Bad Badger Lessons

Returned from a 4 day jaunt in the van - aka The Bad Badger - yesterday and learned a lot:

1. Water is the most precious resource. Luckily we had access to a tap a couple of minutes walk away and could refill the 60L water tank - I reckon we used about 80 litres over 4 days, and we were very sparing with it.
2. A collapsible water bucket is very handy and cheap but, if you don't want to go to the expense of £5.99, the 5L, plastic water containers that Tesco do for their mineral water are perfect. Get a couple, plus a jug with which to fill them as they don't fit under a standard sink tap.
3. The two 110Ah leisure batteries were more than enough and we hardly made a dent in the available power. Hardly needed to use the 1kW inverter.
4. We use 3.55 litres of LPG which, when I refilled the refillable polycarbonate LPG tank with AutoGas, cost me £2.06 at Morrison's in Bridgewater on the return trip. We have enough in a full tank for a couple of weeks, although we didn't do much in the way of heating domestic water and I had only one shower (Hay washed in the sea). While certainly not powerful, the shower is adequate - but learn to shower in a very short time; not running the water while you soap up, for example.
5. It's better to use a plastic washing up bowl than use the sink for washing up - the sink empties into the dirty water tank and just results in you carrying around extra weight, which will add to fuel consumption. A bowl of dirty washing up water can simply be thrown into a hedge and isn't toxic.
6. Some biological washing powder in the cassette loo is better than that blue stuff, which stains everything it comes into contact with, is hideously toxic and can only be ditched in a proper facility. A friend gave me this advice, and it works perfectly.
7. Downloading a few Nexflix films to your mobile is well worth doing before you leave, just in case you have no data where you're headed (as we did). 
8. Mark laybys on Google Maps, so you know where you can stop off to make a drink on the return journey. It's a good idea anyway, as some of them will be eminently suitable for an overnight stay in emergencies, especially in more out-of-the-way places.

Things I've bought and are on order:

1. A 3-5kW diesel heater (which has actually already arrived) - £85.
2. A wireless reversing camera, which will be handy in tight spots - £59.
3. A couple of collapsible water buckets - £12.

I'm still contemplating on the solar panels. A desalination plant would be better so we can convert seawater to potable water.

Can't wait for the next jaunt, which looks like it will be to Porlock this coming weekend, if the weather forecast holds. We found a great little campsite for £10 per person, per night, with free water. We checked it out yesterday and it's well spaced and very central.