Climbing Van

Also, ambulance vans sometimes come in 4x4. Usually a ford or chevy v8. Usually easy to work on.

Just saw this:

thestonemind.com/2014/09/02…

This is on the side bar on the front page of MP right now.

climbing.com/video/video-a-…

Ian Stewart wrote: I think this is a MUCH bigger problem than you're making it seem. For example, from my quick search I wasn't able to find a single CNG station north of Cheyenne along I-25. With Ten Sleep being 300+ miles from Cheyenne, the only way you could make that trip with a CNG vehicle would be if you had a ~700 mile range, which is very unlikely

alot of CNG fleet vehicles are multifuel (all the USDA ones are anyway) so they can take CNG or regular gasoline.

It is FWD and yes it got stuck in sand dunes once pretty badly. Got dug up and pulled out by homes though. It is a flat road only van. Goes uphill nicely because it has the breaks that prevent slipping backwards on hills. We figured why taking your home 4 wheeling? We just don't go to the places that require that. We don't really go in the middle of nowhere for weeks in it. Both working we stay close to civilization and take 4 day to a week trips on paved roads here and there. Yes those are cabinet doors.

Inside the Vansion
Keeping things clean and we'll organized is super crucial. As you see this is a store and sleep only.

It wound not go up places like Skyline Rd in Ouray or some crags in Cochise. But we can hike in or hitch a ride. Remember it's only our first van.

This is a little off topic. But, what are some suggestions for car/van mattresses for two people? I was thinking of some kind of high density cooling memory foam. Again, sorry if this is off topic.

A foam mattress is great. If you want some degree of flexability, my wife and I lived out of a van for a month using two therm-a-rest neo air dream mattresses buttoned together ( cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-…). My (very picky wife) had zero complaints and said she never noticed that she was sleeping on an air mattress at all. High praise from her.

6 inch pousterpedic foam from Walmart is awesome. Expect to spend about $200 bucks on a Queen size ( that's what we have)

aliebling wrote:A foam mattress is great. If you want some degree of flexability, my wife and I lived out of a van for a month using two therm-a-rest neo air dream mattresses buttoned together ( cascadedesigns.com/therm-a-…). My (very picky wife) had zero complaints and said she never noticed that she was sleeping on an air mattress at all. High praise from her.

This. My wife and I have the slightly older model of the same, the ThermARest Dreamtime (non-Neo), which we use for car camping. How comfortable? When we moved 2 years ago, we used them buttoned together on the hardwood floor of the bedroom while we waited for our furniture to arrive. (International move, our stuff had to clear Customs.) When we got our regular bed, which has a high-end mattress, it really wasn't much different.

We love our futon mattress. Perhaps more durable and cheaper.

The suggestions are great so far. It looks like there are three different price categories. The futon< foam < Cascade. I like the idea that the futon and the cascade mattresses can be rolled up relatively easily. But, as cozy and inviting as Cascade sounds 400.00$ is a bit over the budget. Does anyone have experience rolling up a 6" memory foam mattress? Is that a PITA?

i.reynaud wrote:This is a little off topic. But, what are some suggestions for car/van mattresses for two people? I was thinking of some kind of high density cooling memory foam. Again, sorry if this is off topic.

This is exactly what I have in my van and love it. The mattress will be much stiffer in colder weather though, keep this in mind. I ordered off of overstock.com and found one pretty cheap with free shipping. Side note, I randomly punched in some numbers and letters in the coupon box and got 20 percent off. These can also be cut to the specific size you want it, then use the leftovers to pad your seats and/or make pillows.

Another option is to check your local IKEA clearance area for display foam mattress. They are usually on sale at 50% off. You can buy big and trim off excess to match your need and just fold the excess cover under.

I have a pop top eurovan that I swapped a diesel and manual transmission into. I have been living In it since april and have already put 27, 000 miles on it. We have 2 of us living in it full time and have had 4 people at times for up to two weeks. It has never let us down, I love it and wouldn't trade it for the world. Normally it gets around 35 mpg but it has gotten up to 41mpg...currently in alaska and only cost $350 to drive from calgary to fairbanks!

damn $200 for a mattress? I bought a $20 foam slab from fred meyer that was sold as a "RV matress" and cut it to fit inside my saab 9-3. Way comfortable, just as good as my nice bed at home.

Thanks for the input everyone too.. Still not sure if I will bite the bullet and move to a van, kinda got my eyes on a different car atm to live in and might switch to a van once I'm out west again

I built a removable bed for my Honda Odyssey - it's raised up enough to put plastic tubs of gear, tent, etc underneath - which keeps everything out of sight and hopefully keeps thieves from seeing all the climbing stuff and breaking in. All you see looking in is some blankets and pillows. Works out fine and takes just a couple minutes to take out and put the seats back in.

Ended up settling on this beauty last week. 1999 awd automatic astro with 52k. Runs great! Will take me a moment to accept the mpg but once I get it setup proper it will feel much better.

So majestic

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