Shelving

[colleenz]

I've been trying to come up with a plan to install a shelf, the width of the trailer, at each end without adding much weight. Mostly I want to use it for storing the bedding & light weight stuff. I think I might have come up with a solution. Cut a hammock in half lengthwise & use each half as the shelf. I would like to know what kind of hooks to use. The inside of my 1974 Ventura has paneling. Is this a viable idea?? Thanks, Colleen

[Frederick L. Simson]

A note of caution:
My Fiber Stream has paneling on the interior partition walls, and the previous owner had installed several screw-in hooks. Many of these have pulled out, as the paneling is not plywood, but a softer fiberboard.

[Karalyn]

you might want to consider those things for toys that hang on corners in a kids bedroom.

[Loren G. Hedahl]

I think it is an excellent idea. However, especially when underway, there are a lot of forces in play. These will have to be accounted and provided for.

In a former life, we owned a Compact Jr. I made such a hammock for bedding storage in the pop top. It wasn't the most fashionable method of storage, but was a quick, easy way to get bedding out of the way. When the trailer was occupied, the hammock was pulled up tight to the pop top. When traveling, I would let it down and let it swing. This allowed the bedding to air out.

The structure of the pop top was entirely sufficient. I used through bolted hook eyes with large washers to spread the load. The cords that held it all up were sufficiently long to allow the hammock to swing, but had additional loops for hooking it up tight.

I have never seen a Ventura, so don't know how something like this could be adapted. Probably the best bet would be to go down your list of friends and pick a nerdy mechanical engineering or civil engineering type; or if that fails, every engineer has had courses in mechanics. These guys just love to get their teeth into practical problems of this type.