A-Z of essential accessories for your motorhome or campervan

So, you’ve taken the plunge and have just bought your first motorhome or campervan, but what else do you need to make your touring time complete? An empty motorhome or campervan won’t be much fun on its own and there are all sorts of accessories to enhance your trips, some of them pretty essential.

Don’t forget that everything you carry will eat into your vehicle’s payload, as well as taking up space, so shop around for the lightest, most compact versions available.

A is for Awnings 

One of the first things you might want to add to your motorhome or campervan is a roll-out awning. These are permanently fitted to the side of your 'van and simply wind out with a handle that slots in at one end (electric versions are available but a bit unnecessary). If you’re buying a used vehicle it’s quite likely that it’ll already have one and some (mostly UK) manufacturers fit them as standard on some coachbuilt motorhomes.

A roll-out awning will give you shade under which to sit at the side of your ’van and it’s quick and easy to use. It winds out in a few seconds, so you can use it when you stop for lunch, not just on site. Prices start at around £500 (plus fitting) and weights begin at around 20kg, depending on size.

You can then add side/front panels to create a safari room but, remember that you’ll have to take all this down to move the vehicle. A better solution, usually, then, is a free-standing awning. These come in various sizes and to fit various sizes of ’van and, while some use poles like a tent, others are inflatable. The latter tend to be heavier and bulkier to store but are much easier to erect and feel more substantial. They create an extra room alongside your ’van that’s ideal if you have a small campervan and need more space, or an extra bedroom, on site.

We’ve found that our Outwell inflatable awning is a vital bit of kit when camping with kids and we use it in conjunction with a Fiamma wind-out awning. In fact, Adrian at Hillside Leisure, who supplied our camper, put us onto the idea of attaching the Outwell free-standing awning not directly to the camper but to the extended wind-out awning. This gives a lot more space on site and means you don’t have to traipse through the awning all the time.

Outwell’s inflatable drive-away awning range starts at £629 and includes models suitable for coachbuilts as well as campervans. And don’t forget to add an electric pump to your shopping list. This season we’ve added an Outwell Wind Gust Pump – £100 but well worth it for the reduced effort!

B is for Bedding

For fixed beds, duvets are probably king, but, if you’re using a smaller campervan where space is at a premium, sleeping bags are preferable as they can be rolled up and stuffed into a small locker. Think about the tog rating you need, especially for those sleeping in the awning or in a canvas-sided pop-top (as fitted to most VW campervans).

As an example, the Outwell Camper weighs 2.4kg and packs down to 48cm by 46cm by 23cm. It is priced at £74.99. If you envisage one of your party sleeping in a tent or awning, then a self-inflating mat will be a must, too. We’re currently testing an Outwell Deepsleep single (pictured above) – just unroll and it’s ready without any need for a pump! It’s priced at £109.99 and weighs 2.5kg, but cheaper – and double bed – versions are also in the range.

C is for Cab screens

Built-in cab blinds are making these less essential for many new motorhomes but smaller campervans and used vehicles can still be enhanced with cab screens, either of the internal or external variety. We prefer the interior type as they’re never damp to put away and you don’t have to go out in the cold/wet when you want to let the daylight back in.

We’ve tried various types but have been most impressed by the Kantop screens from vancomfort.co.uk. These don’t require wetting to stick to the glazing and, importantly, they don’t fall off in the middle of the night. Priced at £120.75, they feature eight layers of thermal insulating and are a vast improvement on the flimsy fittings provided as standard with a T5 California.

C is for Collapsibles, crockery, cutley, pots and pans

Items like kettles can take up a lot of space – and space is always in short supply in a compact campervan. All manner of collapsible kit is available – kettles, colanders, saucepans, mugs, washing-up bowls, baskets, buckets and more.

We’ve got an Outwell 1.5-litre Lime Green kettle (four other colours, as well as a larger 2.5-litre version are available), but we’re also big fans of the water carrier as non-folding equivalents just take up too much space and it’s good sometimes to have a separate drinking water supply when on site.

You’ll also need plates, mugs, knives, forks, etc, of course. Bamboo is a popular, eco-friendly material for camping crockery these days and there are plenty of options around, including campervan-themed sets. Don’t forget you’ll need pans to cook with, too, and here weight and easy, stackable storage are king.

C is for Cooking

Yes, your motorhome or campervan will have a cooker – maybe an oven and microwave, too – but there’s a definite je ne sais quoi about cooking outside. Of course, a traditional barbecue is an option, but can you be bothered with the mess?

For ease of carrying – and ease of use, too – we’ve selected Outwell’s new Crest Gas Grill (£49.99) and we’re smitten. Importantly, it’s light in weight (2kg) and compact in size (46cm by 33cm by 9cm). It has a 1,900W grill, fuelled by portable butane cartridges (four for eight quid from our local hardware store) and its grilling surface is non-stick for easy cleaning. 

D is for Day shelter

Cheaper and more versatile than a roll-out canopy, this could be considered as an alternative or additional to an awning. It’s free-standing, so can be positioned anywhere around your motorhome or campervan and it’ll mark your pitch when you drive away, as well as giving you shelter from the elements when you’re on site.

Slightly fiddly to erect first time out (the clips are a tight fit) and definitely a job for two people, the Outwell Day Shelter comes in three sizes (M as shown, L and XL) and the smallest is very reasonably priced at £220. It provides a covered area 3.05m square (up to 4.57m square for the XL) and only weighs 14kg.

Add a Fuji Electric Camping/Patio Heater (with 600W and 1.5kW settings) and you can banish those chilly evenings and stay enjoying the outdoors for much longer. Safe and convenient, this 230V heater has halogen elements for odourless warmth and comes with a 1.9m cable. Priced at £119.99.

E is for Espresso 

The rise and rise of Starbucks, Costa Coffee, etc, suggests that you’re likely to be a coffeeholic and that a jar of instant simply won’t do. OK, some of the latest luxury coachbuilts come with built-in pod-based coffee machines but, for the rest of us, the Handpresso is a great solution to the need for good coffee on the go.

It will fit in a cab door pocket, taking up no more space than a bottle of water. Plug it into your cigarette lighter or 12V socket, insert a pod and a good espresso will get you ready for a day’s touring. The Handpresso Auto isn’t cheap (£133) but it’s become an essential part of our camping kit. A pack of 20 Gaggia Intenso pods costs six quid – or just a couple of coffee shop coffees, though, so you’ll soon get your money back.

E is for Extra bedroom

Many motorhomers take grandchildren on an occasional weekend away. Others have a child who is now old enough to want a little privacy and space. The easiest, cheapest answer is a small tent. No need, then, to trade the ’van for something bigger!

At just £49.99, this Easycamp tent is a lot more affordable. Best of all, it only takes about a minute-and-a-half to put up, while it weighs just 1.8kg and folds into a package that’s minuscule to say the least.

G is for Gas, mains lead, etc

The most essential – and surprisingly expensive – addition to your campervan, unless you have a fitted gas tank or refillable cylinders. Larger motorhomes generally use 6kg Calor propane cylinders, small campervans generally rely on the Campingaz 907 2.75kg cylinder, which are comparatively pricey. It’s worth noting, though, that Campingaz is available abroad, unlike Calor refills.

You’ll need a mains lead, too, and it’s worth investing in a bag for this – roll it up after a night on grass and you’ll be pleased to tuck it away in its own space.

Think about getting a spirit level, too, to help you get your ’van pitched so that you don’t roll out of bed and your coffee doesn’t slide off the table. Levelling wedges are also important for getting parked on the flat, but you’ll be surprised how difficult it is to judge the ’van being level if you haven’t got a spirit level.

J is for Join a motorhome club

Joining both the Caravan and Motorhome Club (formerly the Caravan Club) and the Camping and Caravanning Club (which styles itself as the Friendly Club) will give you a huge variety of sites to choose from, as well as access to a variety of membership benefits. And think about joining the owners’ club for your make of ’van, too.

L is for Lights, camera, action...

Our Outwell Morion lantern is the sort of tiny extra light that’s useful for all sorts of occasions (and it’s only £13.49), while a head torch is worth acquiring for changing gas cylinders or emptying the loo after dark.

We also use a mains-powered Outwell Corvus LED strip light attached to the awning in the evening. It rolls up small, comes with variable intensity settings and a 5m power cable.

And continuing the downsizing theme, we’ve junked the bulky SLR camera on our tours and invested in a top-quality compact camera. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ100 isn’t cheap, at over £500, but it has given us superb results, including most of the shots for this feature.

M is for Mattress topper

If you’ve got a ’van with a fixed bed, chances are you won’t need one of these, but beds made from daytime seats often suffer from joins and ridges. Other beds (VW California and many RIB installations, in particular) can be too firm for many tastes.

The solution is a mattress topper and our Duvalay 2.5cm topper makes the world of difference in our campervan. It’s money well spent – around a hundred quid – as sleeping comfort is oh-so-important to a good holiday. Various sizes and two thicknesses are available and Duvalay will even make to measure from a template of the shape of your motorhome’s bed.

N is for Non-slip mat

Is the noise of jars of marmalade and jam sliding around in your cupboards driving you ever-so-slightly mad? The answer is simple – a non-slip mat, cut to size from a roll, to line the bottom of your cupboards. Ours (by Quest Leisure Products) came from the Brownhills motorhome dealership shop, priced at £1.99 for a 30cm by 150cm roll.

O is for Outdoor chairs and tables

Probably the most obvious and essential addition to your campervan kit but surprisingly few motorhomes and campervans come with any form of seating you can use outdoors, although many have free-standing tables that do double duty outside.

We decided, this year, to try a variety of outdoor chairs from the Outwell collection to see what works best for us and offer you an insight into what’s available. Here are our findings:

Seneca Lake (£55, left)

This is described as a folding egg chair and comes with a separate frame and padded polyester cushion. Despite the comfort on offer, the chair folds easily and quickly into a tube-like bag that’s 15cm by 20cm by 103cm. Weight is only 3.8kg, too, so this is a great option if you’ve got the space to store two or more.

Grenada Lake (£89.99, right)

A more formal, more upright alternative to the above, better suited to dining or sitting at a table to play cards, etc, than for relaxing. It’s as easy to fold as the Seneca Lake but takes a lot more room when stored and weighs a substantial 7.4kg. At 60cm by 18cm by 75cm collapsed, this chair is probably only suitable for larger motorhomes with a garage.

Pine Hills Junior (£37.99, left)

If you camp with younger kids this could be just what you’ve been looking for. Children can usually sit in adult outdoor chairs, but then they can’t reach the table, which can result in dinner on the floor! This child’s chair solves all that and comes with a height-adjustable footrest and a tilt-prevention frame, too. It only weighs 3.5kg and folds to 15cm by 13cm by 86cm. 

Venado Summer (£49.99, right)

There seems to be a knack to folding this chair but it has quickly become a favourite. It folds down to a very compact 24cm by 15cm by 64cm, so it’s much easier to store (in our case in the boot of a VW T5) and yet it matches many much bulkier chairs for comfort. Very stable and only weighing 3.7kg, it is highly recommended.

Black Hills (£55, left)

An adult chair from the same range as the Pine Hills Junior above, the Black Hills looks like so many outdoor chairs of the type that fold into a tube bag and come with armrests. The difference here is in the quality and the shaped backrest to give much more support. Weight is only 3.5kg and pack size a usefully compact 27cm by 26cm by 105cm. One of the easiest chairs to fold and unfold.

P is for Porta Potti

If you’ve got a larger motorhome it’ll have a cassette toilet built-in, but smaller campervans usually need a loo in a cupboard for emergencies. We’ve got a Porta Potti 145 which is one of the smallest loos in the Porta Potti range and fits easily in the boot of a VW camper. It weighs just 3.6kg but flush water (15 litres) can add 15kg to this. You’ll find this model online for around £50 to £60.

The key thing, though, is to carefully measure the space where you’ll be storing it and get one that fits easily. Then there’s the chemical you’ll need for it. Spillages are a potential nightmare, so we recommend Elsan Blue Bags (or similar). Ours were £10.99 for 18 sachets.

S is for Sat-nav

We’ve been using a Snooper sat-nav in the UK and on the Continent for some time now and been perfectly happy with it. For a campervan of T5 dimensions you won’t need a sat-nav that takes into account vehicle size, but it is ideal to have one that’s preloaded with campsite details and addresses of aires. The Snooper Ventura S2700 allows you to look up directions for over 24,000 places to stay in 31 countries. You can find it online for £209.

This feature was originally published in the Summer 2018 issue of What Motorhome magazine. Subscribe to What Motorhome today and receive your copy every month.