Tatner’s Tips – No 1. Magnetic Hooks

Michelle Tatner writes:

I don’t know about you, but I am at the age when I need to wear glasses when I read, or anything else when I come to think of it. I love to read for a while in bed especially when I am all snuggled up in our T6 campervan Ginny and this is where the problem starts. It’s easy to pop your book under the pillow and it doesn’t really matter all that much if it slips down the side of the bed, however, where do you put your fragile spectacles to go to sleep? If I had a pound for every time that I have had to get out of the van to retrieve my glasses case and my mobile phone/torch from under the rock and roll bed, I would probably be driving around in a fancy VW California.

In our first van Misty the T25 Holdsworth Villa there was a shelf overhead so you could pop your book, glasses, torch, mobile phone, midnight chocolate supply etc. on it to go to sleep. We do not have this luxury in Ginny and we didn’t want to start drilling holes to fix a shelf and Steve was getting fed up with me waking him up every time I had to lean over him to put my bits and pieces on the work top area. So, what to do? 

After trialling all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas including sticky Velcro (not good when you get your hair caught in it – don’t ask!) and with the help of You Tube, I discovered the joys of Magnetic Hooks.

You can buy them in all sizes and weight bearing capability, and if there is a metal base you can move them around the van to suit your needs. If I use them on the outside of the van, I do put a small piece of thin fabric between the metal and the magnet just to protect the paintwork.

We use the Magnetic hooks for a wide range of things including but not limited to:

• Hang my glasses and phone bag on at bedtime (yay)
• Coat and hat hooks (great for hanging up wet clothing)
• Hooks to keep the dog lead on and other dog related apparel
• Internal and external fairy light holders (I love a fairy light!)
• Shopping bag holder to keep shopping goodies off the floor and away from doggy temptation
• Rubbish bag holder
• Washing line holder fixed between the barn doors (perfect for rinsing out your smalls)
• Securing an old shower curtain to the barn doors for privacy when taking an outside hand shower and perfect for holding the towel and toilet bag.

I can go on, but I think you get the idea. I bought ours from Amazon from the Ant Mag Store and they are called Heavy duty magnetic hooks 36KG (80LBS). As at the date of writing, they cost £15.99 plus postage for 6 though there are certainly deals to be had for different sizes and quantities and other providers of course. As with all these things, read the instructions of use carefully, take care to where you put them, I found that popping one in the middle of the top of sliding door wasn’t a wise move and I wouldn’t attach one to any of my electronics or my mobile phone.

Until next time, happy camping everyone, Michelle