12 month caravan review of our Zone van. Likes, dislikes, hacks and mods 

Thanks for watching. We’ve covered a bit more since then but hope that helped. Good luck with your own thoughts and preparations for your own big adventures. cheers

Thank you. It seems so long ago now! All the best.

Thanks Richard. We’re ZB 279 (same numerals in different order) so happy birthday to your van also. That must be just be about now?? Great you are enjoying the van and having few issues and Zone are looking after you well. Sunshine Coast has a number of good options to stay. Thanks for watching and we are pleased to share!

What a lovely comment. Thank you. We edit out the barnies! 😂 (Mostly David getting in trouble, again!! 😜) We celebrated our 40th anniversary this week so we’ve got to know each other a bit ! We’ve had some laughs along the Lap as well. Thanks for watching, we really appreciate it. Merry Christmas and all the best for 2024. cheers

Thanks for watching and the feedback. it’s much appreciated. Yes that extra bit of freedom in being able to be off grid is terrific.Lowest we’ve ever got in battery power is 39% of our 400AH and that was a few days in part shade followed by a few days of rainy overcast weather. We didn’t have our DC2DC charger for 4 weeks so we were solely dependent on solar. We have the Enerdrive set up - I expect you’ve got Redarc. And keep an eye out - come and say G’day if you see us and we will do likewise. cheers

@@nextleveloz yes we have the Redarc system. We definitely keeping an eye out for you. We are on the road for 18 months now and lately starting to run into or at least see a lot more Zone caravans (especially the Base 18.6 like yours) around SE Qld. We always say high if possible 😀 Looking forward to meet you guys.

Hi Rob, hope you're well. Glad your new van is going well. Yep, getting away is the big challenge. We were in a better position to just do it! Say g'day to Bob from me. cheers Dave

@@nextlevelozHi Dave, how do you know Bob? Cheers Rob

@@JustcruznRob-AlanaBuick I first met Bob when he and Harry and several others were advocating for medals regarding Long Tan. I was involved in that process way back when… only partially successful at that time in the early 2000s.

@@nextleveloz Hi Dave, I recall now, we have messaged previously and u did tell me the above. I’ll say hi to Dad. Cheers Rob 🍻

Thanks Daz and great comment. They are great van. Yes the separate solar controller has been great for us. we would likely not get our tunnel boot composite slide again . Not that it's bad, we just don't use it. But another Zone owner dropped by today and he looked at it and loved it compared to his full out kitchen ... I don't know much about the other brands of composting loos. Been happy with the natures head though. All the best and safe travels

Thanks so much. To be fair some of our hacks were learned off others, but we also appreciate that some people are new as we were not so long ago, and some of the hacks and mods aren’t always readily apparent to new van owners. And even older van owners don’t see new innovations.We had another Zone owner drop by us the other day - virtually identical van but different tunnel boot options and he was in photographing our tunnel boot slide. We barely use it but he wants and alternative to a full pull out kitchen. It’s how we all leave and share and enjoy our vans!

Thanks Tony. Absolutely agree that each person / couple will make personal choices that suit them best and how they see it. I respect that - and as you might have seen in some of our videos - i’m not tribal and I’m not paid by any brand to sell their product. It’s why we try to focus on things that might help people’s considerations about options and considerations in their van choice. I do think there are a number of good vans out there. We love ours and happy to share and equally happy to hear why people made alternative choices. BTW a certain van product from Caloundra was in our final 5 when we down selected our options. They simply couldn’t show us a van and while we loved some things they were trying to do (perhaps better than Zone) there was a couple of things about layout that didn’t suit us. So for us Zone ticked more of our boxes (and of course we bought one) But if we are talking about the same product in Caloundra - it’s a very good product so I expect you are very happy with it and have a ball taking it where you want to go. We really appreciate the feedback thank you.

Thank you for watching and the feedback👍👍👍

Hi, thanks for watching and the feedback. It’s much appreciated. Wow, a couple more breakages than us!! Glad it’s being addressed. We are at 16745kms today. We shot the first part of that video a few weeks ago. So we are both roughly on par for the small gap in build dates! ZB 279

Thanks for watching and I appreciate the feedback. I hear you on the wind noise. For most of our videos we use GoPro because we want to capture it as it was and have a wind muff on the mike - but in this case the wind across the mike was a problem. It didn’t feel that windy TBH. For some of the higher production ones and formal piece to camera (rare) i’ve used a DJI mic and should have clipped one of those on at least tas a back up. Generally the technical equipment videos aren’t edited as tightly but I agree with you, the audio particularly a couple of sections at the back end weren’t where I wanted them. Good point. Thank you.

Hi thanks for watching and the great comment. Yes, absolutely if you want to be gas free and use the inductions you might want 600AH of battery and then you need to be able to replenish that with with north of 1080w solar. So it does add up a bit for many people in terms of cost and weight. For us, we like the versatility of the gas for the moment because it helps with very poor solar periods. We have two jetfoils as well for our walks and camping away from the van - so like you guys we aren't going without our cuppa any time soon 🤣. Thanks again. Great comment based on your usage and experience.

P.S. too late to worry about scratches on the Defender. It will need some touch ups when we get home!

Hey thanks for watching and the feedback. Great comments. It’s great you are still enjoying your Zone. Be great to see you on the road sometime. We are in WA as we speak (our channel videos are desperately trying to catch up 😂.

Thanks for watching and the comment. Much appreciated. Sorry for the delayed response, we are in and out of communications at the moment. The quilt cover pattern is Scion, by Harlequin. I think I bought it at the Bed, Bath and Table outlet store at DFO in Brissy. So I’m not sure you can still get it. I bought an extra doonah cover on sale at the time to sew up some pillow slips which I couldn’t buy at the time. ❤️ Paula

@@nextleveloz thanks so much for the info. Look forward to following your journey. Safe travels 😊

We’ve been very happy with the Zone. Made in Australia and the chassis and composite panels are also made in Australia. In this video the breakages were items from Truma (since fixed) and the Enerdrive DC2DC failed and was replaced under warranty. The drawer/ door catches were irritations noting they are easily fixed. Given where the van has gone now over 32,000km and structurally excellent we are very happy. Glad you are happy with your van also.

@@nextleveloz I'm actually looking at getting a crusader by the end of the year, made in Melbourne, their 13. & 14 ft models aren't too bad on price.

@@man.i.literally.failed6772 You certainly see a few Crusaders on the road. Good luck with your decision and safe travels .

Hi. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts. Its an interesting discussion on battery and solar isn’t it?. It’s going to come down to weight, cost, your usage and ultimately the ability to keep that capacity charged. Some people feel they want more because they are living in their vans full time and that might well be necessary in our view. In that case though, The general rule of thumb is that you need about twice in watts as your battery capacity now in amps. So we run 400ah and with 720 solar on top and 200e blanket we’ve been pretty good (wish we had one extra panel). So if you want to run with more battery people need to consider having more solar to keep it charged. So say, 1200w in your case which might be why with 600 you think it’s just enough ??? 1200 would probably be ideal. But that’s another 15kg to carry. The challenge many people will find is that if they don’t have gas and rely more on battery - will be whether they can keep that extra battery capacity charged. We had the DC2DC in the car fail early in our lap - so we relied purely on the solar input. And we had gas in some quite cold conditions. So in our case because we have the gas and just enough solar we were fine. But extra battery would not have helped us then. But as we get toward the end of our lap we’ve met tons and tons of people having a ball with even less battery than us. Yep- don’t need a TV, other devices do the job. And composting! Thanks again, interesting discussion. cheers

@@nextlevelozhey mate, cheers for the reply. yes I agree with double solar vs battery capacity. we bought our van (Kimberley E3 Kruiser) second hand, so didn't really get a choice there. 1200W would be ideal, and would also keep pace with AC usage, not to mention the kettle, slow cooker and induction hob etc. I've considered getting 2x 430w light weight panels to boost input, and also replace the existing external glass panels (super efficient, but heavy) We live and work from the van, so our demands are prob higher than most ;)

@@bonezed No worries. And yes living and working makes a difference. If we are off grid and using starlink big time that has a bit more of a draw. Understand re the van. I don’t know if they can even fit extra. We were told we couldn’t fit an extra on ours at the time, but they can. The AC is a big draw Weve only used ours off grid for a couple of hours to take the sting out the day. Have a good one and thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. We love it when people share their experiences - it adds to the collective experience. cheers

Thanks for watching and the question. I'm a bit tied up sorting out a problem with the Defender currently - but let me check and provide more info if I can to help. It's not a "perfect" fit, but goos enough for government work😉 if that makes sense. Wait out and I will check! cheers

I understand they wanted to rationalise the models. You’re quite right the smallest was the 19ft Peregrine. I’m not sure what the length of the new expedition is. In the grand scheme we’ve got a reasonably large van at 18.6 which we’re happy with having seen some monster rigs out and about! cheers

@@nextleveloz I think they made a smaller single axle base.

@@placestosea You. are correct. Sorry my typo i meant to say “is” not “was” 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ in regard to the peregrine to agree that 19’ is. oq the smallest . Yes they previously made a 17 ‘ van and before that they made an even smaller Expedition. I think that want to only build double axle trailers now.

Hi Dave, thanks for watching and good questions. I did have a small section on the tool box and moisture but took it back out for time reasons and the fact they have replaced the tool box in future models. No we don’t get moisture in as such - seals are tight, so we don’t have the issue where some people have had to tighten the latches and we don’t have an apparent leak. Our experience was that of rain getting in while the door is open (and we’ve had to operate in heavy rain) or you get the water dribble out of the hoses (that reminds me i should have included the flat reel water hoses and grey water hoses 😳🤔🙄). In that case the moisture can hang around and the tool box deals so well when it heats up you get condensation on the tool box roof and it can recirculate a bit like a terrarium 😂. or a water still 😂. So we wipe the top with the towel and decided to put those in to help as a preventative. On the freezer - we haven’t had any ice cream in the freezer. Most things freeze very well in the main compartment - but it’s worth noting that at the lower setting they recommend to prevent premature icing up, items in the freezer door might not completely freeze. So we use that for the frozen lime slices (ie we cut up fresh limes if we see them at an ok price, slice them, crivac them and put them in the freezer for our G&T or soda water. As they don’t stay there as long we are happy to take the risk they aren’t solid frozen. So we have heard the issue with ice cream, but we have had any in the freezer. If we did we’d probably put it in the freezer compartment in the car fridge which mostly stays set on wine fridge temps to save that car portable battery a bit. Sorry - long answer. But the damp rids are a preventative because we know we have the hoses in the tool box and eve had that recirculated condensation occur and no have had ice cream in the freezer but certainly read the reports. cheers Dave

I’m afraid not. We bought it from the Zone team at a Zone owners muster.

Are there any band names or markings on the bag? Or do you have any contacts of the muster people that I can contact to get a sink bag? It looks marvellous!@@nextleveloz

@@Abstar101Zone. Check with ZoneRV to see if they still have them or can point you in the right direction. cheers

Hi Kerrie, thanks for watching and your question. I think you mean the All Smalls hanger. We bought it direct from their online store allsmalls.com.au. Hope that helps. All the best.