BP Gas light POI & Gas advice

3232 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by raynipper, May 27, 2009

monkeyboypaul

Discussion Starter · May 25, 2009

Hi all,

We are due to leave for our 1st ever European tour next week in our old Hymer camp, however I'm a little uneasy about the gas situation...

We would like to avoid campsites due to the relatively high costs involved and will look to wild camp whenever possible, therefore our 20yr old fridge will be on Gas quite a bit.

We're going for up to 5months; with an 11Kg Propane bottle (100% full, UK regulator) and a 10Kg BP Gas light (70% full, UK BP style regulator). Travelling from Hull to Amsterdam, Germany, France, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy etc..

My concerns revolve around what to do when the BP Gas runs out - will i be able to refill it, swap it for another 'light' bottle, have to dump it somewhere appropriate, need special documentation to get another bottle in another country, need another type of regulator... and so on...

Does anyone have the TOMTOM POIs for BP Gas light in Europe?? The BP website is a bit crap for working out where stockists are, but OK if you know where you are already! Ideally I'd like 2x10Kg BP Gas light bottles but there's a generic 11KG waiting to be used right now... no point wasting it.

Ideally I'd like to keep one bottle as the spare and the other as a hot-swappable main source for gas, however I'm not sure how long a bottle will last, let alone how easy it will be to refill/replace/acquire a new bottle in each individual country.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Paul.

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1 - 7 of 7 Posts

bognormike

· #2 · May 25, 2009

you've 3 choices - get hold of stockists for BP (sorry can't help

), get local gas supplies & regulators etc, or get a gas tank or get a gaslow set up. The last one will cost a bit to set up, but you can fill up all over europe without worrying whether you'll run out.

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havingfun

· #3 · May 25, 2009

hi,
as bognormike,has said,a underslung tank is one of the best ways,we had ours fitted before we went on our first long trip,and we wild camped the full 6 months,all through france,spain,and portugal,and we had some rough weather,so heating on a lot,plus fridge.and it was so easy to fill up,one of the things that i couldent imagine being without,plus oh as well....

mags

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safariboy

· #4 · May 25, 2009

I am a convert to Gaaslow. It removes all the stress of running out of gas.
I have found it best to fill up at motorway service stations. The gas is slightly more expensive but when I tried a non-motorway station the pump was very slow, it was not clear how much had been delivered and the fitting did not have a "firm" feel to it.
There is also plenty of room near the pump.

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monkeyboypaul

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 27, 2009

It seems Gaslow or a fixed tank is the answer, however our budget will not stretch that far right now. We risk spending all our travelling cash on the vehicle and not having anything to spend abroad!

thanks for all the advice!

Perhaps when we return in November after some 'real' MHing experience, and perhaps a Van upgrade, then we'll get Gaslow, solar panels, bigger leisure battery, better security... the list goes on... but our funds don't!

Sometimes i wonder how everyone affords all this stuff, let alone the base vehicle... mid you, if we enjoy it on a shoestring then anything extra is a bonus!

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Rainbow-Chasers

· #6 · May 27, 2009

Just take one bottle of BP, which should last a while, and then you have a spare space for the foreign bottle. Take a new adapter for whichever brand you will be using and a screwdriver to fit. Job done!

Not sure if you need paperwork - but you may find someone that has a spare foreign bottle from their last euro trip that they may sell you!

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raynipper

· #7 · May 27, 2009

monkeyboypaul said:
It seems Gaslow or a fixed tank is the answer, however our budget will not stretch that far right now. We risk spending all our travelling cash on the vehicle and not having anything to spend abroad!

Hello monkey.........Paul.
A new 11kg bottle in France will cost just €1.00 for the tank and about €23.00 for the gas and refill. A French regulator is about €5 or €6 and you can keep it for the next trip or dump it at any decheterie.

We often travel with both UK Calor and Fr. Total cylinders.

Ray.

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