CARPE DIEM

My good friend Jim connected me with Copy Cat Printing in Minocqua, WI.  They took my design you see above and helped me create my own vinyl decal for the back of the teardrop.  As you can see, it is 3' wide by 8" tall.  I won't be able to apply it until I've had the chance to polish and shine the exterior of the teardrop, but I've got it and its ready!

Cabinets or No Cabinets? That is the Question.

So, I'm finally inside the cabin doing something besides pulling wires and installing fixtures.  I'm thinking about how I want the interior to work for me.  As you can see from the picture below, the teardrop has a very sturdy shelf over the wheel wells.  Believe it or not, my nearly 5' 11 year old fits perfectly there!  This brings me to the topic of today's post: to build cabinets or not?

The shelf/cabinet area of my teardrop.

I spent the night in the teardrop for the first time this past weekend.  I found myself using the front of the shelf as a 'foot rest' while reading at one point.  Another time I used the shelf to hold my regular glass of water I go to bed with each night.  This got me thinking.  Do I really want to build cabinets above the shelf or not?  

A really good friend of mine argues for not building cabinets.  He says that one can keep suitcases, bags, etc in the tow vehicle and there is really no 'need' for lots of storage in the cabin.  Pretty much you are only going to keep additional clothing, toiletries, etc. inside the cabin.  Because you can't stand up to change, you probably are going to be using some version of a 'side screen room' or shelter to do that in.  

A fellow teardrop enthusiast, Stacie, made a great suggestion on the TNTTT forum.  She suggested that I construct wooden bins to slide into the space above the wells.  This would allow one to store things out of sight, but still retain the ability to use the space as a shelf, bunk, etc.  I think that is brilliant.  I will think that over a bit.  In order to customize them even more, one could make them 'slant' from front to back.  this would further maximize the amount of storage in each bin.  

Another member of the TNTTT forum, Becky, shared that she decided on making a shelf too.  She wished she had made her shelf bigger.  She shared that she built a small cabinet below the shelf to hide her electrical work.  This got me thinking.  I need a place to 'hide' the 12 and 120 volt outlets.  I could make a small 'cabinet' below the shelf where I could hide these.  This would retain the shelf, but would solve the problem of getting the power into the cabin.  

I'm sure others will share fantastic ideas; that is what most amazes me about the teardrop community; they are always helping one another!

Cabin Thoughts

I've been contemplating some design concepts for the cabin.  Originally I planned to insulate and then cover the insulation with a thin skin of Luan.  One of the large considerations of this plan was that the doors are such a significant portion of the side of the cabin that 'skinning' them has some potential challenges that may make it incredibly difficult.

After some exploration and brainstorming with Jim, I've come up with a hybrid plan that I think will help make the interior finishing quite a bit more simplified.

I am thinking that I will still add the foam to the ceiling.  I will cut 'channels' in the foam to carry my wiring for the ventilation fan and ceiling lights.  Rather than put the foam on in one large sheet, I'll use 1" strips of wood every 24."  This will allow me to have 'something' solid to screw the plywood into.  I will then use a product, I mentioned way back in my original planning stages, called a headliner.  I found a product at Kendor Marine's online site.  It is perfect.  It is a mold proof, heavy duty marine grade 'carpet'-like product.  It has a rubberized backing (which is apparently unique).  I will add this, not only to the ceiling, but also to the aluminum skin walls.  I won't add any additional insulation panels however to the walls.  Here is a link to this product.  This will do many things.

1.  It will provide just a bit of 'cushion' when you bump into the aluminum wall.
2.  It will soften the interior of the cabin; deadening some of the bouncy sound that exists in it with just the aluminum skin.
3.  It will be tremendously easier to complete the interior of the cabin.
4.  The headliner will help insulate against heat and cold.

One of the things that made this work in my mind was the great find on their website of the dual reading lights that can be mounted on the ceiling.  In doing this, I eliminated the need to have wiring run to the side cabin walls, where I had planned on installing some chrome reading lights.  All of the wiring can be run in the ceiling.  Here is a link to this fixture.

(Just found out that their online store's warehouse is in Racine.  This will save me $40 in shipping.  I ordered the headliner and cabin light and will pick up later this week.)

I found a terrific deal on the LED light I will install on the hatch.  This light will swivel 180 degrees which will be perfect for when the hatch is up.  I'll be able to swivel it to cover the galley area, but also it can swivel to light up the picnic table if needed!  Plus, the one below is over 18" long.  This will provide plenty of light.  Here is a link to this fixture.

I may even add the headliner material to the underside of the hatch.  This will add a nice finished look to the hatch when it is lifted.  Here is a link to those fixtures.

Super Bright LED's had the LED Swivel light and the above 'porch lights' that I will install above the door to light the way when returning from the bathroom, etc.  (I ordered two more to put in the galley.  I intend to have them in the back as night vision lights for that area too.) They had tremendously reasonable prices.  I also found the marker lights below.  I want to use one of each color on the sides of the trailer.  The chrome will look awesome on the side of the trailer.  Here is a link to these marker lights.