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Campervan.Win

The Campervan.Win blog

Straight-talking campervan guides

Plain-English buying guides, honest reviews and news, for anyone choosing, owning or dreaming about a campervan or motorhome.

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Illustration of a Toyota Land Cruiser with an ARB pull-out awning beside a VW T6.1 campervan with a Thule Omnistor awning on an Exmoor campsite at sunset.

Campervan Kit & Gear

ARB awning vs Thule awning: one's for 4x4s, one's for campervans

Jasper25 min read

ARB and Thule both make excellent awnings, but they're built for different vehicles and different lives. One is a rugged, rack-mounted pull-out for 4x4s and overlanders; the other is the wind-out cassette awning that defines campervan and motorhome touring. Here's how they really compare, and which one you actually want.

Illustration of a VW California Ocean campervan parked at the edge of the banked test track at Millbrook Proving Ground, the track curving away into thick November fog.

New & Noteworthy

VW California 2027: what's real, and what's just hype

Oliver25 min read

Everyone's talking about the 2027 VW California, but what's actually confirmed? Here's the honest picture: the facelift that's really coming, the electric one that isn't (yet), the platform confusion cleared up, and how to tell the solid facts from the spy-shot speculation.

A Fiat Ducato campervan by a still Loch Shiel at dusk, a pleated flyscreen drawn across its open sliding door, the Glenfinnan Monument and viaduct beyond.

Campervan Kit & Gear

Campervan flyscreens: the £40 option vs the £500 one

Arthur25 min read

Flyscreens are the difference between sleeping with the door open on a warm night and being eaten alive by midges. Here's the full guide to campervan flyscreens: the types, what they cost, magnetic versus sliding, manufacturer-fit versus custom, and which are genuinely worth buying.

Illustration of a Toyota Hilux with ARB bull bar, roof rack and awning in a misty Galloway forest, an ARB fridge-freezer open beneath the awning.

Campervan Kit & Gear

Is ARB worth it? The 4x4 gear, honestly reviewed

Leo25 min read

ARB is the Australian 4x4 giant whose lockers, suspension, fridges and awnings turn up on the world's most serious overland vehicles. But is it worth the premium for a UK campervan or 4x4 camper owner? Here's an honest review of the standout ARB kit, what to skip, and what it really costs.

An ARB Earth Camper off-road trailer hitched to a Ford Ranger on a dusty, sunlit sandy track through the pines of Thetford Forest on a hot summer day.

New & Noteworthy

Will ARB make a campervan? Why it builds trailers, not vans

Oliver25 min read

ARB already makes almost everything you'd put in an adventure vehicle, and in 2023 it built its first one. So will the Australian 4x4 giant ever make its own campervan? Here's the honest answer, the truth about the Earth Camper, and why a trailer is not a van.

A frost-furred VW California with its pop-top up and a silver external thermal screen over the cab, in Braemar's village car park at a pink, freezing dawn.

Campervan Kit & Gear

Campervan thermal blinds: the cure for cold nights and wet windows

Martha25 min read

Thermal screens keep a campervan warm on a frosty night, cool in summer, and free of streaming condensation, and the cab and the pop-top are where you win or lose that battle. Here's the full guide to internal, external and magnetic thermal blinds, with honest pros, cons and prices.

A VW California Ocean campervan waits at a lowered level-crossing barrier with red lights flashing, on a misty early-May morning among flat fields.

Campervan Buying Guides

VW California: buy now, or wait for the 2027?

Rowan25 min read

The current VW California is well-sorted and there are genuinely good finance deals around, but a 2027 update is rumoured. So do you buy now and grab the deal, or hold out for the next one? Here's an honest look at the decision, the current range, and what waiting really means.

Illustration of a Sunlight Ibex 4x4 campervan on a VW Crafter, parked by a gravel highland road in Iceland in low late-night sun, with a glacier on the skyline.

Campervan Reviews

Sunlight Ibex review: is this really the best-value 4x4 campervan?

Arthur26 min read

The Sunlight Ibex arrives as a genuine 4x4 campervan from a value brand, on the VW Crafter, at £86,690 in the UK. In a class where rivals cost well over £100,000, that looks like a bargain. We test the claim honestly, on the published price and specification, and ask whether the Ibex really is the best-value 4x4 you can buy.

Illustration of a left-hand-drive Crosscamp EXPLR pop-top camper on an Opel Zafira, alone in a floodlit North Shields ferry lane at a drizzly dawn with a white ferry behind.

New & Noteworthy

Crosscamp: is it coming to the UK, and what's its standout model?

Oliver25 min read

Crosscamp builds clever, compact campers within the same group as Hymer and Bürstner, and one of them is even based on a van Vauxhall sells here. So is Crosscamp coming to the UK? Here's the honest answer, the truth about its rocky few years, and the standout model you'd be importing.

Two 4x4 campervans, a Sunlight Ibex and a Bürstner Habiton X, stopped on either branch of a stony byway fork by a wooden fingerpost in the Cheviot Hills on a showery autumn afternoon.

Campervan Buying Guides

Sunlight Ibex vs Bürstner Habiton X: two 4x4 campervans, one big decision

Felix25 min read

The Sunlight Ibex and the Bürstner Habiton X are both genuine 4x4 campervans from the same parent group, yet they could hardly be more different. One is a value-priced VW on an ordinary licence; the other a premium Mercedes with a patented sliding bathroom. Here's how they compare, and which one is right for you.

A Sunlight Ibex 4x4 camper on a VW Crafter, side-on on a stony estate track beside the fast River Lyon in Glen Lyon, snow on the hilltops under a grey April sky.

New & Noteworthy

Sunlight Ibex: the UK price and full spec of the VW Crafter 4x4 camper

Leo25 min read

The Sunlight Ibex is the brand's first proper go at a go-anywhere 4x4 campervan, built on the VW Crafter with permanent all-wheel drive. Sunlight's UK price list now puts it at £86,690. Here's the price picture, the full spec, and an honest account of what is standard and what costs extra.

A Sunlight Vanlife 540 V pop-top campervan stopped at the kerb by a 3T weight-limit sign before Marlow's white suspension bridge on a misty September morning.

Campervan Buying Guides

Sunlight Vanlife 540 V: the specs, weights and payload, explained

Leo12 min read

The full spec sheet for the Sunlight Vanlife 540 V, decoded: dimensions, engine, bed sizes, water and battery, and the number that catches buyers out, payload. Here's what every figure actually means when you're living in it.

Illustration of a Sunlight Cliff 540 and a taller pop-top Sunlight Vanlife 540 V parked side by side on a damp dealer forecourt under grey March skies.

Campervan Buying Guides

Sunlight Cliff vs Vanlife: which Sunlight camper is right for you?

Felix11 min read

Sunlight builds its campervans in two distinct lines, the conventional Cliff and the clever-layout Vanlife, and people muddle them constantly. The difference comes down to one big question: do you carry two, or four? Here's how to choose between them.

Illustration of a Sunlight Vanlife 540 V parked on Edinburgh's cobbled Circus Lane at night, pop-top raised, rear doors open on a lit lounge and the sliding door showing its staircase.

Design, Layout & Living Space

The clever staircase: how the Sunlight Vanlife 540 lives like a small flat

Felix20 min read

Most compact campervans force you to choose between a fixed bed and a proper living space. The Sunlight Vanlife 540 refuses the choice with one unusual idea: a permanent staircase up to the bed, which frees the whole rear of the van for a lounge. Here's why it works so well.

A Sunlight Vanlife 540 V campervan with its pop-top raised at a misty forest viewpoint above Lower Lough Erne at dawn, a folding solar panel set out beside it.

Campervan Tech & Electrics

Living with a Sunlight Vanlife 540: heating, off-grid and the payload reality

Leo11 min read

The spec sheet gets you interested; living with the van is what matters. Here's the honest, practical guide to the Sunlight Vanlife 540 in daily use: how far the power and water really stretch, staying warm, what to upgrade, and the payload truth nobody mentions until you're loaded.

A Sunlight Vanlife 540 V and a near-identical Carado CV 541 Pro campervan parked side by side below Derwent Dam as water spills over its crest on a grey day.

Campervan Reviews

Sunlight Vanlife 540 V vs Carado CV 541 Pro: the same campervan, two badges

Arthur25 min read

The Sunlight Vanlife 540 V has a near-identical twin wearing a different badge: the Carado CV 541 Pro. Same factory, same clever staircase layout, and, surprisingly, almost the same price. Here's why they're the same van, what genuinely differs, what each costs, and which badge you should actually buy.

A Sunlight Vanlife 540 V parked beside an Adria Twin and a Knaus BoxStar in the Hay Bluff car park, Black Mountains, under hazy midday sun with ponies on the heather hill.

Campervan Buying Guides

Sunlight Vanlife 540 vs the rivals: Adria Twin, Pössl, Knaus and more

Arthur12 min read

The compact panel-van camper class is crowded with good vans: the Adria Twin, the Pössl and Globecar pair, the Knaus Boxstar, the Weinsberg CaraBus and more. Here's how the Sunlight Vanlife 540 really stacks up, where its clever layout wins, and where the rivals beat it.

Illustration of a Sunlight Vanlife 540 V, pop-top up and sliding door open, beside a small family hatchback in a windswept autumn car park on the shore of Lough Neagh.

Mistakes, Myths & Misconceptions

Is the Sunlight Vanlife 540 a 4-berth? Berths vs seatbelts, explained

Rowan15 min read

The Sunlight Vanlife 540 sleeps four, so a lot of people assume it carries four. It doesn't. It has two travel seatbelts. Here's the difference between berths and travel seats, why this layout costs you seats, and how to check any campervan's real capacity before you buy.

A Sunlight Vanlife 540 V campervan heads a row of new vans in Harwich port's import compound at night, a ro-ro ship behind and wet concrete glowing under floodlights.

New & Noteworthy

Who makes Sunlight campervans? Inside the Erwin Hymer Group

Oliver20 min read

Sunlight is one of the better-value campervan brands in Britain, but who actually builds it, and can you trust it? The answer involves one of the biggest names in European motorhomes, an American parent company, a factory in eastern Germany, and a near-identical sister brand. Here's the full picture.

Illustration of a VW California campervan in its bay at a floodlit storage compound on a foggy February night, seen through a frosted, locked palisade gate.

UK Rules, Safety & Insurance

Campervan insurance: what you need, and how to pay less

Arthur15 min read

Campervan insurance is the dull bit everyone gets slightly wrong, and getting it wrong can cost you thousands when it matters most. Here's the honest guide: agreed value, what's actually covered, declaring your conversion, and how to pay less without leaving a hole in your cover.

A VW Transporter T6.1 campervan with its front-elevating pop-top raised, parked beside the sunny village green and duck pond at Finchingfield, Essex.

Maintenance & DIY

Pop-top campervan roofs: the types, the costs, and which is best

Leo16 min read

A pop-top roof turns a van into a campervan: standing room, a second bed, and a vehicle you can still use day to day. But there are three different types, a handful of brands, and a big gap between cheap and good. Here's the honest guide to what they cost and which to choose.

A VW California Ocean campervan sits idle on a rain-wet block-paved driveway beside a semi-detached house, autumn leaves on its roof and bonnet, seen from above.

Costs, Running & Reality

Should you buy a campervan, or just hire one? The honest maths

Arthur15 min read

Should you buy a campervan or just hire one when you need it? The honest answer hinges on a single number most people get wrong: how many weeks a year you'll really use it. Here's the real maths, the hidden costs of owning, and the decision laid out plainly.

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