Could A Micro Camper Be The Right Choice For You?

foreign [Music] review on microcampering and what I've learned from owning one from the last five months [Music] so the first thing you have to remember with a micro camper is you're engaging with a trade-off you're not going to have a full height motorhome experience but on the flip side of the coin it's far more economical to drive to run and you can still take it to the supermarket you can go and you can do your day-to-day activities in a way that you just wouldn't if you had a full length coach built motorhome so this is the car version you can get the mini van versions as well but I think that micro campering is best when you've got the little cars the sliding doors I think are an absolute must we'll come to why in a moment but first you've got three lovely seats in the back two in the front it is a car which means you can use this for the day-to-day activities with the family you can take them swimming you can go and do your shopping you can do whatever it is that you're planning on doing you've got a car you haven't got a sacrifice the ability to take your family around for the sake of having an actual van that's only going to have two or three seats so you've done your running around all week and now it's time for the weekend and you're going to take your little micro camper away so let's say you've arrived at the site just like this and all your luggage everything that you brought with you for the weekend is up in that top box it's always best to start with the boot even a little thing like having this top lifting tailgate can be game changing because when you've arrived and you're starting to set up and it's raining you've got somewhere to stand might seem a little tiny thing but actually this is really useful so assuming for a moment that you've got your hat and your coat and you're going to put these to one side we're going to remove these cushions the profile sits together like this you see so we're going to remove these cushions put the seats down and then we can build the actual camper itself we start with the cushions if it's a lovely dry day you can just pop these down on the floor for now but if it's wet we're going to assume that it is it's a good idea to put these on the front seat you've just driven so the front seat is going to be clear let's put these on the front seat first [Music] so now we can see the folding profile I'll show you more about how this works in a moment but first of all this little drawer here this is your kitchen and the thing I love about this pop that across hold it in place the thing I love about this is if you've come out just for the day and so you're not going to set the whole camper down you're not going to put the seats down you've said come out filming or doing a project whatever you're doing you've got the seats up profile was as it was with all the cushions in there you can still get to your little kitchen there and you can make foreign cup of coffee so before we can fold that profile over and turn it into the van we need to put the seats down and as we do you will see the electrics and they are quite clever in themselves so the seats literally drop down I'm going to go and do the other one momentarily but this is half of the Electric System well you can see that and that solar panel over there that feeds down into there that's got a battery and a converter for the solar and there's plugs down there that will show you momentarily which you can run 240 volt things off when you're on site if you're using that or 12 volt bits and pieces from the battery direct if you're just out and about these lights I see lights very very well engineered they've been bypassed and so they now run off that separate Electric System so if you are wherever you are and you Nokia lights or you put them on because you just want to be able to see because it's dark you're not going to flatten your battery you can leave that light on all night you'll flatten this one but you won't flatten the main battery you can still start the vehicle in the morning so you've then got this and in there you've got your little trip switches so that's off at the moment because it's not plugged in or powered on but the little red light we saw remember to go means that solar panel is charging so it's time to build the profile we're going to flip this over in one moment it's not that it's heavy it can be a little tiny bit awkward and there's some rather intricate piano hinged pieces here which I'll show you in a moment but first I just want to show you this stand which gives support it's not this little little doorway here that when turned to 90 degrees gives you extra security and support there so I'm going to pull this over but I am going to be very careful because on this particular vehicle you don't get it on all the campers but on this one you've got these wonderful overhead storage lockers it unfortunately does mean as you're pulling back you can whack your head so you do need to be careful let's pull this over foreign Parts like these hinges you do need to be careful not to catch your fingers these pieces here form the sofa and or the bed you can do it in two halves or you can do it all at once and this is the table top here which I'll put up in a moment but first the double bed configuration you can have this as a single or a double and I've played with both ways of doing it um I think in all honesty for me as a middle-aged man the single profile actually works better because you've got little tiny nightstand there or you can have this as the sofa you can sleep there I'll show you that configuration in a moment but you can take this out so you've got somewhere to kick your legs around in the morning or even the middle of the night if you want to go out and use the loop so we're going to turn this into a double bed for now I'm going to pretend that it is in fact not raining if it was those cushions would temporarily have to move back here and that is a little tiny bit of a faff that you do have to put up with um unfortunately there's no way around it but as it is a lovely day I'm going to just put these cushions down next to the van to show you how this goes down as a double bed [Music] so the exact configuration of how these seats go down will depend on which model indeed which make of car you've got on this one if you take the head rest off this will go completely flat you need to make sure it's roughly Central because you need a little Gap that's going to be down there in just a moment that's where your double bed is going to stand same with this one important just to get it just right and then with this Gap already this and mine those fingers come across single bed ready so the driver's side very much the same you just need to make sure the seat is quite far forward this won't go flat on this car but it does go forward you need that space you need this clearance here and then that will drop over foreign so this is now already as a double bed you do just need to be mindful something I learned these cushions do slide it might be a good idea to get yourself some sort of webbing or something on the back just to stop them sliding around so that's all well and good if all you want to do is sleep but you will notice there's no room to do anything else this particular configuration is the most that you are going to need that top box for as I said it doesn't come with the car you've got to have that put on yourself I actually did by myself all the stuff and you're going to need stuff up you're going to need a clean pair of underwear you're going to need a shirt a towel that sort of stuff and unfortunately these storage lockers they're great for little bits and pieces but you will struggle to put all your clothes and all your stuff so that top box is actually very useful now we're going to put it into a dinette configuration and then we'll switch back to the single bed configuration finally to finish off so dinette configuration there is a reason that the big long cushion is in the middle and these two smaller ones are here I also need to draw your attention to the headrest on the back of this seat it's going to form part of what we're going to do so I need to put these forward move the bit of wood underneath a little tiny bit jiggly move the seeds a little tiny bit as well and it's probably best if I show you rather than describing it so don't know how well you can see this this cushion needs to move we're now left with this profile folded and anchored down there we're going to drop this away this seat needs to come back a little bit and it takes a little bit of getting used to to know how much you've got to do it and if I can do this right oh let's try that there we are so this this is now the back of our sofa and obviously you can adjust that and lower that down a little bit more but Simplicity itself one sofa or one half of a sofa we'll do the other one [Music] and now let's show you the really clever bit when I was looking at the micro campers I was first introduced to them this was the bit that I thought was just the most ingenious of all so these two little cushions here literally come to form your back support there and then this table has a post here Post in there find your little receiver oh there you are now I'll be the first to admit that if you're a big chap like me this is a little tiny bit on the snug side but if you're camping and I've done this so many times actually you really really don't notice it that much also you've got this lovely sofa here and the best part that I like is just being able to sit there and look out whatever you've pitched next to [Music] now you might find that as a single Traveler you want a slightly different configuration of how you're going to put the profile down I'm going to show you that now how I do it and at the same time I can show you the rather ingenious piano hinges that make it all work so down here get rid of that are these piano hinges they just keep it so nice and steady all the way through the process and under here you will see You've got two sets there's a little piece of wood in the middle and that just allows it to fold over on itself and sit in that configuration that I showed you when we first arrived foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] so this is the configuration that I go for and why the double cushion is together it's not going to slip apart and there's nothing worse than trying to sleep when your bed is all eagerly Piggly underneath you you have got this separate one here that one can slide a little bit of the webbing stuff will stop that this I've just got a little sort of cushioned seat bit it does have that folding bit of the profile underneath you don't really feel that to be honest but it does mean that if two people want to come and sit in you know if you've got a guest with you or what have you come to see you on site there is somewhere for somebody to sit and eat still I can sit there and I can sleep there and then this is absolutely brilliant for storage as is the holes underneath that little recess on both of those is where I pull my bits and pieces when I'm traveling so that is how a micro camper Works how the whole thing comes together now you might find that this is absolutely brilliant for you for your family what you're planning to do but it might be that it is a touch too small unfortunately that does sort of go with the territory really um you do have a trade-off but you do have the ability to have a five-seater car that you can take anywhere that you can park in the supermarket I will say if you've got groceries you've no boot but you can put those on the back seat there's so much you can still do with this and I love the versatility of this will I use this forever will I upgrade to a motorhome or a panel van conversion at some point in the future who knows I don't think any of us can ever know what the future will hold but for now this was absolutely brilliant and I think the most important thing with a micro camper is that you are getting a vehicle that is yes about 10 years old but it is well looked after and you're not buying a 30 year old panel van that's been converted for the same price you're getting a pretty solid pretty decent car because let's face it there's nothing worse than having a vehicle that looks great inside but it won't start so far untouch wood this John my micro camper has never let me down and I absolutely love it so I hope you've enjoyed this um if you've got any questions or comments please put them below email me directly if you go to dailypilgram.com you'll see all my contact details there and if you're looking for a micro camper then I wish you the best of luck I haven't looked back I absolutely love it so thanks for watching and um enjoy your day enjoy your camping bye for now [Music]

Channel: Alex Rigby - Daily Pilgrim

Views: 31,637

Keywords: microcamper, redwood microcamper, how to, review, profile, folding profile, piano hinge, camping, camping cooker, micro camper review, renault kangoo micro camper, removable micro camper, solar panel, single traveller, vanlife, micro camper, micro camper build, micro camper van, micro camper bed, micro camper kitchen, micro camper conversion, micro camper car, van life build

Id: 3IvWjR4r5WQ

Length: 17min 28sec (1048 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 02 2023