Question. About 30 years ago in a scrapyard pinching more T2 parts than paying for, a mate and myself tried to get onto these bunks. My mate Ian, being a short-arse managed to scramble onto one...just... but had to lie on his side perfectly straight to fit.We concluded they must be more like window dressing/sales feature than a practical asset before driving away smugly in our Westys. Do any of you guys, or rather your children, manage to use them?
Devon bunks installed in 2002 Once a 6ft friend tried sleeping in them, couldn't handle it so had to sleep next to me on rock & roll bed. When camping with friends their kids enjoyed jumping on them & mucking about in the day. If both bunks are up everyone below has to be in bed, as not enough head room to sit on seats! Waste of time and money for pretty much every possibility. 2 kids: No room below for adults to even get into bed. 1 kid: bunk over front seats far more useful, when they outgrow that they would prefer separate tent or sleeping in awning. No kids: pointless. When multiple adults are sat in bench seat the bunks get in the way of your head, even when in the folded up position! Save yourself some money and effort. I wish I'd known this 19 years ago when I installed Devon bunks in my bus, even had them trimmed in alcantara material I think. Removing them now would leave me with weird holes though. @Owner of Tilly 1962 Bay
I thought as much Paul. I think the only positive on those bunks is that when folded up they cover the mess Devon made of the side parts of the headlining where it bridges/fudges over the mangled ends of the roof support they hacked out!
Yeah if someone needs roof sleeping space a Devon is not the right van. Westy or Viking best for those people
But people do make really good "board" bunks for them, a much better idea that deals with most if not all of the bunk problems? Front hinged Westy bed is a bit rubbish too, only 5ft long single bed.
Yep. The "board" beds are similar to the one in mine. I've seen the original bunks in Matt's bus. There is no way I could even get into them, let alone sleep in one. His kids seem to like them though!
Yeah, because they are small kids at the mo. Cab bunks are great, my youngest crammed into ours even when his feet stuck out the window!
The best thing about those beds is if you put them out with the poptop down, you can stash the Mona Lisa up there, and still fit passengers underneath. When kids were smaller and it was raining they used to sit up there under the raised poptop. But its like watching Endeavour on ITV. Many of the in-period characters (1969-70) are really skinny. Cheap sugar was still in the future for most people. So they fitted those bunks... The last time mine got used we bought a big canvas on wooden frame print at a VW show (T4) Van(in)Fest(ation) 2011 or 2012. and put it up there to get it home.. Or at Volksworld I put all my camping junk in a bedspread and all the punters think theres somebody asleep up there...
I chucked mine out - obviously - but I never understood what they were actually for. An average-sized adult could never get into them, and a kid would remain trapped for the night. Assuming they didn't collapse. Only purpose I can think of was to cover Devon's shoddy workmanship.
I’m giving a thumbs up to Devon’s amazing bunk beds - I don’t think they really were ever meant to be an option for a fully grown human - but for children. So for a family with 2 (or 3 kids if you have a cab bunk),your Devon camper was a self contained home with beds for all. I guess our kids who are 6 and 3 now will be able to use them for a good while before they get too tall. You can sit on the bench and buddy seats with them out around the table if you’re not a chunky munky- you can stand up straight at the front end to get changed- and you can cook on the cooker if you want CO poisoning and a considerable fire risk. It’s a small van so getting a whole family in quite a feat in packaging! Camping has changed since whenever these conversions came out - tents are massive - people take whole kitchen larder things and the French take Fridge/Freezers and the family cat.
The sliding board bed is ok for one adult child (full length concertina roof on our '79 Moonraker), but the other sleeps in the awning.
