balloon beds have the air pocket which will keep you warm rather than convect heat away from you. when you use layers to keep warm, lots of thin layers are better than thick layers as they'll trap more air giving more warmth.
i emailed them about a week ago asking where it was starting from as it had some bearing on if i could make it as i'm on my way home from a week away but got no reply.
shame, i was looking forward to it.
I've got both, a Renault trafic and a Nissan navara and I would recomend the van all the way.
Ignore the hi-tops and extra row of seats unless you've got a family to transport, because you'll end up driving everybody else to the trails all the time.
why dont you take your riding kit out there, ride it around a bit,leave it dusty/dirty, buy a bike bag scuff it up a bit and put the new bike in the bag and it looks like you've had it a while already.
roller shutter doors are rubbish, i've been fitting them for about 9-10 years now and anything wider than a personnel door is just too flexy and they pop out of the guides each side then flap about in the wind. what you've probably got is overhead sectional doors which are a bit better but not infalible.
as said above, if they want it, they'll get it!!
I've had one for a little over a year now and whilst it's brilliant at boiling water quick i find it a tad limiting on cooking "gourmet" food, if your out for an all day expedition i'd probably take a small alky stove that boils in around 7-8 minutes with a slightly fatter pot than a 2 minute boil in a tall narrow pot that concentrates the heat in a small area. 5-6 minutes difference is nothing if your out all day.
That said, it is extremely good for boil in the bag stuff/rehydrated stuff.
check out shug emery on you tube, he tests loads of different stoves and makes it entertaining at the same time.
Stu,
mine should be here for when I'm round your neck of the woods in a few weeks time, you can have a look at mine and deceide which size you want. At least I hope it will be here by then.
don't worry about upsetting them, your not there to make friends.
when we got the fixtures and fittings list she said she'd sell us the un-used oil in the tank(oil fired central heating), i told her she could keep it. she didn't!
we went in just under 10% of the asking price and i think we settled on about 8%.
stick to your guns, make an offer and leave it for a couple of weeks, if they've had no more offers they'll be back
if you can, go to the guild hall with some headed paper(made up) and ask for a contractors permit which costs a quid per vehicle then find a closeby residential street, of which there are plenty near the centre and park there for the princely sum of two whole pounds for all day.
bargain-ous.