Onboard Loo option and kitchen space

[tentpeg]

What I want to work out is... If you have the onboard loo option where the hell do you put all your saucepans and things for cooking, crockery etc?

Am trying to weight up pros and cons here so would be grateful for advice.

Thanks

[iansal]

Hi,
We have a Outlook Duo with the loo option and would not change for any extre space, most superb on a rainy night after a few beers. We keep all our cooking bits and bobs in the 2 top lockers, 1 over the sink 2 over the cooker, the kettle stays on the cooker, an elastic when travelling, grill pan in place on a non slip pad. nothing would make us get rid of the loo, almost an ensuite.

cheers
Ian&Sal

[yamaha]

May 3, 2008 19:37:10 GMT tentpeg said:

What I want to work out is... If you have the onboard loo option where the hell do you put all your saucepans and things for cooking, crockery etc?

Am trying to weight up pros and cons here so would be grateful for advice.

Thanks

Hi Tentpeg - and welcome to the Madhouse!!

Saucepans dilema - easy! What everyone on here does is just take one saucepan that fits nicely in the toilet - this saves space - and saves having to empty the loo - and when you want to cook - just a quick rinse out, and you're ready to cook the tea.

Bet you're wondering why you didn't think of this, aren't you? ;D

Mike

[jayjay]

Hi Tentpeg!

I don't have cupboards (well only the one little thing) so all my stuff goes underneath the seats in the lockers. When I get where I'm going the pans just sit on top of the cooker with the kettle. If I need the space, they get chucked out the door!

The cutlery and stuff like that gets unpacked into a hanging pocket type thing like this:

www.caraselledirect.com/_/3_boys_over_the_door_hanging_organizers.1020-3.php?Referrer=Shopzilla&View_Type=Remote

except I bought mine from Lidl and it is a shoe storing pockety thing that has a coat hanger at the top and you can hang it where you want, for around £2.99.

I've put up a few big brass hooks around the place, so that I can hang things where they are to hand.

I have two large mess tins which I find the most useful items (esp. as you can cook and eat from them, saves washing up so much) and I have a three tier steamer which cooks a meal for two nice and easy on one ring.

Hope this helps!

[peterholden]

We have the loo and also pullman seating. We manage to keep pots and cuutlery in the 2 high level cupboards. Crocks in the pelmets over the windows. we have owned other Romahomes but find that this layout is brilliant for us. You will be amazed how much you can carry if you pack carefully.

[tentpeg]

Thanks everybody. Am considering here as am fond of my kitchen area. Am also imagining if the loo was used seriously ie not just for number ones and its proximity to the fridge? I do stay in no facility sites.

Is it possible to put a porta potti just by the door at night if you do not have the built in option??? Then for long stays put a loo tent up and banish it outside??

Where do you store the provisions, (non fridge.. in a locker is this a pain??).

at the moment can see would take a double skillet and a set of nested camping saucepans and a kettle. Plus a plastic mixing bowl and a seive besides the crockery (currently in a folding camper). I usually bake a cake whilst am away with my adult children in the double skillet and the seive doubles as a colender.

This is gonig to take careful thought am not sure which option I prefer.

[Graham]

Hi Tentpeg

We had a Duo with a toilet option a few years ago and we found it really good, we put our pans etc in one of the underseat storage, cups, plates etc in the cupboard above the sink, the duo also has two extra cupboards above the seats which the outlook doesn't have so that gave us extra space.

By the way you'll have to humour Yamaha he is our resident lunatic but he's harmless. :-)

Graham

[barry5933]

We have a HyLo without the toilet option.

HyLos have less storage space than the "normal" Duos and I do not see how we could manage without the full size undersink cupboard. Having the pullman arrangement would, I believe, reduce the underseat storage as well.

Our plastic thunderbox lives in the awning when pitched, giving a degree of privacy, or in the footwell overnight if the awning is not deployed.

When travelling, the loo is fitted in wherever it can find a space, never the same place twice!

[tentpeg]

I was coming around to the loo idea then barry rather confirmed my fears. Is it really difficult to use the portapotti in the footwell?

To get down to the nitty gritty.. could it even be put there when travelling in this site with careful manovring if desparate? Is this a mad idea in practice???

Oh yamaha..... you sound like my sort of guy..... Ideas brilliant. Invitation to you for a special cup of tea if I ever do manage to afford my dream...

[Barbara and Graham]

We opted for the non toilet version of the Outlook because we didn't want to lose the under sink cupboard and didn't like the tip up sink (likely to chip and warnings about not exposing to boiling water). We like having easy access to everything that's in the cupboard (food, plates. cutlery, pans, mugs etc). The smallest Porta Potti fits in the nearside front under seat locker for travelling and comes out at night. We've tried it in the footwell but now prefer to have it between the single beds (not so draughty in the cold weather and leaves the exit route clear). We're both small(ish) and the knees are not too creaky but it is a long way down! The bigger cupboard Potti would be more comfortable to use and would need less frequent emptying. We stay on sites with facilities - so no 'serious' use. With our old Toyota van many years ago we had an awning and made full use of the Porta Potti out there if on a no facilities site. Hope that helps - it's a personal thing!

Barbara

[tentpeg]

These are very helpful posts and helping me to weigh up the pros and cons... No boiling water in the sink, that seems like a problem.. how do people manage to drain the pasta ... etc?

[playallday]

Aren't all the 'plastic' sinks the same? I know it says in my manual not to use boiling liquids in the sink.

Jean

[jayjay]

May 9, 2008 8:22:58 GMT playallday said:

Aren't all the 'plastic' sinks the same? I know it says in my manual not to use boiling liquids in the sink.

Jean

Wondered about this myself. If you're worried about it, just drain outside straight into the waste water bucket/recepticle, or wait for the boiling water to cool down slightly?

I have a 'luggable loo' really just a nice big bucket with a loo seat and lid, really useful. Goes in the awning when up, in the aisle when not using the awning. Stores in the undersink cupboard when travelling, and filled with smaller bucket, corner steady wood bits, and wellies, etc.

These have just come out on the market:

www.worldoftents.co.uk/kampa-khazi-camping-toilet-p-604.html

which look better at a similar price, but I have no plans to replace mine with one of these, like what I have. Unfortunate choice of name, methinks!

[playallday]

May 9, 2008 10:48:42 GMT jayjay said:

[Unfortunate choice of name, methinks!

Some-one with a wicked sense of humour!!

[Barbara and Graham]

May 9, 2008 8:22:58 GMT playallday said:

Aren't all the 'plastic' sinks the same? I know it says in my manual not to use boiling liquids in the sink.

Jean

The fixed sink in our Outlook is stainless steel - so no problem with the pasta or veg water. Also a handy place to put hot pans etc where they'll do no harm.

Barbara

[greynomad]

We had a C15 Hylo with portapotti and the hassle of lifting it in and out to awning toilet tent, so when we upgraded we opted for the Hylo pullman with loo! Yes you do loose quite a bit of storage, and I did wonder where I would put the saucepan, plates etc have solved dilemma by buying a click lid box which fits saucepan etc and when travelling fits on top of loo secured by non slip mat, this is then moved to awning, or front seat when on site.

As for draining pasta and rice I usually put a little cold water in the sink before draining, then release plug after!

3 trips so far and delighted with the layout, the storage is gradually sorting itself out, a few more trips and everything will have found its place!

[tentpeg]

ah decisions decisions or do I go for something slightly bigger and solve the dilemma!

[yamaha]

May 10, 2008 19:18:51 GMT tentpeg said:

ah decisions decisions or do I go for something slightly bigger and solve the dilemma!

Well, if your THAT concerned, you could go for a frying pan - but it wouldn't hold so much!!



Mike

[greynomad]

BIGGER?! That's a swear word!
Why not scrap the loo and take a pressure cooker, slightly bigger for night time usage an you can do all in one meals in a flash for daytime usage, plus there will be plenty of storage space left over for plates etc? Why oh why didn't I think of that before we upgraded?!

[tentpeg]

Okay...... so if you have the loo in place with the folding plastic sink can you rest a chopping board over it so you can have workspace?
Am considering small motorhomes generally and also like the layout in a VW topaz... or similar, but just rather love the cleverness of the Romahome Duo. The bed looks very simple to make up and comfortable.

[kriss63]

What about putting the portaloo in the middle of the seats at the front and covering with a towel - presto another surface to put the tv on at night......

[greynomad]

Fold back sink comes complete with chopping board over it!

[tentpeg]

There seems to be only one solution.... buy both and a warehouse to start a collection! It is making me look at the dimension as well though... However the Dimension looks more complicated bed wise than the Duo...

[Graham]

May 12, 2008 20:32:39 GMT tentpeg said:

However the Dimension looks more complicated bed wise than the Duo...

The beds are fine once you get used to them, a little more complicated maybe but not really a lot of trouble, the real boon with the Dimension is the bathroom and the cassette toilet, absolutely brilliant.

Also of course there is more room and access from the cab to the back for those days when you arrive on site and its raining cats and dogs, no getting out the cab and dashing round the back.

If your budget runs to a Dimension I would say go for it, we've had both and wouldn't got back to the Duo although we loved it dearly.

Graham

[richard]

The Onboard Loo option was one of our big decisions when we bought our HyLo in 2006. We went for it and have no regrets at all, even though the HyLo has the least amount of space of all the Romahomes.

The main reason is that we could not think of any other place we would want to put our Porta Potti. Most modern Romahomes have the wider side cushion/seats that jut out a couple of inches into the central aisle. The PP will just about fit in the aisle but it is so stiff a fit that to move it you also need to move a cushion. Putting the PP anywhere else means that it can't be used for its proper purpose easily.

So where do we put our pans, crockery & cutlery? Easy. We have a 20L box shaped flexible Thermos brand coolbag in which goes plates, two pencil cases made of neoprene (one for knives, forks, spoons, and one for cooking knives, kitchen scissors etc), small kettle, heat proof serving spoons. We also have a small washing up bowl in which fits a flexible silicone collander and a Trangia. A Trangia to the unitiated is a set of cooking pans that all fit together and have folding handles: the kettle fits in too, but as the most used item it is more accessible kept in the coolbag. Both the coolbag and the bowl live on top of the PP and below the folding basin. At night or whenever we want to use the PP they are taken out and placed on top of the cooker.

For a full account of how I arrived at my decisions over buying options follow this link to the Roma Club website:
www.romaclub.org.uk/Articles/TheVehicles3.doc

Hope y'all find this helpful.

Richard

[richard]

Just picking up on one of the earlier comments, it is true that you are advised not to put boling water on the folding basin that comes with the Onboard Loo option. This is because it is made of GRP. If you read my posting above you will have seen that we have a small washing up bowl. This is used with the colander to hold hot cooking water until it is cool enough to pour away into the holding tank.

Oh, and we keep our food in the fridge and the nearside aft locker.

Richard.

[richard]

This thread is essential reading for any person considering purchasing a new Romahome, so Im bringing it to the top of the pile!

[yamaha]

OK - there is an easy answer to this problem - provided your van has a tow hitch - its the Bumper Dumper!!

www.bumperdumper.com/bumper2.htm

An elegant solution, I think you'll agree!!

Mike

[martinw]

Hi Mike,

Good idea in the wilds of the U.S., but would Tesco allow you to use it in their car park here in the UK ;D ;D ;D

Martin