New to autumn and winter touring

Propane gas, rather than Butane, is important (unless you have one of the alternative gas systems that are available).  The liquid Butane won’t turn to gas at lower temperatures.

If your on EHU sites, electric blanket . Brilliant.

This is when we look to sites near to or in towns and cities or at least, close to a pub. Lovely walking to be had on those good days and with the right clothing. It calls for a slightly different mindset in my opinion as the days are shorter, just make the most of them. We have found touring in our motorhomes has suited these times better in our opinion. And, of course, enjoy.

Do a good check on clothing regularly carried in the 'vans wardrobe .  Multi - layering means you don't need those great thick woollies as in days of yore ! But good waterproofs & footwear are vital for time away from the armchair 

It needs to be very cold though before butane is a problem. Until a few years ago we used Butane & never had a problem. It only froze when it was minus brass monkey weather for weeks a good number of years ago when we tried to use the caravan oven as an over flow oven for the Christmas dinner.

The winters in recent years tend to be warmer than when we started with the club, we caravan all year round and apart from some warmer clothes,as we have found modern caravans are so well insulated,and tend to be warmer than our house with the heating systems now in use,

We use propane all year round now after being caught out on a winter rally some years ago when the butane cylinder would not gas up

Outside water supplies  on sites can at times be a problem if below freezing and always have a 5ltr container of water in the van,We always bring the water pump inside overnight if forecast is for below freezing temps we have never had a problem with the Aqua Roll (or equivilant) freezing to the extent it is not usable

There's nothing nicer, in my opinion that sitting inside the van with the heating on, good book and a glass of something - and watching the snow piling up outside!  We had just such an experience last year at Sandringham when the 'Beast from the East' visited.

Biggest problem I have found is not maintaining a water supply in freezing conditions - it's getting rid of it!  Whilst you can insulate your Aquaroll and pump, waste pipes tend to freeze quite easily which is a bit of a nuisance if you're relying on your shower.  I have thought of pipe lagging on the waste pipes but it's one of those jobs I haven't seemed to get round to.

whilst I'm definitely in the 'use the van all year camp', and there will be much typed about lagging barrels, draining waste into washing up bowls etc, my 'autumn/winter' advice is to take the van to Spain, obviously

weve got some 'Autumn' weather here in Cornwall....horizontal rain, nr hurricane winds...

yes, it can be 'fun' (debatable) touring the uk when you cant see your hand in front of your face or when youre soaked within 50 yds of the van or when its so cold your water barrel needs a fleece and you have to bring water pumps inside the van or otherwise your water system grinds to a halt...

or you could just head for the nearest channel port.

good luck to all winter tourers wherever you decide to go...

 

waste pipes on vans with external pipework will freeze if the waste tap is closed and means those exposed pipes are full of water. lagging is unlikely to prevent freezing in persistent very cold weather.

opening the tap means the pipe should be empty so no water stored, so no freezing, so no lagging required....

as above, ditch wastemaster and drain into a washing up bowl as attempting to defrost a wastemaster will keep ypu amused for a good while.

or visit nearest channel port

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