I saw about 5 vanagons out and about this weekend as I visited Mt. Adams and circumnavigated Mt Hood in the Columbia River Gorge area of the northwest. Probably saw Ellen (off-white?) as I came home from my bicycle race up I-84 along the river. Also, there are two Dokas that live around Hood River, Or..A very nice and frequently driven green one, double cab, with some big Cibie lights, etc. For screens, curtains, and loose maps, lists, etc...Get a bunch of magnets. Incorporate them into whatever it is you are trying to attach, temporarily, to your van...Our vans are steel and you can stick, with a magnet, anything anywhere. I went online and Googled magnets, found an inexpensive source and bought 3 dozen that are about 5/8" long x 1/4" wide x 1/8" thick. Very tenacious things. We sewed some into the removable curtains for my 84 weekender/westie wannabee. You can make some foldable screens from plastic screening and glue-on edging(available at fabric stores) I have some folded up in my van that I've not used yet...I've seen screen curtains made in a similar fashion for side-slider.. Stick the curtain, with sewn-in magnets on the top, sew or glue some weights in the bottom, size them to overlap in the center of the slider opening..Not so slick looking as a dedicated screen or a permanent curtain, but when you doggie is trying to protect your van, or you are carrying plywood, or you pull onto the freeway and forget you are in 'camping mode' with your curtains pulled shut...something like that...And certainly less expensive than Go Westie or wherever... I like to to have my van adaptable, since I use it daily in various ways. That's why I don't have a full-westie and why I left out the rear and the overhead cabinets. Magnet-curtains and screens allow me to put them up just when I need them and to not worry about damaging them or working around them the other 99% of the time when I am NOT camping in the vanagon..Takes about 5 mins to install the curtains when I go to bed or have nosey neighbors. If it's buggy, I'll stick up a screen over whatever window I open.. The extra magnets..I use to hold down paper maps, hang up my damp laundry, etc etc.. Don Hanson |
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