Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 17:40:29 -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: Announcement: the BZ Shelf
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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
--
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
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