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No Frills

Member Since: 16 Aug 2021
Location: N Yorkshire
Posts: 1

Wild Camping _ When is a defender a Camper Van

We have just come back from a great road trip around the outer Hebrides. We towed a small camping trailer we hired, spent a lot of time wild camping. Going forward we would like to add a roof tent to our 110 and probably an awning over the back door to protect a kitchen area.
However I note that whilst there are many sites where campervans can park up short term in the UK, the moment the stop over involves any ‘camping type behaviour’ they are not welcome. I understand this means no outdoor BBQ’s, no awnings, no ground tents etc, but am confused where the line is drawn between camper vans and roof top tents (which by definition are tents). The equivalent of a tent box would give a smaller footprint than many camper vans. The type of roof top that pulls out increases the width of the vehicle.
Does anybody have any experience of what is acceptable for overnight wild camping, or car park camping in England/ Wales to help us with our decision when thinking about the 110 conversion, or for this type of stop over do we need to prioritise sleeping in the vehicle only?

24th Sep 2021 12:41pm

geobloke

Member Since: 06 Nov 2012
Location: Nottinghamshire
Posts: 4393

Where's the line... It is personal judgement is all. I have wild camped many times with a roof tent and you'd never know I had been there.

The reality of the situation is that is doesn't matter whether you have a camper van or Defender with roof tent we are all becoming unwelcome when it comes to a quick overnight stop. Of course most of the animosity towards wild campers has been fuelled by the minority of campervaners/campers. It's always the minority.

Back to the question. IMHO there is no difference between a Defender with a roof tent and a camper van with a pop-up roof. But, think of the setup, having a tent that comes off the side means increasing the width of the vehicle, which could be irritating for other users or actually fitting in a small location. Having the tent open in-line keeps the footprint to pretty much the size of the vehicle and if of the back provides shelter for the kitchen area.

Just to highlight the visual problem of stopping for the night. As i drove past Llyn Ogwen (A5) yesterday morning I counted no less than 20 camper vans in the lay-bys by the lake. This is a popular past-time since Covid and lockdowns so the heightened attention was always going to happen. Then comes the legislation to control the wild camping and so on and so on...

This island is just too darned small....

24th Sep 2021 1:14pm

Julie

Member Since: 07 Oct 2017
Location: Nantes
Posts: 421

2012 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 SW Keswick Green

If you have anything outside your car while sleeping, the cops will be able to classify this as camping.
(including the ladder of the roof tent)
Nota: some european countries do not allow sleeping in your car.

However, cops have never been an issue. But we prefer wild camping somewhere deep in the forest since we made some bad experiences on a sea side parking next to a road in Spain.

24th Oct 2021 6:27pm

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