Ready to Outfit and Stock the Rig - Advice..?

[Marley]

So the Elvis Humperdinck Edition GWV Sprinter van is ready to get outfitted (filling the cupboards). Any sage advice on what works and what doesn't, what rattles and what doesn't, what fits and won't, what breaks and what lasts...etc.

There isn't much in there now so we will need everything in the galley, head, 'stateroom', clothes closet and outdoor things as well.

While I am not a rookie in most of these things, as I said, sage advice from the carriage class would be appreciated...

[mkguitar]

our dishes travel inside the microwave, tea towels between them.
most of the camping dishes are our old stuff out of the house, mismatched flatwear etc.

we had an armoire behind driver's seat-everything I own is tshirts...

it now has 2 shelves and a slide out basket for all the pots and pans. 2 plastic cutting boards.
we don;t use the tables so we use trays on the lap- just easier and the trays are handy if a meal is being prepped at a picnic table to carry everything out and back
small dish dry rack and tub

we have small first aid kit lives in the van


try to avoid taking too much stuff- there is an unpleasantness to moving the same thing 3 times a day to get to the other thing which you needed, this unease will build.

our furnace is a noisy propane deal- we have a small vornado 375/750 watt space heater which will blow a waft of warm air when needed, quietly. We use this when we are buying shore power at a campground, also a 2 slice toaster- $8 walmart.

I ended up buying a coffee perc on amazon, french press was too fiddly and fragile. the perc takes about 10 minutes and is very tasty, much easier to clean

the first/last thing when arriving at campground is leveling- our leveling blocks travel inside our back doors ( we have some storage there).

when you are placing things keep in mind that you can generally control the rates of accel and turning forces- what you can;t plan on are panic stops. make sure that if you have to jam on the brakes that you are not going to be hit by loose objects- or have a can of soup roll under the brake pedal

Mike

[SteveJ]

We carry a small, cheap, non digital toaster oven.

If plugged in we have a small electric 1000/1500 watt heater.

For coffee we use a silicon collapsible pour over cone with Melitta filters using water heated on the cook top. Easy clean up and we don't have to run the genny while boondocking which is most of the time. And it makes good coffee.

If you go the electric percolator get one with an insulated carafe to keep genny time down and/or lighten the load on the 30amp service.

We also carry an electric broom which only draws about 175 watts on 110. This we run through the inverter if not plugged in or the genny is off.

We are quite frugal with electric while boon docking, no hair dryer, or TV. Our 100 watt solar panel keeps up just fine unless cloudy and cold enough to run the furnace.

.

[InterBlog]

That's a big topic... there are many good Class B tips and strategies on the Small Space Living thread on Air Forums, but it's lengthy - over 1,000 posts and about 130,000 views. I summarized what I considered to be the best tips in this series of blog posts, which is far shorter.

You caught my eye with the word "rattle". Here are a couple of kitchen ideas that prevent rattles in our rig.

(1) Corian dishes stored in individual sleeves in the type of check file you'd find in office supply stores. The polyethylene month dividers keeps them from rubbing and rattling against each other. We have narrow gaps on either side of our microwave, and this file slides into one of those gaps. I put a stopper at the front of the gap so the check file would not slide out onto the floor.


(2) Stainless steel cutlery was a rattling nightmare until I found this basket to hold both it and bowls and glasses. This can also be removed from the cupboard and plopped on a picnic table for easy access. These days I also carry two GSI stainless steel wine glasses on top of the bowls.


Good luck with the outfitting - finding micro-solutions for various predicaments has been a part of the Class B experience that I've really enjoyed.

[Bruceper]

Pots, pans, dishes, cutlery. You already know you need this stuff. I'll get down to some extras that we've found we have needed or works for us.

Bug spray and Off candles (those things work well)
One more towel than there are people in the van
Flashlight near the exit door in a holder of some type or magnetic
A dish tray for drying dishes (makes things easier, but could be stacked on a towel)
Micro fibre cloths, good for washing anything, plus a dozen other uses
An extra phone charger to leave in the van
Umbrellas or rain jackets
Duct tape (emergencies happen)
Extra fuses
Fire starter blocks

A well stocked First Aid kit and toiletries kit
Yes have the regular stuff in both, but include a few extras. In no particular order here have things like tweezers, Q Tips, scissors, needle and thread (black is fine, add white if you wish), pain reliever, after bite, extra medication if necessary.

I could probably add some more, but almost everything above has been used on every trip we take. We do go camping in a group of six to ten people, so while these things may not be used by us they are used by others.

[cruisefx]

I like using the luggage packing cubes for clothes. Keep one aside for laundry.

I use a lot of non-skid rubbing backing material. I cut it up and layer them between my corelle dishes, pots/lids etc. Dish towels can do the same.

In my RT, there is a handy shelf by the side door - I keep sunscreen, bug spray and hand sanitizer there. It reminds me when heading out instead of trying to remember these things.

We bring our drinking water instead of using the van's tanks fresh water.

Paper towels for wiping dishes so less crap down the grey tank.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by cruisefx

Paper towels for wiping dishes so less crap down the grey tank.

...and reuse these as fire starters...every time I go to the campground and wash up I stick my paper towel in my pocket for later rather than stuff in the trash. add some wax and it'll help you out later.

good point about camping in a group- you only need 1 set of jumper cables( for instance) shared among a group.

I also carry a qt of oil and tranny fluid, I have a nice cavity under hood which i lined with a cut antifreeze jug, the 2 quarts sit in that.

mike

[avanti]

Here is a modest trick:
Take a 2 liter soda bottle; cut off the curved top so it forms a little cylindrical container; and stuff it full of plastic bags from the supermarket, for use as trash bags. It is nice to have a lot of them, since you can then dispose of your trash frequently and easily. The soda bottle will hold a lot of bags and keep them compressed and contained.

[SteveJ]

Originally Posted by mkguitar

...
good point about camping in a group- you only need 1 set of jumper cables( for instance) shared among a group.

mike

I learned a long time ago when traveling by motorcycle to never "share pack" something essential.

This way if someone wants to go there own way, no big deal. Our cirlce of motorbiking friends pack the same way. That way if different wants and styles come to the surface folks can split off for a few days and maybe meet up again later. A lot more friendly this way realizing that you are stuck to someone because of share packing.

The above can especially come into play with new blood in the group out for two+++ weeks.

And this whilst motorcycle traveling where space really is at a premium. (but i still manage to get a folding chair on board)

[fwdanielson]

Microfiber or viscose towels instead of the big cotton ones you use at home that take forever to dry.
A hunk of rope, even a 50 foot skein of paracord will save your bacon and take up almost no space.
A good door mat. We bought one that looks like real stiff fake grass and have it positioned inside the van as close as possible to the side door to keep mud and sand out. Just going in and out of the wal mart or walking the dog at a rest area can track in a lot of dirt.
If you are going to be boondocking or otherwise camping in undeveloped campsites one of the military style folding shovels comes in very handy for lots of things. You won't know how you lived without it.
Same with a bucket. I go overboard with a five gallon bucket in the closet that holds other things when not in use but even a small bucket comes in handy for washing dishes, hauling fresh water, putting out fires, rinsing collard greens, washing your hair, rinsing off that bird turd that just landed on the hood, holding live shrimp for bait during an impromptu fishing trip, the list goes on.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by fwdanielson

....
A good door mat. We bought one that looks like real stiff fake grass and have it positioned inside the van as close as possible to the side door to keep mud and sand out. ....

We bought these gray Astroturf mats and actually cut inserts to fit the two cab door steps and the step at the sliding door, fixing the pieces in place with very strong adhesive tape. Big improvement. The vacuum pulls an amazing amount of junk out of them.

[fwdanielson]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

We bought these gray Astroturf mats and actually cut inserts to fit the two cab door steps and the step at the sliding door,

That's pretty much the same mat we use but not nearly as cool as your setup. I've got to go buy another and start cutting to fit.

[Marley]

Thanks for all the replies. Good info that is specific to the Class B.

I have packed the KTM and snowmobiles for a day out, with just about every survival and repair item that could feasibly be carried but this isn't survival as much as limiting frustrations I think.

We have wondered about paper plates vs Corel vs ?, plastic cutlery vs metal vs ?, cotton vs ? Etc. Mostly answered here.

One thing not heard yet is types of clothing and laundry. I tend to overheat more than not so I try to find shirts and underwear that can handle it and not stink after one wearing - not a big deal at home but without laundry 24/7 bad choices could mean alternate habitation arrangements.

Anyone use those portable clothes washing bags?

[Bruceper]

We use metal cutlery but plastic plates.

[mkguitar]

Originally Posted by Marley

types of clothing and laundry.

nothing special- no need to go shopping.

i tend to wear casual stuff and that's what i wear- I do carry a pair of long pants in the summer, but mosty shorts.
t shirts, sweatshirt/hoodie patagonia jacket, layer up when needed.
flip flops, 2 pairs of hiking shoes

I travel for a living anyway and my routine is to pack 8 days of wear.
so count on laundry once a week.

koa or in-town laundrymat

mike

[SteveJ]

Clothing.

We tend toward dry-tech type of clothing. If need be to extend time between visits we just do some in the sink. Dry tech dries much quicker than cotton and as a bonus takes up much less storage space.

On motorcycle trips I only bring two or three extra changes and a dry tech towel and wash the used stuff in the shower. Dries easily over night or strapped to the outside of my pack. These trips can and do last up to 5-6 weeks at a time.

[cruisefx]

Originally Posted by Marley

We have wondered about paper plates vs Corel vs ?, plastic cutlery vs metal vs ?, cotton vs ? Etc. Mostly answered here.

One thing not heard yet is types of clothing and laundry. I tend to overheat more than not so I try to find shirts and underwear that can handle it and not stink after one wearing - not a big deal at home but without laundry 24/7 bad choices could mean alternate habitation arrangements.

Anyone use those portable clothes washing bags?

We use a 4 piece Corelle set for 4 (large/small plate, bowl & mug). Plates are nice and thin. Microwaveable. I hate cutting my food with a knife on a paper plate. Bowls for cereal/soup.

On extended trips, we have used laundromats. But I got a Scrubba for Christmas so I will be trying that out this year. I have a large curtain tension rod that I can setup across the van behind the cab seats and I use hangers to hang wet clothes to dry. Clothes were washed but did not want to wait for the dryer as there was sightseeing to do. While sightseeing, laundry was drying in the van. I had the fantastic fan running to vent the moisture out. Worked out well.

Since we usually put up a sunshade for the front windshield, people walking by won't see our laundry hanging out to dry!

[avanti]

+1 on Corelle for all our dishes and serving pieces.We use lexan silverware (Available from camping suppliers). We splurged on a fairly expensive set of nesting stainless steel cooking pot set--the kind with the clip on handles. Well worth it.