Extras to buy to make wild camping easier

Let me start with a health warning; I am not the most experienced camper and no doubt others would disagree with some of my suggestions or add items.
If I had just got a new to me MH and I was planning lots of wild camping especially in mainland Europe what extras would I personally invest in?
1, gaslow or similar refillable gas bottles or an lpg tank with an external fill point.
There are many advantages to a refillable lpg system, no lifting bottles, no need to change regulators or change bottles in different countries.
With gas this will do heating, cooking, fridge, hot water.
2. Second leisure battery the same spec and age as the first leisure battery.
3. If you don’t want to drive every or every other day then solar panel(S) will charge the batteries subject to wiring regulator etc. How many panels or how many watts will depend on your electric needs and roof space, climate etc etc but as a winter user I would aim for 150watts or more.
4. Unless all your electrical equipment is 12v then a decent invertor 1500/2000w pure sine wave works for me and wired so that all my sockets can work off the invertor.
5. At least one spare toilet cassette.
The above could cost around 2k so not cheap but all of the above could be taken off or out again if you change your van.
So if you did 100 nights wilding instead of 100 nights at €20 in a site you are near cost neutral. Plus you have greater flexibility and freedom.
What else.
6. SOG system no need for toilet chemicals.
7. Additional security systems.
8. All the Aires books, or similar
9. An “app” showing Aires, service points and parking spots.
10. An Aldi folding bucket.
11. Watering can with a long or flexible spout.
If any one wants to add to this list or suggest alternatives feel free.

We usually wild camp and we can go 2 to 3 days without moving the van. So far, haven't had the need for a 2nd leisure battery or other means of charging. Driving for an hour or two should be enough to top the battery back up.

We do use powerbanks to charge our tablet/phones, they're not that expensive now these days and they do take some responsibility out of the leisure bat.

A 2nd cassette would be nice, just don't have a garage to store it. We do use the green chemical anyways so we could potentially use a public restroom if absolutely necessary but it's our very last resort.

Don't you forget about a portable BBQ, when wild camping it's a must

From previous posts on this site, I am trying out the non chemical toilet treatment alternative such as Napisan or Bio-tabs. Ok so still chemicals but not toxic. So maybe even a SOG is not necessary.

A second cassette would be nice but also following advice on this site, I went out and bought a cheap Aldi water canister for camping etc. You can empty your cassette into this for a couple of days storage. So a second cassette isn’t really necessary.

I have the mifi and scooter too. And 3 cassettes in total, third cassette is probably overkill but we got stuck on a beach after very heavy rain a couple of years back hence the 3rd cassette and why I’m very careful choosing access roads.
I personally rate the sog system very highly.

I’d have to agree with you on both counts. The sog system is great, and a second cassette is almost a necessity too. Same as, don’t know if I’d like to be faffing about with black waste from one container to another. Cassettes aren’t that expensive when you consider the price of the van

Will look at that suggestion Jamie, never saw that before and with a new freshen kit it leaves us with a spare cassette and new lid etc.

We’ve used bio liquid for a while and find it works well and more environmentally friendly for disposal and has the added bonus of not having the acid smell of the blue liquid... we find it does a better job than the “proper” stuff too. Cassette is much cleaner and no pong to speak of.

I would add to my van a bigger waste water tank.( the water tank is bigger then the waste ) and a spare cassette.
The Cadac also.
I considered a new passenger but the disposal of the old one is too expensive.

Good luck to all you really wild campers, but in the meantime I'll stick to 1 MH, 1 battery, 1 solar panel, 1 water tank, 1 waste tank and cassette. Enough to deal with at the minute!

We don't have solar panels but they're definitely something we must look into (we've a 6 berth with 2 fixed beds and have been looking for a 6 berth with bunks for the last 12 months but no joy. Might look into getting a single bed conversion in the garage) so have been reluctant to invest in solar panels until we decide what way we'll go as very happy with our van aside from the bed issue (3 kids- 2 girls and one boy!).

When we park off grid we tend to eat out but when we're away in Ireland for extended periods, we've tended to cook. I love my slow cooker at home and in the camper so invested in a wonder bag and find it brilliant. Head out for the day exploring on foot or bikes (or even driving the Motorhome) and dinner is ready after a few hours. Got great use out of it in France and Germany this year.

Also find the solar power banks great for charging phones, tablets and the kids DS's.

Hubby invested in one of those large black canisters from Aldi referred to above for emergencies if the toilet cassette gets full, but fortunately we haven't had to use it yet (he looks after that side of things thankfully!).

Waterways Ireland card is also handy to have in the van. Haven't had to use this either but useful to have.

One of the things that bugs me is a couple hours after parking the mh on grass, the levelers sink. To combat this I have a few 1 metre lenghts of 9"×1" timbers in the garage to throw under the levelers.
We were at the electric picnic last weekend and the family camper section was very soft. One or two wagons needed a tow while parking up last Thursday night. The mh were parked in order of arrival regardless of their size or weight.
It didn't bother us to throw our 9"×1" under our wheels and have a smooth exit on Monday morning.
There are still quite a few campsites that needed a timber under the leveler, for the waste water to run smoothly.
Malcolm

Has the Aldi water container bit enough of a opening to empty the cassette into it ? ,my last motorhome had a spare cassette never had to use it ,I only once had a problem with this motorhome and a country filling station allowed me empty it after I had bought fuel.

Hi,I was hoping for some advice on this topic regarding gas I'm hoping to spend about six months in France/Spain next year and was wondering what my best options were.im currently using butane.should I just convert to propane? ,and buy a couple of regulators ?,or look for refillable s or an outside filling point ?,all suggestions gratefully accepted

Thanks very much for prompt reply,any idea of ball park cost?

French cylinders have a different connection to Irish cylinders.
Some of the hyper supermarkets sell their own branded cylinder gas, along with wall mounted regulators, and pigtail pipes. A small investment for a 6 month spell away.
The supermarket diesel is often cheaper by 10 to 15 %.
A onboard lpg refillable system, I would be guessing about €500 for a basic system.
Alternatively advertise around for a European cylinders and regulator etc. There are a good few campers imported each year, so someone must have an euro gas system, lying around.
Malcolm

David, Spain also has the same clip on regulator as Republic of Ireland.
I refill my own bottles but have bought a Spanish lightweight bottle (€5 in flea market) and refills available everywhere for about €16.

Yes, going good David...... enjoying the weather.
It’s a Cespa Butane one David, very light bottles too.
I checked the regulator and it’s the same pressure too.
I’ve got the pigtails on a snap release fitting and it’s easy to change over.

Be VERY careful about the Irish/Spanish clip-on system, also known as the Jumbo.

There are two versions which look similar from the outside.
One is a REGULATOR and the other is an ADAPTOR

The ADAPTOR can only be used if there is a BULKHEAD MOUNTED REGULATOR fitted

Using a clip-on adaptor or a direct pigtail connection without a bulkhead regulator will result in pure liquid gas arriving at the appliance, NOT GOOD (understatement).

The W20 PIGTAIL can be fitted directly to the screw on connection, as in Irish and French Propane, and the Spanish/Irish clip-on adaptor

Finally, appliances (fridge, heating and cookers) in motorhomes are set to run on Propane. HERE'S WHY

AFAIK all motorhome do come with a bulkhead mounted regulator, BUT I've seen a few with bottle top regulators, perhaps previous owners have changed the system for reasons known only to themselves.

As an aside, the clip-on adaptor has the same thread like that on a screw-on bottle, so if you get an Irish or French type propane bottle it's just a matter of removing the clip-on adaptor from the pigtail and connecting the pigtail directly to the bottle. Conversely, if you're in Spain and get a Spanish bottle of propane (about €12.75) a clip-on adaptor can be connected to the pigtail.

Hi,thanks for all the replies,however I'm a luddite,I have a MC Louis 2005 and it has butane bottles,so should I change to propane firstly and buy adaptors for Spain/France?

Hi, I'll stick up pic tomorrow, but basically it's a 11kg bottle in outside gas locker