Cabbunks (1 Viewer)

[Solly]

Has anyone purchased a Cabbunk if so any thoughts/opinions would be welcome Thanks

 

[Tea Bag]

Hi.
Just Googled Cabbunk,should be OK. On non sleeper cabs of old,lads would measure out the width of the cab(Give or take) Cut a piece of old lorry sheet to approx double and sew up the ends together,next,(Keep up!) cut an old broom stale in half,open drivers door, put through end of canvas with half brush stale through trapping it when closing the door,when going to "roost",sit on passenger seat and do the same with the canvas and b/stale with the passenger door. this gives you a "Bunk/hammock of sorts"
WARNING!!
When you returned to the vehicle the worse for drink,i suggest you go back to the time honoured tradition of sleeping across the bonnet, this saves banged heads,trapped fingers and alerting all the police within a mile radius with the noise,and allow you to get at least another 2 hours sleep.

Cabbunk gets a 10 from me,if it folds away small,the first c/van we had,used a similar set up for the forth bunk,it was like a stretcher located on four "Cups ?",being only three of us it was never used,but it was there,if/or when. Europa 590c ? '72/3.
Tea Bag
PS. Picture the scene,gone midnight two "Knights of the road" arrive back at the lorries in N/hampton,third man had retired early. just to check what time we were all leaving,"A" opens his door (Not many door locks worked in those days) The piece of plywood for the bed, resting on the window ledge/bonnet, came down,out slid the "Third man LOL" in his sleeping bag,bang on the ground. "A". says.."Buried at sea" .The third man says....... " When i get out of this sleeping bag,their will be TWO MORE B*****D's buried at sea".
Happy days,when cabs were wood and men were steel.

 

[Solly]

I suppose I asked for that. Brought back a few memories for me, However I always found a space in the back of the truck, I'm a bit of a softy didn't last long as a lorry driver a special breed of people of whom I am not one.

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[Bobby22]

Just googled.......may not be suitable for every coachbuilt......as they don't all have the wooden wall part to fix the bracket to.

There may be different fixings for different builds though.......looks a great idea.

 

[Minxy]

Just googled.......may not be suitable for every coachbuilt......as they don't all have the wooden wall part to fix the bracket to.

There may be different fixings for different builds though.......looks a great idea.

 

[DiggerJon]

Looks a fine idea IF both front seats swivel.

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[Solly]

Thanks for the replies Its strange though I would have thought someone out there would be using one.

 

[sdc77]

Personaly I don't like it. Think it looks a bit cheap with no privacy. If you expect to be taking extra people surely you would get a van with more berths. Or use a decent awning.
I can see the attraction for some though.

Looking back .. that seems a bit negative . I'm sure it's a good product.

 

[johnp10]

@Solly,
Yes, we use one.
Granddaughter loves it, it's "her" own space and just happens to put the TV in line when she's in bed.
She's a long almost 9 year old, plenty of room for her.
She says it's comfy and better than the overhead, which in our van doesn't leave much headroom.
If both seats swivel and you have a secure point to put the pole mounts to they are a good bit of kit.
Made from the same material as stab vests, so pretty hard wearing.
Easy to put up, take up very little space.

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[johnp10]

Personaly I don't like it. Think it looks a bit cheap with no privacy. If you expect to be taking extra people surely you would get a van with more berths. Or use a decent awning.
I can see the attraction for some though.

Looking back .. that seems a bit negative . I'm sure it's a good product.

Not cheap, well made.
Privacy, in a motorhome?
Ideal for kids rather than adults, which is how they are marketed.

If taking extra adults, I agree, bigger van or awning.

 

[sdc77]

@johnp10 fair enough.

For us privacy is important .. it's nice to have our own space at night and have freedom to move around etc without disturbing everyone else ... is what I meant. I can see the attraction but personally not for us.

 

[johnp10]

@johnp10 fair enough.

For us privacy is important .. it's nice to have our own space at night and have freedom to move around etc without disturbing everyone else ... is what I meant. I can see the attraction but personally not for us.

Are you talking about adults?
It's a bit of kit designed and intended for kids, not adults.
A Cabbunk is no more nor less private than an overhead / drop down / made up bed.
How can you exercise any degree of grace or privacy getting into or exiting an over cab / drop down bed?

I agree, if extra adults are being taken, the answer is a bigger van (bit sledgehammer / nut in the short term) or an awning.

For kids Cabbunk is a good bit of kit.
In the evenings, the child is up there asleep, you still have full use of the van.

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[Feltwell]

For what it's intended for, occasional use to take young kids away with grandparents, it looks ideal and I'm sure kids would love it. For longer term use or older kids / teenagers not so good, but it's not aimed at them.

We have 3 kids, aged from 6 to 12, so have a 7 berth van, because as usual 7 berth means 6 travelling seats and just about enough room for 5 people comfortably!

Many van designs do leave something to be desired. We have two fixed single bunks across the back of van which are easily big enough for an adult, but on some vans we looked at with bunks in the back corner they really were only big enough for kids up to about the age of 12-13. At the front of our van we have a single and a double dinette, the single dinette turning into a (small) single bed at night for our youngest, leaving the double dinette for us to sit at. Even then we had to sort out fitting a suspended curtain track, going partly across the roof light, to screen the single bed off - nothing fitted as standard. Caravans seem to take account of family use as part of their design much better than motorhomes.

If we used the double dinette as a bed then it extends out sideways, which means that you couldn't use the ladder to get to the overcab bed!

 

[johnp10]

@Feltwell,
That's the thing with living in a small space, be it MH or caravan.
The ideal doesn't exist, it's all about sensible compromise.
That's why we generally carry extra space by way of awnings, Cabbunks, etc.
They are all compromises of some sort, eh?

 

[Downsie]

When we got a new smaller van the only disadvantage was that we wouldn't have room to take both young
grandchildren away together. The only solution appeared to be the Cabbunk. we bought one and it works really well. Our 6 year old loves it and sleeps well up there. We fully expect the 4 year old to be demanding his turn very soon! The only real disadvantage seems to be storage of the long pole and manipulating it into place each night. Wouldn't want to do it on a very regular basis.
It is well made and the resulting bunk is quite secure. Would recommend for young children.

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