Who regularly sleeps up in their SMB penthouse?

[joefromsf]

I'm planning to do a homemade camper build out of my 2012 E350 RB Wagon. I'm already sold on the increased live-ability of having standing room in the interior with a penthouse. It would be a double bonus if we could plan on sleeping in the penthouse and not have to build a sleeping solution in the lower portion of the van.

Yeah, we're talking about two of us up there; me at 6'0" 165 lbs and my wife at 5'4" 112 lbs.

Any couples regularly sleep up there? How's that work out for you? Are you OK with not being able to sit up in bed?

For anybody who sleeps up there, how is the ease of access, especially for those middle of the night trips below? Any tips on how I can facilitate access in my build-out?

Any other comments on sleeping up there are welcome.

Note that I am aware of the CCV tops and how much more space they have in height and width, and they are still on my radar. My interest in the SMB tops lies with their much lower height when lowered which would allow me to keep my van in my garage rather than parked on the street.

P.S. Would love the chance to check out and climb into the SMB penthouse of any locals in or around San Francisco. We stupidly neglected to do that at Overland Expo West this past spring.

[1der]

We do, but you already know that ��
Perhaps we can get a morning meet up of sorts maybe Pacifica, or Pescadero?

If you want to see a CCV High Top this weekend, let me know. It will definitely NOT fit in your garage but may be worth a data point visit ��

[schluchtenflitzer]

We are a couple and travel fulltime around the world in our SMB. See
Dani und Didi in Afrika -
We sleeping nearly every day together in the penthouse top. It is absolut ok for us and you get used in living with the size, how to climb up and down easy. We also have a bench but only use it if we stealth camp, if it is very cold or if it is noisy outside. In this cases we let the pop top closed.
Climbing up i just step on the bench (walk through design) and than climb up, my girlfriend step on the bench, than on the cabinet and than up. The "how to get up easy" you have to find the way is the best for you. We sleep with the feeds to the open part of the bed, so it is much easier to get in and out.

[joefromsf]

Originally Posted by 1der

We do, but you already know that ��
Perhaps we can get a morning meet up of sorts maybe Pacifica, or Pescadero?

If you want to see a CCV High Top this weekend, let me know. It will definitely NOT fit in your garage but may be worth a data point visit ��

Ray,

Another possible meetup location would be Fort Funston.

And I agree we should definitely climb into your CCV so we know what we are giving up in terms of space.

[1der]

Fort Funston - even better 😊
Our Medium top CCV will be there as always.

The High top CCV was installed on our recently sold white V10 van I am driving back from CO starting tomorrow. The van should be there Saturday afternoon through Sunday about 2 pm. The owners are planning to pick Beastie 2 up Sunday

[shenrie]

im 5'10, 230 lbs and my wife is 5'4 and...lets just say 120 ish for getting smacked sake. we only have a penthouse bed in our ccv homebuild and spend 30-50 nights in the van a year, normally just weekend trips. works out great for us.

glad to hear your still considering a ccv top in light of the recent threads around the nets. we love our setup even though its still bare bones. having 4' above the mattress is awesome for mobility. ive been in a smb, but not in the bed area (just seemed weird to ask, lol). the amount of wasted space with the smb tops is what put the last nail in the coffin for us.

another option that's supposedly in the works is master fabman member mgmetalworks. sounds like he is designing a poptop. in light of his other projects and the workmanship weve all seen, it might be worth the wait. im not in the market for another top, but im excited to see what he comes up with. more poptop options is never a bad thing.

[Pntyrmvr]

6'-4" and Leggz is 6'-0" with combined weight of 450 lbs. Never even considered sleeping up there! Too hot jammed in the 39.5" of width.


"Talk is cheap. Whiskey costs money."

[rallypanam]

6'1" 210 lbs, girlfriend is 5'7" 115 lbs, dog is 30 lbs. We all slept upstairs exclusively with our SMB top, but did swap for the CCV mid top. The CCV is much nicer, but the SMB was fine too.

My measurement comparison between the two tops is here:
http://www.sportsmobileforum.com/for...tml#post158595

[yvrr]

We have slept up top on every trip since we bought the van over a dozen years ago. Yes, it seems narrow and a twin bed sheet fits our pair of Thermorest mattresses. But there is extra room on the sides for your elbows so it just doesn't seem so narrow.

We have an EB50 design so getting up means using the porta-potty to climb on top of the refrigerator and then up. Easy! The day that we are too old to climb up to the penthouse is the day we start thinking about selling it...

[mikracer]

I found the penthouse top a little tight with 2 people, but my wife and I like to sleep with a leg bent.