Get away from the sun and mosquitoes

A sunny campsite has its advantages and disadvantages. The latter may include a problem with insects and too intense sun. Fortunately, we can hide from them in a camper or caravan.

There is one condition. We need to think about protecting ourselves against a potential threat before embarking on a journey. Currently, there are many amenities available on the market, thanks to which flies, mosquitoes, the sun, or even ... curious eyes will be harmless to us.

Most of the available solutions are for the side windows of a motorhome. A simple protection can be, for example, the installation of a spring roller shutter .

Roller shutters are available in many sizes, but if the offer is not sufficient, the wider model can be narrowed down to the desired size. It is only important to keep 3 centimeters of fabric more than the width of the window. The roller blind should also be longer than the window opening. Thanks to this, the material will effectively protect against too strong sunlight falling into the interior.

By pulling the handle, you can unfold the roller blind with one hand movement. After releasing the catch, the shutter will return to the cassette. In order for the reflection of rays to be more effective, the roller shutter can be covered on one side with a layer of aluminum foil. The roller blind is designed for frameless windows. In the case of a Dometic product, it costs from about PLN 60 (the price will depend on the size).

An interesting solution are sun visors, installed on the outside on tilt windows . The advantage of this solution is the possibility of leaving the windows tilted and at the same time protecting the interior from the sun. As a result, the cabin will heat up less. Similar covers can also be attached to roof windows. Polyester covers are easy to clean and resistant to various weather conditions (including tearing by rain and wind). They cost about PLN 250.

The most advanced, but also the most expensive solution is a combined system consisting of a roller shutter and a mosquito net . While the first will protect against the sun, the second will protect against e.g. mosquitoes.

The roller blind and the mosquito net can be placed in one upper cassette. Then we can leave the thinner, translucent material or decide to pull out a thicker blind. Importantly, the mosquito net can be unfolded to a different height than the roller blind, so we can, for example, protect ourselves from the sun up to the middle of the window, but also extend the protection against insects. Advantage? More fresh air will flow in through the mosquito net. The cost is about PLN 500-600.

There is also another solution available - a mosquito net that slides out from the top to the bottom, and a roller blind pulls out from the bottom up . The two parts can then meet each other in one of three positions. These types of solutions can also be modified and shortened, adapting to different sizes of frameless windows.

It is also worth thinking about securing the roof window. If we are not satisfied with the solution of applying a cover from the outside, in this case we can also choose a roller shutter. However, we can also install a safety net that will prevent both insects and leaves from getting inside.

But insects can also get inside through an open door. Fortunately, there are mosquito nets that can be fitted to the top of a split entrance door. An aluminum frame is installed in the upper part of the door, on which a safety net can be rolled out (the cost is less than PLN 400).

In the case of a motorhome, it is also good to consider the windshield covers and side windows (covered with aluminum foil), which can be folded out on the inside. Most of the standard covers are adapted to the size of the glass used in Fiat Ducato (and the twin: Peugeot Boxer and Citroen Jumper). The cover can be unfolded manually or pulled out from a cassette mounted under the ceiling (the price of the latter solution is about PLN 700).