Practical Matters for the Van (2023)

 

When we purchased the van from the Lin's they told us we would have fun personalizing it and figuring out how we wanted to use it.  Sure enough I could not get in there soon enough to start some projects.  

First off, I wanted a cover for the cassette toilet, since we were going to be storing some other stuff in the same (shower) compartment.  I had left over fabric from a BBQ cover I made earlier, so here is the toilet (before & after), and a cover I made for the mattress pad from some remnant fabric at Joann's that is going to be stored in the same compartment:

Barry & I have had a 2-person sleeping bag from the early 2000's that has/had an integrated way to fit over a blow-up mattress.  Imagine something like this with a "fitted sheet" attached to the bottom that has a few handy-dandy mesh bags sewn into it:

I cut off the "fitted sheet" part and made many things out of it!  

Hiking pole storage bag:

Cut out the mesh bags, finished off the edges and Barry installed in various locations in van:

The e-brake cover on Mercedes Sprinter vans is a bit wonky.  The plastic cover does not want to stay on.  These cover sell for $60-$70 on-line...I made one for $10 out of vinyl from Joann's:

Not sure if we will do much cooking, but just in case, I made a foldable backsplash out of old Amazon boxes and aluminum wrap for the potential grease :

I am sure we will discover more things we will need as we go on more trips! Bon voyage!