I cannot understand why caravan manufacturers do not offer more variants with twin beds. I'm 70 and have been an active caravanner for longer than I can remember, but as you get older you need to visit the bathroom during the night inevitably waking your wife/partner in the process. Older folks generally toss & turn, scratch or break wind during the night, so sleeping close together, but not in the same bed is the way to go. Us retirees used to be considered as 'Silver Surfers' with more cash to spare than the younger folks who are still bringing up their children & paying a mortgage, so why don't the caravan manufacturers have more thought for our needs? We want to replace our double axle 8 metre van with one of similar size that has twin beds and the selection is less than meagre.
My wife and I are both 70 too, and we use the front seats as single beds for that very reason. We don't have a table at the front, as we eat at the smaller dinette at the rear or in the awning on longer stays. It's ideal for us. Our van is much smaller though, and positively ancient, but is suits us perfectly. Doesn't owe us anything either.
------------- Best Regards,
Colin
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Side dinnette models suit us fine allowing to sleep two singles at the front and no bed making up. Meals on side dinnette table and front table never been out of storage cupboard. Now on our fifth caravan of this layout
Interesting comments to be sure. Unfortunately I find the long seats at the front too hard for my arthritic hips for a nights sleep and also a tad too short, but you've given me food for thought.
Our seats are fine as beds, but that may be because they are well used, even though they don't look it. Newer ones might be harder. I have a bit of arthritis in my left hip and if it got uncomfortable I would probably just put a memory foam layer on it. I'm 5' 10" and I have plenty of room.
I also suffer back problems as I approach the eighties. I suffer from degenerative sacriolitis as a result of breaking pelvis after a fall off a roof twenty years ago but find the front seats comfortable for sleeping and have regular good nights.
We use the front singles. I think in a twin bed or fixed bed the front singles are shorter. So get a 2 berth and they will be plenty long enough I'm 6'4" and find them long enough in our little 2 berth.
We use sleeping bags which we roll and keep in the bottom of the wardrobe to ease storage and making beds up.
We prefer twin beds for the reason outlined above and bought a Lunar Clubman SB because the beds are wider than the competitions. With the addition of Duvalay sleeping bags, which have inbuilt mattress toppers, we enjoy excellent sleeping conditions.
Good information Dave, thank you. The SB is only 2 feet shorter than our 2 axle Buccaneer and I'd been toying with the idea of a single axle van also. Even with 4 motor movers twin axle vans can be difficult to manoeuvre at times. Will certainly check out the SB.
We have a Swift with single beds and a neighbour has a Bailey Unicorn with a similar layout. I got fed up with having to climb over himself in the middle of the night! Also, much of our camping is done on the continent and single beds are cooler than sleeping with someone else in a double.
------------- Freedom is a light caravan and an open road.
We have the two berth front twin singles/ seating layout, which suits us fine, and enjoy a nice big end bathroom with a huge wardrobe for storage all in a single axelled 462 Caravan.
If l could have my wish with the manufacturers and designers, it would be to have the option of two comfortable and fully upholstered recliner chairs built into the layout. At the moment we achieve a version of this by using some foam block wedges as high back rests and just swing our feet up onto the seats for support.
There must be a lot of caravanners who for various reasons would prefare more of a traditional riser recliner chair option, either of a manual or powered design, to enable them to be more comfortable in their caravans?
Even a pair of reclining supportive Captains seats similar to those found in the cabs of many Motorhomes, and modified to include a foot/leg rest would be a good start and welcome addition to a caravans layout.
Julia
------------- Just love to be out amoungst Nature and Wildlife
Celebrating 37 years of Caravanning in 2019, Recently Considered Retiring, but Totally Addicted for Life!
Good information from Julia & Joanna. More vans to check out. Upon reflection and having looked at the vans mentioned in your posts it seems that single beds are favoured in single axle vans, whereas only a few twin axle vans have them. I very much agree with Joanna that two people in one bed generate too much heat (for whatever reason) so singles are cooler. Lots of homework to do.
Quote: Originally posted by romany girl on 03/11/2019
We have the two berth front twin singles/ seating layout, which suits us fine, and enjoy a nice big end bathroom with a huge wardrobe for storage all in a single axelled 462 Caravan.
If l could have my wish with the manufacturers and designers, it would be to have the option of two comfortable and fully upholstered recliner chairs built into the layout. At the moment we achieve a version of this by using some foam block wedges as high back rests and just swing our feet up onto the seats for support.
There must be a lot of caravanners who for various reasons would prefare more of a traditional riser recliner chair option, either of a manual or powered design, to enable them to be more comfortable in their caravans?
Even a pair of reclining supportive Captains seats similar to those found in the cabs of many Motorhomes, and modified to include a foot/leg rest would be a good start and welcome addition to a caravans layout.
Julia
I agree, our ideal layout would be twin fixed beds with free standing recliners at the front. This was a conversion I considered making to our van, but the amount of equipment that required moving precluded it. I made a backrest for the nearside which my wife uses as you describe and I make do with a padded cushion against the kitchen unit.
We have a Unicorn 4 Cadiz, the twin beds are 6'5" long. A little narrow but very comfortable. We previously had a Vigo with the transverse bed which was a little short for me.
We have had the side bed version but one of you is against the wall so not easy to get out without disturbing the other!
------------- DS-There's more to life than football!!!
We had the elddis xplore 574, twin beds and a huge end bathroom, it’s single axle and very lightweight, we found the living room seats a bit short to spread out on, there is an updated version on the market now