I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the canvas sleeping bunk in our 1961 Shasta Compact. With the 1964 Shasta Astroflyte, sleeping arrangements were never an issue because it would sleep 5-6 easily, but since we have that trailer up for sale we may end up only having the Shasta Compact to use for 5 people.
We’ve actually slept 4 people in the Compact. The dinette makes into a huge king size bed. It’s snug with 4 people but not to the point where you are on top of one another or can’t roll over. However, my husband is 6′ 3″ and there is no way all 5 of us would fit. We would be like packed sardines then! So I’ve been pondering if we could make use of the canvas bunk so one of the older kids could sleep up there and the other 4 of us on the king bed.
My concern was if it would hold a 125lb pre-teen? The canvas is made up of 2 long very heavy and strong steel poles and a canvas for the bed. The poles rest in brackets that are attached to a shelf that runs the back length of the trailer. The shelf itself is screwed into studs. At one point I considered somehow reinforcing the bracket shelf by adding 1 x 3 wood that would run vertically against the wall from the bottom of the bracket shelf to the floor just to add some extra reinforcement. However, after I spoke to some helpful folks on the Shasta forum as well as my restoration guys I don’t think that is necessary.
I had my daughter climb up on the bunk and toss and turn to mimic how she might roll over during the night and watched that bracket shelf as she did this. She weighs 125lbs and is about 5’3″ tall. The verdict is I didn’t see any problems with her being up there and no evidence of strain on the bracket shelf.
This makes me very happy knowing we can use the bunk! So if we ever need to squeeze all 5 of us in there we could. That might be good if the boys are tent camping and we have a night of thunderstorms with downpours as I’m sure they would appreciate being able to sleep in the trailer instead (:
I plan on re-doing the bunk itself. It looks like this one was made out of old feed sacks and while that is so cool, it’s just too worn. So that is my next project on the horizon (=
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That is great news! At that age, I would of been fighting with my sisters over who got to sleep up there!
I think she'll like having her own little bed up there.
That's very cool. Ah, to be young and light…
~ The Tuckerbag ~
I saw your post on your vintage trailer (1961 Shasta Compact) and I bought one, I think is just like yours. I gave $500.00 for it. It has a little water damage in the top around the vent. From what I have seen online I am suppose to take the skin off to fix it. Did you have to do any of this to yours? I am going to have to replace some door facing wood also and a sheet of plywood in the back bottom. Everything works great other than the water damage. I am going to replace the lights outside and the covers. Can you give me any info on where I might purchase these things. I ordered a new outside door handle but it is toooooo long (the rod that goes in the door). I LOVE your little trailer. Wha a FANTASTIC job you have done.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Thanks a Heap,
Becky
I just recently purchased an Airflyte 16 Reissue and would love to build something like this for a top bunk. Do you have any pics of the brackets/bars on the wall and what runs on each side the lenght of the hammock?
Thanks!
James
We recently got a 61? 62? Shasta compact. It was in rougher shaper than it appeared once we started ripping it apart. It is a labor of love though because i can see it in my head the way it will look all finished we are excited! My bunk poles are missing, we bought the conduit as recomended by someone… But here is where i am stumped, i have 8 pole brackets 4 on each side. One set looks different. one set is right up against the closet and the camper door. Was the original set up to be 2 seperate bunks or 2 bunks with 3 poles and continuous fabric? Some are placed close together near the far back wood shelf. Can anyone give measurements and pics? I have 2 toddlers rhat i want to have use the bunks and want to make it secure.
Elissa, it sounds like it is set up for a double bunk. Like this: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/30/84/1e/30841e7f31d2475415741c9764e59f0b.jpg The extra pole bracket is so you can move over one of the poles when it’s not being used to help store it out of the way. Hopefully, that makes sense.
Thank you thank you! I dont know why one set doesnt match but it looks like it will function the same as the rest. I wanted to do it as original as i could but then with the damage it wasnt possible. We took the ice box, stove, porta toilet and lamp out. We put a new roof vent in. He re-wired it to a 30amp and we had to replace sooooo much insulation wall board and the scrolled wood cabinet was beyond repair. We rigged up an ac unit and vented and drained it through the floor where the ice box was (we coppied someones post) internet sites like yours have been a huge help. I never knew the following these little campers had till we got one.