Kit advice please for returning member

netcam replied on 16/02/2022 18:57

Posted on 16/02/2022 18:57

Hi everyone,

I'm back after 10 years and trying to remember everything we need to organise for our new Trigano SIlver 290 that will be with us in the not too distant future.

We have sorted some things out so far:

For comfort/convenience:

Camping chairs and table, low wattage toaster, kettle, compact pan set, awning (kind of, a Cinch pop up tent), oil filled radiator for night, bucket, LED lamp, hitch lock (dealer is sorting this out), water container to fill up fixed water tank when far from a tap

For practicalities:

Noseweight gauge, pegs for groundsheet and awning, rubber mallet, peg puller, hitch cover, various Milenco bits for levelling and and corner steadies, hook up lead, spirit level

Also think we are going to need, based on what I remember from past experience:

- Hose to fill up fixed water tank when near to a tap

- Towing mirrors

- Breathable groundsheet

- Toilet chemicals

- mini clothes airer

- mattress topper and bedding

- breakaway cable

- gas spanner

- corner steady winder

- fire extingusher/blanket

- carbon monoxide/fire alarm

- cutlery/crockery/cups that are unbreakable

- slip on shoes like Crocs

- first aid kit

- emergency fuses/bulbs

- safe box

I also remember we had a torque wrench and a scissor jack last time when we had our Eriba. Do we need those? Is there anything else we might need in a toolkit?

And what do you think is the best thing to do about a TV in a micro caravan like this? We will not have lots of space and are happy to download some series and films from Netflix/Prime before we go. We don't really ever watch live TV at home anyway. Could we make do with something like a 10" Fire tablet with downloaded series and films from Netlifx and Prime? Or would we be better off getting some kind of compact TV? Things have changed a lot in 10 years.

Any advice would be welcome.

Thanks,

Annette

 

 

eribaMotters replied on 16/02/2022 19:32

Posted on 16/02/2022 19:32

Welcome back and my compliments on the list, looks like you have covered most points.

What I would advise is get the best chairs you can buy, do not compromise.

An Isabella Shadow sunshade weighs a few kg, is up in minutes and copes with light rain as well as giving good shade.

Forget the hose, we use a watering can with a 300mm length of corrugated hose on the end to fill our Eriba onboard tank.

I'm not techie so we run an Avtex TV with the matching Avtex window sucker bent hanger type aerial. It is excellent.

For toilet chemicals just go Elsan Green as only one bottle to carry. Use a dash only in the flush tank though.

Check your insurance as you may need hitch lock & wheel clamp

We have no oven so use a Remoska, available at sensible price second hand on Gumtree.

Proper glasses to drink out of, not posh wine ones though.

Colin

netcam replied on 16/02/2022 22:34

Posted on 16/02/2022 19:32 by eribaMotters

Welcome back and my compliments on the list, looks like you have covered most points.

What I would advise is get the best chairs you can buy, do not compromise.

An Isabella Shadow sunshade weighs a few kg, is up in minutes and copes with light rain as well as giving good shade.

Forget the hose, we use a watering can with a 300mm length of corrugated hose on the end to fill our Eriba onboard tank.

I'm not techie so we run an Avtex TV with the matching Avtex window sucker bent hanger type aerial. It is excellent.

For toilet chemicals just go Elsan Green as only one bottle to carry. Use a dash only in the flush tank though.

Check your insurance as you may need hitch lock & wheel clamp

We have no oven so use a Remoska, available at sensible price second hand on Gumtree.

Proper glasses to drink out of, not posh wine ones though.

Colin

Posted on 16/02/2022 22:34

Thanks Colin,

I was already thinking about an Isabella shadow, interesting that you mentioned it. I will have another think about it, it does look like a good option.

What kind of wheel clamp do you use in the Eriba? Not got the insurance yet as the dealer is going to deliver it once we have had the new garage door fitted so we can get it in.

You know we would have gone for a Familia 320 if our garage had been 5cm higher and 20cm longer. Such is life! I am sure the Trigano will be fun too though!

Remoska looks good, was thinking about one of those too.

We have gone for a couple of these chairs which look like our kind of thing:

https://www.winfieldsoutdoors.co.uk/zempire-moonpod-chair/

With the Avtex TV, can you watch Netflix / Prime / iplayer on it? And does that work with the aerial or do you need to stream it through wi-fi? And can you record things and watch them later? We are not really into live TV. In fact I would not even know how to work it at home. We just have a Fire stick that connects to the wi-fi and streams things. So how would this all work with the Avtex? Would it connect to our Netflix / Prime account with the aerial?

Thanks for the top about the glasses. I am sure proper wine ones would not last 5 minutes with us! Looking forward to a glass of wine outside on our new chairs though!

Annette

richardandros replied on 17/02/2022 07:52

Posted on 17/02/2022 07:52

With the Avtex TV, can you watch Netflix / Prime / iplayer on it? And does that work with the aerial or do you need to stream it through wi-fi? And can you record things and watch them later? We are not really into live TV. In fact I would not even know how to work it at home. We just have a Fire stick that connects to the wi-fi and streams things. So how would this all work with the Avtex? Would it connect to our Netflix / Prime account with the aerial?

The new Avtex TVs are 'smart' - i.e., they will connect to the internet via wifi to a suitable device which is what you need to do to watch any on demand service - including Prime and Avtex.  The older ones aren't - ours is a Series 7 and we use a Firestick (which you already have) to turn it into a smart TV.  The caravan aerial has nothing to do with such reception so you'll need some means of picking up a 4g signal - either use your phone as a 'hotspot' or do what we do and have a mobile Wifi device.  I pay £18 pm for the EE device which gives me 30Gb of data per month which is usually enough for a week away.  I can also transfer unused data allowance from my phone if required.  Data usage streaming TV is about 1Gb per hour.

Although Avtex TVs are excellent - they are expensive and there are cheaper alternatives - either 'smart' already - or you could use your existing Firestick if one isn't. The first time you set it up, you enter your account login and password as you would at home for each of your accounts (Prime, Netflix etc) and off you go.

Don't think you can use this Club's wifi (or any other on-site wifi) for streaming TV - it's invariably not fast enough and even if it is, there isn't enough bandwidth for everyone to be able to do that so you'll get buffering or even no picture at all. Hope this helps.

eurortraveller replied on 17/02/2022 09:03

Posted on 17/02/2022 09:03

Some list, Annette. At least a dozen things there that we never had for our 50 years touring. 

eribaMotters replied on 17/02/2022 11:26

Posted on 17/02/2022 11:26

I use a Nemesis Ultra wheel lock.I swapped to this after using a Bulldog Euro for many years. It fitted well but the Nemesis is a quicker and easier to fit whilst being a lot lighter. Mine was another Gumtree bargain at £50.

Colin

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