Soooo much to learn!

Brand new owners of a Duetto looking for recommendations on how to get water into the tank from a cheaply bought water carrier. We can’t get near the house (mid terrace) to just shove the hose in:confused3: Also looking for legs/feet thing so that we can use the table outside......any suggestions from you lovely peeps? Whilst I’m at it we could do with recommendations for saucepans and frying pans that are easy to clean and will store away easily, currently looking at Tefal’s Ingenio range which seems to tick the boxes but pricey 

Re table - is it a single pole one? If it is you need a Fiamma Tripod and a short leg so it's the right height. For water you could use a watering can or jerry can type with spout or funnel.

A useful firm for table legs ( and lots more)


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

We swear by Ingenio. We have used a set of 5 pans for 18 years and replaced the frying pan last year. We also bought a set for one of our sons who has just bought a caravan. Look on Amazon and don't go for the cheapest Ingenio range.

Hello and welcome. If you can wait till you get to a campsite, use their water tap. Get yourself about 3 metres of quality garden hose and maybe a screw & bayonet adapter so you can connect to most taps. For drinking water we refill a 5 litre container prior to and during each trip. Good luck

A useful exercise, before you start loading your van, is to take it to a weighbridge.  The maximum permitted weight  ( MTPLM) should be written on a plate inside the door somewhere ( I think...I don’t know the Duetto). Take the weight given by the weighbridge operator and subtract it from this maximum permitted weight and you will have your payload. 

The weight of any item item that goes through the door must be subtracted from that payload figure, including passengers, dogs, water ( 1 litre weighs 1 kg) Ingenio pans and table support ! If you have bikes on a bike rack you must be aware that there is a maximum load permitted on each axle of the van.

I agree with Inspiredron, the Ingenio pans are worth going for. I manage with their 7 piece ‘Essential’ set (3 pans, 3 lids and a handle) along with a small frying pan that I already had.

Thanks everyone, you guys are fabulous!  So, Ingenio pans it is with my 25% discount for suffering emails, off to sort water filling kit tomorrow, and cheapy fold up table from Proper Job for £8.75 and a paint job on the shopping list....Fiamma is so expensive!  Oh and that [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] site is brilliant!
Think we are [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] thanks to you guys x

The most important post is from Quilter, above.......
Until you have it weighed, 3 weights BTW, front axle, rear axle and finally total weight, you really have no idea what you can/cannot add, or better remove from this truck!
Once you know that you are far better placed to know and understand what you can or cannot do
Our wonderful local scrap yard does this for free and won't even take any money for doing so, you may/may not be so lucky!!
Do this first, IMHO!

Twizel.....regards water fill, if, and i'm afraid it's a big IF (but worth trying) you can find a friendly Supermarket they usually have a fresh water tap by the petrol station. Some will allow it, many won't....it's a 'British thing' i'm afraid. Anywhere in Europe and you ask if you can use the tap, locals will look at you as though you've come off another planet!

For van pans i just bought a cheap frying pan, kettle and saucepan as i rarely cook in the van. That said i bought a full set of seriously cheap saucepans for home use which are in use almost daily....and 20 years later they're still going! They cost me around a tenner for a set of four.

I must admit our pans are a from our camping days then the trailer tent. Having more room now we splashed out on a decent frying pan from Wilco. The camping pans do cut down on rattles being stacked but I think the decent cooker in the Rienza might be a reason to buy proper pans.
I think our tea pot has heritage. It was from my grandmas stainless set including a milk jug and sugar bowl.

If you do a lot of cooking - as we do, buy a steamer to fit one of your saucepans.  Saves on gas, veg tastes better.       Our pans are lightweight SS from Sainsbury's.

Quilter wrote:A useful exercise, before you start loading your van, is to take it to a weighbridge.  The maximum permitted weight  ( MTPLM) should be written on a plate inside the door somewhere ( I think...I don’t know the Duetto). Take the weight given by the weighbridge operator and subtract it from this maximum permitted weight and you will have your payload. 

The weight of any item item that goes through the door must be subtracted from that payload figure, including passengers, dogs, water ( 1 litre weighs 1 kg) Ingenio pans and table support ! If you have bikes on a bike rack you must be aware that there is a maximum load permitted on each axle of the van.

Thank you Quilter, good advice and we are comfortably within the pay load I'm pleased to say!  Mind you I haven't loaded his nibs' clothes in for this weekend yet and he's way worse than me!

Bulletguy wrote:Twizel.....regards water fill, if, and i'm afraid it's a big IF (but worth trying) you can find a friendly Supermarket they usually have a fresh water tap by the petrol station. Some will allow it, many won't....it's a 'British thing' i'm afraid. Anywhere in Europe and you ask if you can use the tap, locals will look at you as though you've come off another planet!

For van pans i just bought a cheap frying pan, kettle and saucepan as i rarely cook in the van. That said i bought a full set of seriously cheap saucepans for home use which are in use almost daily....and 20 years later they're still going! They cost me around a tenner for a set of four.

Thanks Bulletguy, I'm a big believer in flashing the female card...I know its not pc anymore but I'm old enough to be old school, and hey, it works. I'm also a big believer that if you ask nicely people are usually really nice back.  BTW I am still on my first set of saucepans which are around 30 years old, survived several mishaps and going strong!