Date:         Sat, 28 Aug 2004 10:21:29 -0700
Reply-To:     BA <ande@SAN.RR.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         BA <ande@SAN.RR.COM>
Subject:      Re: step to upper bunk - new version
In-Reply-To:  <15537-4130A022-731@storefull-3171.bay.webtv.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 10:09:22 -0500, you wrote:

>One question..
>How does one get from the floor to the top of the counter?
>I have a bunk step that I bought on E-Bay.
>And have seen many Westfalia's in my travels with this very same custom
>step, that fits into the front table leg mount.
>I isn't the same as Allistair's, but the same basic idea.
>I am 5'6" tall.
>Not 6' 6"
>Don't have long legs.
>Am not a pole vaulter.
>Am not a monkey.
>Please explain how one gets to the top of the counter, or the upper bunk
>without some sort of an assist step.
>I am interested in your launch technique Tobin.
>Ropes and pulley's attached to the upper pop top bow's perhaps?
>
>RC


I'm 5'9" tall, I do have long legs, and I can just barely manage to
get myself up there!  It helps (not!) that I have pipestep arms that
are of little antigravitational assistance.

I can step on the driver-seat platform and from there use a step onto
the edge of the counter to help boost myself up.  But given my adult
weight of [censored], I'm not too pleased to keep stepping on the
counter.  And I don't have the tools or skills to build a step.  Does
someone sell one?

And carrying this further (given my lack of upper-body strength), does
anyone know of a way to make popping the top easier?  I simply can't
manage to do it.  My husband's method involves pushing it up with his
arm while he pulls the crossbar into place.  But I can't hold it up
with my arms ... only with my shoulders and then I'm in the way of the
crossbar.

Can any mechanical engineers design me a pulley assist or something?


B(&S)
'87 Westy 'Esmerelda Blanc'
SoCal