Let's start the conversation! Comment below your own tips of what to look for when buying a caravan that we may have missed. Cheers for watching you bloody legends!

Lithium battery/s are a game changer. Aside from weight saving, additional omph, the primary benefit is recharing. Lithium accepts far more charge than AGM or GEL, so less sunlight time required on you solar to be fully regenerated. Brilliant upgrade. Itech is currently running massive black friday sales, perfect time to act. Lets address you gas fridge. You need to add a circulation fan. No I'm not taking about an external one that assists with heat dissipation (though its handy to have that also) I'm talking about an internal fan, mount it directly above your cooling element, preferably on the ammonia feed in side (identified by icing up point if element). You'll be gobsmacked how efficient that makes your fridge, items on the door shelves will be cold, element no longer ices up, you'll be dialling temp down, believe me, its that effective. 12v 65x65 fan from Jaycar, mount over element. Micro switch, mount internally, activated when opening /closing door to cut fan whilst door open, activate when closed. I also mounted an overide switch to deactivate power whilst in storage. Agree on fresh drinking water tank, I installed 65L, pumped to secondary tap over sink. I just filter water in, dont filter to sink, others may wish to filter between tank and sink tap. 80L grey water tank installed, we drain at dump point when doing toilet cassette. Totally intreaged by people whom have them & dont utilise the feature. Then say to me, why bother as I'm draining it. (Excellent side benefit is, we have previous nights waste water to douse our camp fire, however we usually utilise it to douse unattended camp fires left burning by idiots). Couldn't agree more on combo toilet/shower. Only drawback is, you need to dry floor prior to reusing toilet. We negate that issue with a rubber floor mat, remove, shower, replace. No wet floor. I have since discovered utilising a battery powered blower removes 90% of residual water also. Then place rubber mat down. In regards to water tanks, travel with then full. You'll require water between van parks. I know a lot say empty to save weight, fuel. I'm yet to see any fuel benefit. I'd guarantee if you drained your tanks, and I sneakily refilled them, you as a driver would not detect any difference in towing or fuel use. I leave home with 180L's of shower wash water, 65L's fresh rainwater for drinking. Washing M/C. I so want one, but you need to add more water to supply wash cycle or be hooked to mains, so might as well be utilising caravan park facilities whilst hooked to mains. Yes the additional weight of extra water is stopping me from putting a washing M/C in. My best tip, sulage and water hoses are a pain to deal with if stored rolled up. Go to a plumbing outlet, get yourself some drainage pipe (approx 40mm internal) fix lengths under your van by or thru chassis rails, cap off rear end, access via front end via cap. When you arrive at destination (caravan park) your hoses pull out flat, lay directly flat on ground. Multiply lengths are joined by clip together fitting for water hose, slide together fittings for sulage hose. Youll be the envy if the van park as you slide your hoses away at the conclusion of your stay, no friggin around rolling and storing.

My advice would be this....if you're in the market for a van, go for lightest one you can find. ALOT of people say yeah, yeah yeah, and end up going with their heart anyway. Weight is such a major issue and there's just not much wiggle room for most people, especially the 1000's of dual cabs towing around the country. You'll getting savings in fuel, increased range and more likely to navigate tougher tracks. A 3000kg ATM + 3000kg GVM = 6000 GCM (which is the weight of alot of dual cabs), but the ball weight of roughly 300kgs means your dual cab is now overweight if you don't have a GVM upgrade. My brother in law has a trucking company in country SA and he reckons of all the travellers that have used his weighbridge, NOT one was legal.

Just popped up in my feed and stoked, subscribed 👍 Good to see someone not trying to sell B.S and just giving your advice to try help people out, Great video mate look forward to watching more of you guys 👌

I got great advice to buy a weigh scale, essential to not going over weight.

So realistic I'm sick of ppl saying just run with empty tanks especially weighing companies it's not a viable solution. Under that condition of travel at some point you will have to tow illegally.

This video was actually super informative and really enjoyable to watch! As people who occasionally consider chucking a caravan on the back of our troopy, it’s given us things to consider and think about we wouldn’t have otherwise so thank you so much! ☺️

Nailed it mate. Very reassuring tips there. Batteries, fridges and ground clearance are my big thoughts and that certainly helped. We're an N.Z family heading over next year to start our lap. I Just took the biggest jump of my life and quit my job of 26 years to persue our dream. Looking forward to following your adventures. Cheers!

Valuable tips. Been vanning for years and you have hit the spot with your 10 tips.

Best , honest vid I’ve seen. Thank you. Too many spend so much on the biggest and “best”, then struggle to afford fuel etc to get out there.

What a great simple video. Honestly no10 is so so true. So many people got to have this, & that but in the end they don’t need it.

Same van as you but have upgraded it to have 400 of lithium, Victron controllers and compressor fridge(hate 3 way fridges). Also reduced gas bottles to 2 x 4kg, added an inverter and extra Anderson plug to run solar blanket/portable panel. Having the inverter and better battery capacity and ability to charge while driving is great. Also a water bladder we have found great for carrying extra water, light weight and doesn’t take up room spare jerry cans would. Maybe get a quality water filter rather than buy water all the time.

Best video ever! So real, love it!

Awesome video mate. Great realistic input to an industry with so very many options

We are on our 5th van and I can relate to all that you said. Thank you.

Your top 10 is pretty spot on.. great job

Great video. Very true you don’t need everything, I have been sucked in with buy this cause it’s a game changer, you know what it wasn’t and we have been around travelling for four years now. Have a friend who went back to roller rocker suspension because of reliability and it’s a huge weight saver. Manufacturers are really negligent when it comes to weights and if you can have full tanks or not. IMO.

Thanks for the great tips on the Caravan life buddy. My partner and I also have found the same 2 critical things popping up fresh (water) when needed & (battery life) at 4.5 months off grid from Perth to Broome and envy were... in-between in-between.

First up, congrats! Good video. Simple and to the point. My wife & I are currently getting everything (financially) sorted so as to head off. We have, through the process of elimination chosen (though not yet purchased) which van we want. Far different to the hybrid we first thought about. My adds to your list are Trailer ESC and the anderson plug for a solar blanket so you can park the van in some shade. Our van choice is with a separate shower toilet. Just ask your wife if she trusts that at 2:00 in the morning, she's positive you will have dried the toilet off properly? The other thing we set as a rule was tow vehicle to have 3500kg, van to top out at 3000 kg with a 6-700 payload. I come from a Navy / sailing background, so know how to pack minimalistically. I have a preference for "independent suspension," but not looking at off road. My research on Torqueflex makes it viable.

Great tips weigh bridges everywhere

Great advice. Thank you from Michelle in qld

Great vid mate as you said water and battery is the two biggest things

Battery and solar can be easily upgraded. The split shower/toilet is pretty essential. Or your toilet is always wet, muddy and you can use it in tandem. Other than that I would agree.

Check the flue in the top of the fridge was built properly ours wasn't fridge fluctuated constantly till I had a look. Adding thermo fans can help with air flow and both fixes saved gas

Great video guys it felt like I was there.😂

great video

Well done with your feedback which I hope will enlighten those with less experience. In addition to your comments regarding power systems I would also suggest that people need to take carfeful consideration when selecting the brands associated with the system., batteries, charges, controllers. As an example and my personal experience Projecta is below par, I realise that others may not have had issues but I have had multiple chargers and monitoring devices fail from Projecta which led me back to the premium brands ( Redarc > Projecta > Victron). Making a warranty claim whilst on the road in the middle of nowhere equates to being without power and buying replacement parts whilst the warranty claim is being handled - absolutely not worth the initiatl $ savings. Thanks for your time. Cheers

Thank you! Your points are so right. We have an old 87 coromal pop top that gets dragged to allsorts of places and it's done the job ! With regards to weights we weighed it loaded and unloaded & found we overloaded substantially! Looking at upgrading now to a newer second hand van and valid non sales person advice really helps! Ps your van number plate is obscured 😂

we pump water from river using an Ozito pressure pump which only turns on when tap is turned on. This ripper pump has pumped over 40 mt. we use boxed water for drinking. We can stay free camping for weeks at a time. we do have a video we also have a smaller pump to take fresh water from jerry can into van. much better than a juggler or trying to hold it while you tip it in.

Good tips combo on-suite, grey tank, keeping some water in your tanks & having a filter, lithium batteries, semi off road is ok & lighter than full off-road I ended up with a junko 14ft all-terrain the one I was after was the crosstrak semi off-road but by the time I added the extras that the all-terrain had as standard they both ended up the same price, I Can’t believe you said the washing machine is great if you’re off-grid where there’s no power 🤔they use a huge amount of water min 30L 🤔 & if U take enough clothes U only need to do a washing every 2 weeks where U can find a caravan park or a laundry, you never want to cook inside because it’s stinks the van out 😎

You're a bit unit like me and I find the combined bathroom workable. Shower is a little tight but given we can travel in a 17.5ft dual axle van its a compromise I'm happy to live with.

Put a fan in the fridge to help with air circulation… will help the fridge work better… especially in places in the north

Interesting video. I agree with some points, disagree with others. Everyone's requirements and desires are different. What suits me may not suit others.

I have owned carsvans etc for years and sailed. Small is beautiful or to put it in caravan terms strong and simple. Weight is bad. Our Basestation is a 21 foot model with heavy duty leaf spring suspension and a tare of 2300 kg The chassis and internal wall make the structure very strong. With this Tare we have huge reserves to carry essentials like water food tools and essential parts. When going remote we dont use the shower. Just heat kettle of water and sponge bath. We can last weeks on standard 200 litres. Your dead right regarding water. Australia inland is often dry or bore and water can be bad. All water is filtered before it goes into tanks. And checked. After a disasterous experience in SA we are very careful. Personally I love 3 way fridge. The gas works perfectly and consumption is very low and electric power demands are low. You cannot run aircon off grid without a generator or a solar farm. So we avoid high temp areas and off grid. Tassie is always an option! Lithium can be good but you need high quality installation and controller. Personally I prefer simple lead acid which will run Led lights and phone etc for ever from roof panel. We use gas for cooking which also will last months. I am not a fan of independent suspension. It adds weight complexity and serious alignment issues are common. Heavy leaf combined with 10 ply tyres and careful use of tyre pressures and speed will take you allot of places. We have been to some very remote places. But there is a diifficult trade off. Really popular routes like the Gibb can have truely terrible corrugations. So do you take the van on that bit is my question.

Very good vid. Thanks heaps. See you in the scrub one day perhaps.

Hey Bau Maddie and Luna, we’ve been watching you guys and supporting you for a while now and love your content, humor , and inspiration that you both put across your channel, can’t wait to see Tasmania,although all of the other blogs have been so great to watch as well , we’ve just bought a new van and 4wd because you guys have inspired us keep up the great work and we look forward to up and coming adventures we’re excited lol be safe and enjoy your selves cheers kel & lou Brisbane

Water is King my van has a 200 lt general tank and a125 lt drinking water tank plus 2 20lt jerry cans, also have a payload of 900kg

I was surprised about the grey water issue as Ive always believed that in Australia there arent any grey water rules only black water ones. Have I missed something? Cheers Cheryl

Gas is the the cheapest and most efficient way to run the fridge.

This is excellent. You see so many people going cheap on the electrics, and finding out later. As for 3-way fridges, they have been foisting that garbage on us for over fifty years now looking at you " Aussie caravan builders" Why don't they put a compressor fridge in? Because their cheap agm battery setup would be dead within hours. So not only do you have to pay for an expensive electrical upgrade if you buy your basic Jayco/Coromal/ Franklin/ Lotus--have I missed any? and you also have to chuck the fridge. And they bleat because the Chinese built/ Australian fitted out brands are eating their lunch. Great down to earth video on the basics 👌

Portable washing machine, sog vent on toilet , lithium and solar and inverter, 12v fridge better ' but 240v inverter frost free fridge best way.. What's the go with spare tyre block8ng tail lights and number plate ???

Where did ur bin bag on car from ?

How long does your fridge last on gas.

I am always shocked by the electrical systems in caravans they are always so minimal forcing people to go to powered sites

I’ve heard horror stories about people opening their caravans and red dirt being everywhere and having to clean everything from top to bottom. How is this preventable?

You could change to solar and lithium now. No reason not to unless it’s not in the budget.

If I was looking for a new caravan, I wouldn’t buy one that has been around Australia. We’ve just done 2 1/2 years around Australia and our caravan. Doesn’t look good

What size is your van

Good vid, well done. So easy to swap out your agm batteries for some lithium, you'll gain at least double the power and refuce the weight substantially, we just did it, best investment.

Trust me your wife will not be happy going from a full ensuite to a combo as after showers she will have to fully dry it as if not when she needs to go to the toilet her clothes will get wet. I had 1 and last 2 vans have had full ensuites for that reason.

Buy a genny

I much prefer ensuite, don't agree with a lot of this.

People have different needs according to their circumstances. We don't live in ours full-time - even though we probably spend five months of the year in it - and we wanted something really light to tow. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/q91oedh-1L2WaIk.htmlsi=UjeRo0x3D3pwlWoH