Monday, September 12, 2016

One more time

Last year I wrote about my bad luck with steps for the Rolling Steel Tent. Ran over one, drove off without another one... So I built one. Really nice, made with lightweight reclaimed cedar, mitered corners, countersunk bronze screws, stain and all that.

Then I backed over it.

It  was enough to make me swear off any more steps. I'd just climb in and out of the van the hard way, the muscle building way, the clumsy old man way.

But in the process of building Forrest's cabins, we generated scrap lumber. It was just sitting there, waiting to be burned or hauled to the dump. Oh, what the hell, I told myself. Build another step.

But this time it would be nothing fancy. Just function. Slap it together with the nail gun and call it a day. I didn't even cut the top to fit. There was a piece of old plywood about the right size. Good enough. Especially for something that will end up run over of left behind.

7 comments:

  1. You r not alone,,,I'm on my 4th step for many reasons!

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  2. You make me ever more appreciative of running boards. With them I could just drive away from door mats.

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  3. I've found that if I don't assign carabiners to 'deployable' items such as steps and shore-power cords to keep track of them I'm likely to have to replace them. (And in the case of the power cord, have to repair the mess I've made trying to drive off while still tethered!) The assigned carabiner is clipped to the item in question when stored, (Sometimes I have to drill a hole for this.) then removed and clipped to the steering wheel when deployed.

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  4. The carabiners sounds like a physical version of a checklist and a good idea. If the step has been the only problem, I was going to suggest you put a sort of leash on it. Even a simple rope that goes out the door so that you must put the step inside in order to close the door and it does not end up behind a wheel?

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  5. No Offense....Just do a walk-a-round before leaving..If you don't trip over anything you should be good to go..
    I had to learn the hard way..But it only took me 2x..You are way above the rest of us...:,.....Great to be good at something eh???

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  6. Semoo Traveling Tent from Bizarkdeal

    Once the tent was up, it looked great! My boyfriend is 6'2",, he was able to fit in here along with me, a little sideways, but we were able to fit pretty comfortably. For one night I would bring my niece along and let her sleep with us (she's only 5), but for more time, I would have to give her, her own little tent and connect it with ours somehow.

    Overall, from what I can tell so far, this is a good quality tent, material seems strong, and looks nice when all together!

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