@jamesandrob]

Glad to be of help! Enjoy your motorhoming

[@StravaiginHippy]

Items I wouldn't be without - my Italian coffee pot, my coffee grinder (charges with usb), and my ridgemonkey

[@julietteshore1118]

Thank you. Very useful information as a newbie. I’ll probably get everything!

[@jamesandrob]

Good luck. You’ll love it.

[@turkeyphant]

How much do you pay for that lockup?

[@jamesandrob]

It was about £850/year.

[@michellemagee7223]

Hello , we just watched your very informative video on the items you thought we needed to know when starting out as campers , we ve literally just bought a camper van and so appreciate your well experienced views , we are currently in Peterborough although currently stopping in a hotel , we are getting ready for travelling in the next couple of days ,destination unknown as yet but thank you again and continued happy camping to you all ! God bless and safe travels . Michelle ,Declan and our dog Sam .

[@jamesandrob]

I hope you have a blast in your new camper

[@michellemagee7223]

Thanks again James, Rob & off course Oscar , you ve been so helpful ..shopping started today, more to get tomorrow..Happy, safe travels folks .

[@ThePaddlerjay]

Our camper has so many items. Avacado cutters, corn on cob dishes, three can opners, three bottle openers, 16 glasses ( we dont drink)? Pizza cook plate. A shoe invasion. , and so much we bought as brilliant! French pull string food chopper fresh coleslaw or veg salad, bread bag for baguettes, grill thing that clips food in 2 tennis racquets ! , Repurpose 2 squirty trigger type bottles one for GTX and one olive. Brilliant in BBQ

[@nicholasthompson3557]

Just discovered you guys this morning great videos👍👍

[@jamesandrob]

Thank you! Lots more content like this to come!

[@lenafietst8237]

Well done!

[@Jaques2go]

Your dog looked at you when you oicked uo the spike and doglead......then looked pissed off becos you didnt take him out.....really funny😂

[@jamesandrob]

He often gives us that look!

[@adyholland398]

2:16 dog looks pissed off lol

[@jamesandrob]

Ha. He always does!

[@Wee-Rex]

I’m planning van life next year for 3-months to tour the UK. Lot’s of good tips. But there is no way I am going without my Nespresso 😂 I will find a way! Regards security. I use AirTags myself but they are limited. They only tether via Bluetooth to other Apple devices and they have a range of about 30m outdoors. But the device they tether to has to have a live signal as well. This renders them useless if you are somewhere with poor/no signal (like I had camping on Arran 2-weeks ago). A much more expensive, but definitely worth the money option, is a GPS-enabled tracker than uses satellite signals. Considering the cost of a camper van/motorhome, I feel the GPS enabled option is much better. I plan to get one and have seen them costing as little as £400.

[@jamesandrob]

Good luck with the tour

[@mikeyfelley]

Great Video Lads but i must say your missing a trick not having an Aeropress for your coffee. Perfect coffee and nothing comes close in terms of storage. Give one a go you won’t be disappointed

[@jamesandrob]

Thanks. We keep thinking about getting one

[@philgreenough9730]

Hi guys thanks for the video. I've got a pedal lock on my camper van and I turn the padlock around to face the bulkhead, when I lock it. This stops thieves from attempting to drill out the lock. You soon get use to locking and unlocking it blindly, although I dread to think how I'd get the lock off if I lost the key. 😱😱

[@jamesandrob]

Great idea. Will do that!

[@steverose3860]

Those puck locks are easily picked unfortunately, even turned upside down. I managed it as an amateur picker with no trouble. I considered another padlock but as it’s only a layer of security, just settled for putting on upside down which does make things trickier.

[@tommo9757]

Avoid Masterlocks. They're considered to be a joke in the lock picking hobby (yes, this does exist! 😄)

[@lizchapman1684]

Great tips !! Thanks

[@SilvertopMotorhomers]

Really good video here guys. Very informative. As new to the channel would like to see differences between your on and off grid set ups as a potential video. I will check your playlist to see if you have one but that’s an idea. Actually I’m going to look at your videos now before I make any other stupid suggestions. All the best from Mal, Dave & Sally the Lab. The SilvertopMotorhomers

[@jamesandrob]

Thank you!!!

[@jamesandrob]

Will plan to do an off/on grid video.

[@libellula3313]

Super useful, thanks, I’m waiting for my Moho to arrive and in danger of buying things.

[@jamesandrob]

Lol It never ends!

[@BatteryMan-c6v]

With the phone app, co-pilot,can you put your MH dimensions in and it prevent you going down too smaller roads/bridges etc

[@jamesandrob]

Indeed you can.

[@anne-marielloyd296]

Hey guys brilliant thanks ❤

[@jamesandrob]

Glad you found it helpful.

[@nikkihanmer852]

brilliant tips thank you x

[@jamesandrob]

Glad they helped

[@erolhassan5346]

Great video

[@Two-Vees-In-a-Van]

Unfortunately, In case you are not aware, the air tag is not very good device for using as a anti theft tracker because it is not designed to work that way and will tell the thief that it is hidden in the MH (Assuming he has an Iphone) as per this excerpt from the apple website: "AirTag is designed to discourage unwanted tracking. If someone else’s AirTag finds its way into your stuff, your iPhone will notice it’s travelling with you and send you an alert. After a while, if you still haven’t found it, the AirTag will start playing a sound to let you know it’s there." So effectively if a thief gets into your MH with an Iphone, after a while it will tell him by playing a tune and notifying his Iphone. Pity otherwise it would be an excellent idea

[@jamesandrob]

Interesting. Thanks for the info. We haven’t had that experience with the air tags and like all anti theft devices - it’s aims to deter and slow thrives done. Our AirTags have been a god send for finding lost keys!!!

[@royturner10]

Air tags have a Bluetooth range of about 30 feet. Useless for tracking a stolen van or push bike. You may be better off putting your SIM in an old hidden phone and using the hot spot feature, you could then combine this with an app using the GSM connection and data to track the van in real time.

[@jamesandrob]

I’m not sure that’s how they work? I’ve been able to track my luggage when it’s in a completely different location. I believe as long as an iPhone is in range it will track

[@startaylor123]

Excellent...👌👌👌

[@jamesandrob]

Thank you!

[@markhamer416]

Hi both.... we have an Elddis 196, what size (litres) plastic containers are you using in your overhead lockers please? They look a very nice, snug fit? Many thanks

[@jamesandrob]

Not entirely sure but you can buy them in Tesco (I think they are 17L)

[@markhamer416]

@@jamesandrob OK thanks

[@thegrinch8161]

I can imagine that if or when you got stopped by the old bill they thought Oscar was and he is a cute dog but try and imagine my tribulations because I was blessed with obtaining two malnourished Rhodesian ridgeback dogs, max and Sam were my constant companions until suddenly max crossed over not long ago now in beginning to see a wee bit of old Sam coming back again, anyhoo I wish all three of you the best for 2024 and for the remaining of 2023, from north east Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 bye. 🙏👍

[@johnvicca1173]

Whilst I can agree with most of your recommendations (had a Moho 5 yrs now) I do have to disagree with a couple of comments. There is no requirement for an expandable hosepipe (nor food grade piping). Simply ensure you empty the pipe after filling (negating the food grade requirement) and ensure you wrap the pipe tightly on its holder (negating need for expanding). Admittedly I do use a smaller diameter pipe but have found no appreciable difference in filling time from when using full bore at home. I also purchased vacuum bags with pump for storage of bedding....Great idea in principle - just leaked in practice and bedding needs time to reinflate before use - so you have to unpack/layout about an hour before use or it's freezing. An alternative to the Waste Master is a grey water extension hose. Works great, costs about £6. You just need to find the right size push on fitment to go over your outlet then not a problem if no drive over waste disposal. Overall some good suggestions for a newbie but as always there will be differing opinions, it all comes down to how much scutter you're willing to endure. Thank you for the video

[@jamesandrob]

Thank you for your feedback. Some great advice! I totally understand that these are just our personal views and we shared the items, as newbies, that we purchased that have been useful and some items that we wish we hadn’t purchased (in the hope of helping a few other people). I’m sure as we travel more we will be able to shoot a part 2 to this video and share some of the key learnings like you have. Appreciate your feedback.

[@LesiavanderWoman]

You look like Hugh Bonneville. Probably many people told you this

[@jamesandrob]

Ha. No. Never heard that before but thank you (I think!)

[@grahammullins9455]

Great video but you did forget 2 very important items, 19 crimes red wine and a corkscrew.

[@RobertDaCosta]

Hahaha! So very true!

[@jamesandrob]

Should have been our number 1 item on the list!

[@iancford]

There is one anti theft device that is highly effective although it requires some mechanics knowledge and a few tools. Great when leaving a van for an extended period. I'm not going to publicise it though as it is potentially dangerous!

[@LesiavanderWoman]

Why copilot over google maps? Google maps is free. Why do you need to pay more?

[@jamesandrob]

Because copilot enables you to put the width and height of your van into it and avoids roads they would be too narrow for your van

[@LesiavanderWoman]

@@jamesandrob oh, I see. I am buying 5m van so probably I can use usual google maps.

[@judiarmstrong3776]

Hugely helpful! Many thanks for your advise - we are looking at getting a motorhome and are grateful for all support. You were a great and clear presenter! Xx🙌🚐

[@jamesandrob]

Thank you! All the best