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Caving vans

aquamole jim

aquamole jim

Member
Best van for caving?
MPG
Ground clearance
Room in back for mattress
Height in back for changing
Weight limit
Any ideas  :-\
 
Pitlamp

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Best potholing vehicle I ever had, bay far, was a Land Rover Tdi 110 Defender Hard Top.

Not great MPG though and they can be expensive to mend. But swallows very heavy items easily (such as J cylinders of oxygen) and long enough from bulkhead to rear door to kip comfortably, even for a giraffe like me.

There are probably better alternatives now - especially as Land Rovers sadly aren't really Land Rovers any more. (More recent Defenders are also less comfortable to drive as the dashboards seem to be far nearer the front seats.)

To get the best responses I suspect you need to specify whether it's going to be used as a holiday vehicle or mainly for British caving.
 
Pete K

Pete K

Well-known member
I've a mk7 Transit SWB LR in 'stealth' orange.
Multi function use. Some days it's carrying a load of caving kit for working with groups or an archery range. It will hold a vast amount of stuff.
Other days it is my home as I work away a bit. Nice double bed in the back (semi removable / convertible to seating). If you are less than 173cm tall you can sleep width wise like we do. Kitchen equipment in draws and a basic level of food and gas always available.
For main caving use it is a changing room. I remember getting looks of envy on Leck Fell once as it started hailing and I popped up the back tail lift to shelter under, took my wellies off and then just hopped in the back where it was nice and warm.
Storage in draws or cubby holes designed to take plastic crates and trug buckets. All the inside furnature comes out in 20 mins with a screwdriver if I need to use it as a van for moving big things.

They are prone to rust but I keep mine Waxoiled and very clean, so far so good.
Powerful engine 100bhp. I fill her up for about ?90 and can get nearly 550mls when driving carefully or 450mls when country lane driving.
Mine is rear wheel drive so it is higher than most Landrovers.
One bad point - totally and utterly useless on ice or wet grass. RWD vans skid about all over unless there is mega weight in the back. I add 200kg of paving slabs to the rear in winter. Other than that, snow chains have got me everywhere so far.

Oh, and you can get 3 canoes on the roof if your hobbies change about a bit.
 
ah147

ah147

New member
I've got a new vauxhall vivaro SWB low roof.

Does 35mpg if you rag it around, more if you drive sensibly. Pretty good ground clearance and not too bad on grass etc with some decent tyres.

It drives like a car. It has more luxuries in it than any car I've ever owned too!

I'm about 6 foot tall, I can sleep in the back of it on an old school nurses bed, fit all my caving gear, about 600m of rope, all my cave diving gear, about 12 cylinders and still find space to get changed!

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O

owd git

Active member
Depends on the height of the cave and whetheryou need a 'sherpa' Jim. (y)
P.M. if you need sherpas.couple of newb's would love it Jim.
Ric'.
 
Oceanrower

Oceanrower

Active member
PaulW said:
hope you're not planning on travelling far, whats the mpg!!!!
Click to expand...

Drove ir back from Swansea for 175 miles and reckon I got about 18mpg.

To be honest, that's way better than I expected!
 
Oceanrower

Oceanrower

Active member
Class C required until replated to below 7.5 ton.

Sorry Les, can't. Every bloody one you see is called Dennis. Far too confusing!
 
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