By In the first few months of owning Hank, we took him on day trips and a couple of short two-night trips. I was pleased to find that the Bobil Air Xchange from my old van worked well in Hank, providing hot water for a basic shower (coupled with a simple shower and pump) for our adventures. It was so nice to be able to clean up after a long day of exploring without having to worry about finding or paying for a campsite with shower facilities.
Bobil Vans has revolutionized the camper van experience with their remarkable water heater, the Bobil Air Xchange. This groundbreaking system ingeniously utilises the hot air expelled from your diesel heater, harnessing its energy through heat exchangers to heat your water. The result? Near instant hot water for showers etc, all while optimizing energy usage, and making the most of the equipment already installed.
However, things took an unexpected turn When Gill was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 39, it was unexpected. She almost fell into a coma and had complications as a result. Managing her blood sugar levels was tough and adapting to being insulin dependent was painful. But we tried as best as we could to not let this setback stop us from enjoying our time with Hank, although it did alter our plans significantly – the idea was for me to work on Hank, strip him back to bare panel van and use the Transporter for short trips in the meantime… however the stresses of a long term illness meant that didn’t happen and we sold the Transporter (Edith) in the autumn.
The positive outcome was that we looked really hard at what we needed in Hank in terms of layout. The initial plan was to remove the bulkhead, install swivel seats, and have a fairly ‘traditional’ racevan inspired layout with either fixed or elevating bed, garage and side bathroom with small seating area… spoiler alert… the layout I have decided on is like nothing you have ever seen and I am really excited about pushing the boundaries of camper design and producing something that not only suits our unique needs but that could be a revolutionary layout for others with disabilities or needing the flexibility that we do.
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Overall, my first few months with Hank were filled with ups and downs, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! Probably.
For me, there are a few necessities in a van that are often overlooked or considered afterthoughts with many a post on social media asking for advice on how to add them at a later date, or even people selling their vans because they don’t have these features.
– Easy access, comfortable, bed that doesn’t dominate the layout or dictate what you can do once the bed is down and ideally allows the storage of bedding within the bed area itself.
– Toilet. I’m a girl. It’s harder to go for a wild wee. Public loos are nasty. If you can take your own loo, why wouldn’t you!
– Bin. Even a day trip generates rubbish. I don’t want to brush past a scratty bag hanging off a seat every time I move having stopped for “emergency snacks!”
– Dedicated storage for essentials. I see too many vans crammed with plastic boxes and bags for camping trips meaning they can’t actually be used on the way to the destination.
– Running water for hand washing at the very least.
I managed to squeeze all of that to a satisfactory level of form, function and compromise in my Transporter so the challenge of doing it in a much larger van seemed easy. In some ways it is, but as with anything it is the details that matter.
I experimented with different layouts and setups to find what worked best for us. It was a process of trial and error, and hours in Fusion 360 and SketchUp doing CAD plans, playing with what would fit ergonomically in the space. Undoubtedly having the ability to use software to quickly make changes made a huge difference, and I would highly recommend anyone converting a van at least tries to get a basic level of CAD skill, I appreciate this isn’t easy for everyone. So some things that helped massively are;
**Pinterest** – there are some incredible van conversions out there and Pinterest is the perfect place to find them! It’s a great way to discover new ideas that you might not have considered before, and see how others have overcome similar challenges. Be sure to look at topics you wouldn’t immediately consider such as commercially built motorhomes, yachts, tiny homes, even domestic solutions. Its amazing what ideas you can get and ruminate on that inspire other ideas.
Cardboard Aided Design – I found that it was really helpful to create a cardboard model of things, either full size or at scale. This allowed me to physically move things around and get a better sense of how the space would work. It’s a low-tech solution, but it can be a very effective way to visualize the space and make changes quickly. Of course, it’s important to keep in mind that what looks good on paper (or on a computer screen) doesn’t always translate perfectly to real life. That’s why it’s so important to actually test out your design in the van itself, and make adjustments as needed. Lego can have its place too – its a very quick way to work out a rough idea.
Temporary Layouts – use anything you can get your hands on to mock things up. A cheap MDF storage box from eBay has served me well and now has a second life as some storage in my workshop. Its strong enough to use with bits of wood here and there to make supports for me to lie on, sit on stand on etc to get an idea of how I fit in the space. Mocking things up in the house helps too… we have had weeks of bits of masking tape in various places such as the sofa, the bed and even the shower allowing us to ‘pretend’ its the van and get a feel for how we fit.
Partner/kids/other users – get the people who will use the van with you to try things out for size and add their opinions too. Gill has learned (reluctantly!) that chatting things through with me not only helps alleviate my stresses and provide a better outcome but that it can be quite fun to get involved in ways she can contribute. She is pretty DIY competent, but her confidence with some of my bigger tools and the intricate workings of a van are a little overwhelming sometimes, but being able to chat things over helps us both.
Meets – go chat to people and look at other peoples vans. Don’t be afraid to ask.. most people like to show off their vans. Some will let you go inside, but even just peeking in can help. They also usually have nice food and drinks at meets so its win win!
Shorter trips – the very best advice I can give is to use your van before you make final commitments. Ask 100 people as to what order you should do your van conversion in and you’ll get a 100 different answers. Sure it makes sense to do the hidden things like insulation, sound deadening and first fix wiring first as everything else will go on top of that, but in reality things are never straightforward. I have found an acceptance that I will have to do things more than once helps. Be prepared to take things in and out and do things in stages. Leave slack in your wiring so you can move it. Use reusable fixing methods (like screws/bolts/strong fixing clips) as opposed to glue or nails (don’t nail anything to your van!!) so you can take things in and out. Be prepared to spend a small amount of your budget on short term partial conversion steps so you can get out and test it in anger.
Overall, I’ve found that a combination of cardboard modeling, 3D modeling software, and real-life testing is the best way to design a van layout that really works.