Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 13:16:33 -0800
Reply-To: Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Announcement: the BZ Shelf
In-Reply-To: <71d9cdf90801071235h30f062ael734497d4df362443@mail.gmail.com>
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Beats me -- Mrs Squirrel and I prefer sleeping downstairs. Tom -- do you
use the upper bunk?
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR
On 1/7/2008 12:35 PM Jake de Villiers wrote:
> Way to go guys! Nice job with the design Tom and thanks for the Wiki
> Rocky.
>
> Any trouble getting in and out of the upper berth with the shelf there?
> I can't really see how much of the access slot the BZ covers.
>
> Thanks again, Jake
>
> On Jan 2, 2008 5:40 PM, Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@gmail.com
> <mailto:camping.elliott@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Back in August or so Mrs Squirrel and I became frustrated with having to
> deal with boxes of groceries and stuff which were constantly underfoot
> when camping in places where the local critters were eying our
> comestibles
> with considerable interest. I wondered whether it might be possible to
> hang a shelf in the otherwise unused overhead space at the front of the
> raised poptop and posted a proposal involving chains and skyhooks and
> stuff, an idea that was doomed to never work.
>
> Several folks suggested better ways to go about it, but nothing seemed
> very easy to me. Then Tom Buese, who was apparently looking for an
> excuse
> to avoid doing real work, popped up with a design for a shelf which
> mounts
> easily on the poptop's crossarm with a couple of hardware store U-bolts,
> holds a surprising amount of stuff when deployed, and folds flat against
> the roof when the top is down. He put together a prototype and
> emailed a
> dimensioned drawing of his idea to me. I banged a version together in a
> couple of hours without hardly any significant loss of blood and mounted
> it up. After a test on a short camping trip, it has become a permanent
> addition to our Westy. Best thing I've ever done -- besides marrying Mrs
> Squirrel, I'd say.
>
> After the Vanagon Wiki went "live" this year I suggested to Tom that we
> could post a how-to article about his "BZ Shelf" but it took him a
> bit of
> time to take the pictures and refine the drawing. But finally, after
> considerable nagging on my part, I got him to post the stuff to me so I
> could write the article.
>
> If you're like me, able to use a reciprocating saw without hardly ever
> cutting off a finger, own a Westy, and find yourself sometime
> wishing you
> had a darn place to put pots and pans and coolers and stuff that seem to
> crowd your floor when camping, do yourself a favor and build a BZ
> Shelf. I
> reckon you'll be glad you did.
>
> So here it is, with Tom's permission: photos and plans at
> http://vanagonwiki.net/index.php/Buese_Shelf
> <http://vanagonwiki.net/index.php/Buese_Shelf>
>
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
> KG6RCR
>
>
>
>
> --
> Jake
> 1984 Vanagon GL
> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> Crescent Beach, BC
> www.crescentbeachguitar.com <http://www.crescentbeachguitar.com>
> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/
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