Geist Aktiv AK 495 caravan

Geist makes a virtue of the year-round usability of its robust Aktiv range. We put these claims to a sub-zero temperature test in the Geist Aktiv 495

The interior of any caravan would be a welcome sanctuary from the icy blast outside, and maybe the extreme weather coloured my judgement, but for a budget caravan, the Aktiv does feel extremely cosy.

Whilst planning this test, it struck me that I’d need to take the Geist somewhere really frigid in order to meaningfully evaluate its cold weather credentials. How about a short mid-winter break in a ski resort – Courcheval maybe or possibly the Cairngorms – best snow for years?

In the event, there really was no need to venture as far afield as the Alps or even the Highlands – Warwickshire was just fine during the coldest blast of Siberian air to hit the English Midlands for two decades in 2009.

But it almost didn’t happen. Watching the mainstream media, it was clear that the country was bravely enduring a ‘snow event’ of such magnitude that would have worried even the most stoic of Scandinavians. The mere thought of venturing out onto the roads was, according to the experts, the height of folly.

So would the Geist manage to weather such a spectacular storm? The forecast suggested a narrow window of improvement before a second front of snow and ice swept northwards, so I headed for Elite Caravans, just outside Northampton to pick up the Aktiv. After hitching it up to the willing little Kia Cee’d Sport, I headed straight for the M1, then across on the A45 towards Leamington Spa before turning off onto the Fosse Way as the weather started to close in again.

My chosen site was literally less than a mile off this ancient Roman route linking Lincoln and Exeter and as the flurries turned into a blizzard and visibility deteriorated, I was glad to get off the road and onto the safety of a pitch at Harbury Fields Farm – a small site which has just affiliated itself to the Caravan Club’s network.

The front-wheel-drive Kia was beginning to struggle to find traction as the snow settled but I made it up the gentle incline to the farm’s pitches. It was then a case of getting hooked up and retreating inside while the blizzard abated. It was so foul by now that I didn’t even bother winding the steadies down. Getting the heating fired up and the kettle on seemed more pressing priorities.

Geist caravans have always had a reputation for solidity. You may think they lack the design flair of some of the better known German brands, but there’s no denying the durability of these no-nonsense Teutonic tourers.

Until recently, the downside of this hewn-from-sold-rock build quality were the sort of all-up weights which required a small tank to tow them. However, the latest generation of Geists have been on a crash diet and they now compare favourably with light to middleweight British tourers, while still managing to retain that reassuring reputation for solidity.

The Aktiv is no exception when it comes to exhibiting these qualities. Those muscular-looking ABS buttresses frame a solid front panel, which, like the sidewalls, are fabricated from 100-micron thick aluminium. Then there’s the over-length A-frame, which improves the Aktiv’s towing manners and the heavy-duty steadies complete with huge rubber feet.

The double glazing has a huge gap between inner and outer panes and the whole bodyshell is packed with 24-tog Swedish insulation. The more upmarket Xklusiv range with which the Aktiv shares much of its DNA even has under-floor heating. So while this is a family-oriented budget tourer, there’s no skimping on the fundamentals of construction which underpin the Aktiv.

The honey-coloured woodwork strikes a pleasant compromise between the IKEA cool of many contemporary continental caravans and the country cottage quaintness of the more traditional British tourer. It’s well matched to the beige upholstery with brown and grey abstract patterns and the shiny cream curtains blend in well.

The Aktiv has two distinct living areas: a decent sized front lounge with wraparound seating and a small side dinette across from the fixed bunks at the back. The front lounge will seat five comfortably and the rear dinette will easily seat three children, so both adults and youngsters have their own distinct spaces.

This layout really comes into its own in the evenings, when once the kids are safely installed in bed, they can be cordoned off by a concertina partition while mum and dad kick back in the spacious front lounge.

The kitchen and washroom, with wardrobe immediately adjacent, do create a pinch point in the middle of the caravan – especially if someone is cooking – but otherwise, it’s a space-efficient layout.

It’s only when you start looking for the goodies that you’re reminded that the Aktiv is a bit of a no-frills tourer. So there’s no crowd-pleasing toys like an LCD TV, radio or CD player and no microwave, although the kitchen is otherwise well appointed with its Spinflo three-burner hob, an oven/grill, a big stainless steel sink and drainer and an 80-litre Dometic fridge.
No frills it may be, but when it comes to the essentials, the Geist’s got the lot – including practical drop-in carpets and cassette flyscreens and blinds. There’s also a rather novel two-piece door whose lower section should just about be tall enough to prevent a toddler escaping.

Lighting is another area where Geist has saved a bit of money. There’s a big ceiling light over the front lounge and a couple of directional spotlights while the rear dinette has two spots and a light at the foot of each bunk. The kitchen has a rather anaemic streetlight underneath the overhead lockers and the washroom has three spots. It’s all perfectly adequate – but another reminder that this is a budget caravan.

The Aktiv does regain some brownie points for having four 230v sockets – including one in the rear dinette for the inevitable kids’ electronic entertainment gizmos.

Storage is excellent, with no fewer than 16 overhead lockers, with handy sub-shelves underneath, a large wardrobe, several additional underseat voids and a big space under the fixed bunk. It is, however, worth pointing out that the Aktiv has only a modest payload of 215kg, which is pretty meagre for a five-berth.

While the interior decor suggests the Aktiv sits in a more expensive price bracket, the washroom is a pretty utilitarian all-plastic affair. It serves a purpose, but you wouldn’t want to rely on it to hose down three kids on a no-facilities site.
Outside, the snowstorm has abated, but about three inches has accumulated in just a couple of hours. Reluctantly, I leave the cosy confines of the caravan, wind down the huge heavy duty steadies, before diving back inside and bolting the door. The Truma is kicking out plenty of heat through the blown air vents but once the interior is up to a comfortable temperature, those generously insulated walls seem to hold in the heat extremely effectively.

The real test will come overnight however, when the temperatures are forecast to plummet well below zero and I’m going to switch the heater over to electric power only.

I select the lower rear bunk to bed down in and as I turn in for the night, I’m almost expecting to wake up with an icicle suspended from my nose, but no, the temperature remains comfortable through the wee small hours inside, while outside the big freeze takes hold.

The sun rises tentatively above the ridge upon which the village of Harbury is perched, turning the snow-covered fields pink in the first light. I venture outside and the temperature on the car’s gauge indicates minus five degrees centigrade. Brrr!
Whipped up by a biting wind, snow is frozen onto the Geist’s windows, but the interior has withstood the worst a British winter could throw at it and remained totally toasty.

Refreshed by a bracing walk, I return to the cosy caravan and reflect on the subtle pleasures of low season touring. The compensations for braving winter’s icy embrace include quieter roads and sites, discounted pitch fees and no queues for the showers; but best of all it’s the sense of quiet contentment which descends when you settle down in a warm and cosy caravan after a brisk walk in the cold, winter air.

The Aktiv is a solid, no-nonsense family tourer which dispenses with some of the eye-catching accessories sometimes employed to attract the attention of first-timer buyers.

In short, it has everything you need, but leaves decisions about TVs, radios, CD players and all the other accoutrements of modern caravanning to the individual.

The furniture – particularly those fixed bunks – is chunky and robust while the lockers are seriously solid with hinges that feel like they’ll last a lifetime.

The general build quality is a cut above the standards you’d expect in this sector of the market – things don’t rattle and flex when you move around in it which is reassuring when you’ve got a couple of kids bouncing off the walls.
But despite this solidity, the Aktiv has a maximum weight of 1390kg, meaning it’s easily towable with a VW Golf or Ford Focus class towcar.

The Geist Aktiv 495 is a solid, no-nonsense family tourer which dispenses with some of the eye-catching accessories sometimes employed to attract the attention of first-timer buyers. It has everything you need, but leaves decisions about TVs, CD players and all the other accoutrements of modern caravanning to the individual. The general build quality is a cut above the standards you’d expect in this sector of the market. But despite this solidity, the Aktiv has a maximum weight of 1390kg.