Skip to main content

Review: Sleeping in a Bus up on the Mountain

[Editors Note- On his way to Southern Worthersee, our own Bill Cho decided to troll us via social media.  As we also happen to be VWvortex forum admins, Director of Sales John Acton and I thought it fitting to slap him with a temporary ban from our cabin for the infraction.  He made out better than we’d envisioned.  This is his story.]

“The cabin is infested with scorpions.”

To be honest, it wasn’t exactly what we wanted to hear from our VMG advance team as we pulled up to the cabin before Southern Worthersee. It was a long 16 hour drive that included rain, speed traps in Virginia, a poorly timed message that went out just prior to us losing all communications in the North Carolina mountains (with our colleagues frantically trying to reach us for hours), and a detour to the Tail of the Dragon where we sat for two hours while a B8 S4 burned on one of the 318 curves. It was suffice to say that we were exhausted.

Being the last to arrive, the other members had already grabbed the choice bedrooms and couches. Thinking a bit more quickly than I did, my road trip companion pulled rank and claimed the last spot. In other words, they were off the floor where the scorpions were staging death matches. With immortal words of Bill Paxton’s Aliens character in my head (Game over, man! Game over!), I resigned myself to a slow painful sting-filled weekend. But then I was informed of an alternative sleeping arrangement and for me, a much cooler one.

choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-366

Earlier in the day, coolvwstuff.com stopped by and dropped off a VW T1 Camper Van tent and two 3 Season Blue Bus sleeping bags. I always wanted a T1 Bus and now I had one, albeit in an exact scale orange and white tent.  At least it was still air-cooled.

Setup was incredibly easy.   Each bungee corded tent pole is labeled with a letter for a stress free assembly.  The poles attach in a free standing frame.  The waterproof outer tent (with T1 graphics) is then pulled over the frame and inserted into fittings on the tent. The whole thing is pegged into the ground and adjustable guide lines prevent the tent from being blown over.

The inner tent, which is polyester and breathable, has hooks that snap onto the frame. You may also choose to not install this part if you are setting up at your kid’s soccer game or the beach. The enclosed inner tent is divided into two equal sections via a zippered wall with hooks in the ceiling to hang items such as a lantern. When fully assembled, the tent is large enough for four people and tall enough to stand up inside. As an additional nod to the bus, occupants enter through double doors on the passenger side. The inner tent has a corresponding entrance with the inner double door also having a fly screen.

choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-367

All in all, it took two people about 15 minutes to assemble. With practice, I know we could have knocked that time down to 10 minutes. When I got home, I assembled the tent myself and it still only took me about 20 minutes.

So how was the test drive? Fearing bears less than creatures from the Alien film franchise, I snuggled into my 3 Season Blue Bus sleeping bag, zipped up the fly door (but left the outer doors open), and was soon snoring. My colleagues joked that the bears stayed away because such loud noises were coming from the tent that they left the area, fearing a trap. Obviously there was plenty of room as I was the only occupant but I have a 6 person tent at home and this was easily just as roomy. I never felt smothered as the material of the interior tent is breathable.  More impressively, none of Sunday’s rain was able to make its way inside the tent.

choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-364

When the time came to head north, taking down the tent was a breeze. We just reversed the assembly procedure and had the tent down in minutes. The pegs and poles have their own bags and everything, tents included, fits into a large duffel bag.

So if you’re nostalgic for the 60s or want to have a conversation piece on your next camping trip, think about getting a VW T1 Camper Van tent from coolvwthings.com. Or become scorpion fodder…it’s up to you.

choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-365 choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-367 choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-364 choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-368 choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-362 choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-363 choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-366 choice-gear-t1-camper-tent-369

The post Review: Sleeping in a Bus up on the Mountain appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1L5hFzx
via IFTTT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

    When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier.  The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow.   While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something .  To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it.  Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait.  So with this in mind, we lined our G...

2025 VW Taos gets styling tweaks, power bump

Filed under: Volkswagen , Crossover Continue reading 2025 VW Taos gets styling tweaks, power bump 2025 VW Taos gets styling tweaks, power bump originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 12 Sep 2024 09:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments from Autoblog https://ift.tt/5syqkoQ

Novitec, Unsatisfied with Aventador SV, Adds More Veloce

The Lamborghini Aventador SV is no slouch, but if you’re into Lamborghinis, chances are you’re into big numbers. Whether it’s in the bank or under the hood, a big number could, and perhaps should, always be bigger, which is where Novitec steps in. Novitec has been modifying Italian cars for years, and their Torado line is dedicated to making ridiculous Lamborghinis even more ridiculous. Their latest effort takes the Aventador SV and remaps the engine to give it 786hp and 544 lb-ft of toque. They’ve also fitted the car with a new exhaust system that cuts 50 lbs off the car. Other mods include a carbon fiber aero package, spoiler, front splitter and air intake, all of which helps it shed even more weight. The Aventador also sits on 21 (back) and 20 (front) inch Vossen wheels. So if you think that a regular Aventador is just a little too pedestrian, give Novitec a call and they’ll hook you up. The post Novitec, Unsatisfied with Aventador SV, Adds More Veloce appeared first on VWVor...