Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2008 14:29:26 -0700
Reply-To: Tom Buese <tombuese@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Tom Buese <tombuese@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Re: Announcement: the BZ Shelf
In-Reply-To: <478296B1.8060203@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed
On Jan 7, 2008, at 2:16 PM, Michael Elliott wrote:
> Beats me -- Mrs Squirrel and I prefer sleeping downstairs. Tom --
> do you
> use the upper bunk?
I relegate non consensual guests to the upper bunk, but I have slept
up there until I figured out it was not as comfy as downstairs.
Tom
>
> --
> 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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