Gifts for campervan and motorhome owners who like a walk

Ask yourself what they do with the van. If the answer is "park it somewhere beautiful and go for a walk", the best present is something that makes that easier, warmer or better planned. If the answer is "tinker with it every weekend", they have probably already bought the gadget you are looking at. The gifts below are for the first kind of owner: the walker with a van, and quite often a dog.

Space is the other test. A campervan has no spare cupboard. Anything bulky has to earn its place, so lean towards small things that get used every trip.

• Proper walking socks. The cheapest gift on this list and one of the most welcome. Good socks prevent more blisters than anything else in a boot.
• A headtorch. In December the light goes before half past four in much of Britain. A headtorch in the pocket turns a walk that ran late into a story rather than a worry.
• Walking poles. A pair that folds small enough for a door pocket. They save knees on the way down.
• A map of the area they love. A paper OS map of a favourite stretch of coast or hills lives in the van for years and comes out every visit.
• A flask that keeps tea hot for hours. The second-best moment of a winter walk is the cup at the top.
• A waterproof map case or a dry bag. For the map, the phone and the car keys on a wet day, so nothing in the rucksack comes home soaked.
• A small rucksack that packs flat. For short walks from the van, where the big pack would be overkill and the carrier bag is not quite enough.

• Snug external screens for the cab windows. A motorhome's big single-glazed windscreen loses a lot of heat. Screens that fit snugly around the outside of the glass give less condensation than loose internal ones, the Camping and Caravanning Club says. Check the make and model before you buy.
• An insulated jacket for the outside water container. The Camping and Caravanning Club calls an insulated jacket that also covers the inlet pipe the basic requirement for an Aquaroll in the depths of winter.
• A spare propane cylinder, or a voucher towards one. Butane stops working as it nears freezing; propane keeps going, both touring clubs say. A full spare in the locker is a gift that pays off on the coldest night of the year. (More in propane or butane.)
• A small thermostatic fan heater for hook-up. The Caravan and Motorhome Club suggests one of around 1kW for a quick warm-up first thing in the morning.

Plenty of van owners travel with a dog, and the dog has its own kit list.

• A dog first aid kit. Small enough for a rucksack, with a tick remover. Your vet can tell you what to put in it for your own dog.
• A towel that dries fast. The van is small and the dog is wet. Every trip.
• A light for the collar. For the last walk of the evening on a dark campsite.
• A guide that says which walks the dog can do. Every walk in the Park Up & Walk guides says whether dogs are allowed, and on what terms, with the source and the date it was checked.

The present that keeps giving is a reason to go somewhere new. A touring guide to a region they haven't explored yet, or to the one they keep going back to, gets read on the sofa in January and used in the van in May.

The Park Up & Walk guides were written for exactly this reader. Each one splits a region into touring bases: places to stay two to four nights without moving the van, each with campsites checked for size, hook-up and dogs, walks you can start from the van with a real map, a height profile and a GPX route, and the pub at the end. There are guides to ten regions, from Cornwall to the North Coast 500, and a winter edition for Christmas.

For someone who keeps touring through the cold months, the Winter Campsite Index is free and lists the campsites that say they stay open all winter.

The early riser who walks before breakfast: a headtorch, a flask, and a guide with short walks that start from the campsite gate.

The planner who has next summer mapped out already: a guide to a region they haven't done, a paper map to spread across the table, and a notebook for the walk log.

The winter tourer who refuses to lay the van up: propane, snug cab screens, a carbon monoxide alarm if the van doesn't have one, and the free Winter Campsite Index printed out and tucked in a card.

The dog's chauffeur, whose trips are planned around beaches and pubs that take dogs: a first aid kit, a towel, a collar light, and a guide that says which walks and pubs welcome dogs.

The new owner who has just bought their first van: a guide that explains hook-up, water and waste in plain English, and a voucher for their first night somewhere good.

One gift that does more than any other in a van with a gas heater is a carbon monoxide alarm. The NHS advises an alarm that makes a loud sound wherever gas is burned, and carbon monoxide has no colour or smell. If the van already has one, a gift of a fresh battery and a reminder to test it is not as dull as it sounds.

Anything big. Anything that needs its own power supply unless you know they are always on hook-up. Novelty mugs that won't fit the cupboard. A gadget for the van itself, unless you have asked: owners tend to know exactly which part they want, and the model matters. And anything that involves the gas or the electrics: that is a job for a qualified engineer, not a present.

A gift card for an outdoor shop is fine too, if you would rather they chose their own socks and poles: they will know their size and their taste better than you do.

When in doubt, socks, a map, and a book about where to go next. You will rarely see a happier face than on someone who has just been given a reason to plan a trip.