Truck projects

Insomnia prompts me to write.

Today with a small window of warmer weather got me outside to work on the truck some. I could have went for a ride but decided not to be cause it's Sunday with a forecast of nasty weather next week which means the local trails will have a lot of folks there. Besides, I really needed to start on my latest project.

I spent a small fortune (for me at least) in buying wood and materials to build out the back of the truck. First project is the modified Steph Davis (SD) shelf. The plain old mark 1 mod 0 SD shelf is simple. It's a piece of plywood cut to fit onto the truck bed and "C" clamped to the bed. It works well. I decided that I could modify mine with a drawer underneath to try to cut down on bags up front.

Let's say that I've learned from building out the front of the truck that I am no carpenter. I am getting better though with every cut. After a small hiccup or two I have the drawer 80% done. The problem is that there is a bow right in the middle of the 3/4 inch plywood that is the original shelf. I was able to modify the back so it would not scrape on opening, the front is going to be a challenge. I am able now to have a 4 inch tall drawer 16 inches deep by roughly 41 inches wide. It's enough to throw clothes into and fit my action packers underneath. Then when I am sleeping put the action packers on top of the SD shelf.

Common sense would dictate that I just cut a piece of plywood with no bow and go from there. I refuse to because it would be wasteful and expensive to cut a fresh board. I figure I can cut a piece the right way with a rented jigsaw and a little patience. I also want it to be able to lock and have a cabinet combo lock coming I may change my mind though and put the locking compartment some place else less conspicuous.

After the modified SD shelf is done comes putting plywood down and bolting it to the bed of the truck. Then building a tie down area for the cooler and a place for my rotopax water jug. I have an idea and mind and will modify what I saw over on desk to dirt bag. I won't get so complicated with moving a whole piece of plywood around for storage. I'll have a lot of measuring to do and lots of cuts the biggest is going to be the single sheet to fit between the wheel wells of the bed.I know I keep saying it but honest pics will be posted one day in the future of all the builds.

Next item to be bought will be for a comfortable sleep. The climbing crash pad is just too stiff to sleep on comfortably overnight consistently. I'm looking seriously at an ikea mattress of all things. I looked and looked on the interwebs and could not find anything cheaper. I was unwilling to buy an expensive thermarest and the moshult does roll up. Not that I'll be taking it on the literal trail with me. My only concern is that it's white. It's going to get dirty FAST so I need to find a cover for it some place. I'll look at the thermarests again I'm skeptical that a good one will be in my budget. I figure for under to cost of a top of the line thermarest I can have a bigger in width thicker futon mattress with a cover. That's about it for truck projects.

I have been physically inactive for the last week because I have been trying to get rid of this small nagging cough. This next week promises a challenge to being active with nasty weather on the horizon and friends form the west coast here. PLUS this damn nagging cough. Well I'm going to try to lie back down and snooze for a bit before the alarm goes off in a few hours. Thanks for reading.