RE: [T2] Child Cot

["Stockton, Andrew" <apstockton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[...]

Many years ago we were camping with my daughter when she was one and
a half years old in our 71 Westy.  She woke up and started to crawl
around on the cot but not for long.  All of a sudden on of the one of
the poles slipped out from the latch on one of the pillars. 
Fortunately, she wasn't hurt as she landed on one of the seats.

If you examine the tabs on the ends of the poles you'll notice that
they aren't very long.  Doesn't take much shaking to cause them to
slip out.  Just another example of a shoddy VW design like the pre 71
bus and pre 68 gas caps that would pop off due to metal wear and the
pre 68 Beetle wipers that would fail because a single bolt was used
to hold them to the post.

I stand by what I said based on experience.  The fact that others
have been lucky doesn't matter to me.  It's a stupid design and
parents should be aware of its limitations especially when small
children are placed in the cot.

People also need to remember that most of canvas out there is over 30
years old.  Some of it has seen a lot of heat. When VW rated this
stuff I doubt if they were thinking about its strength after 30 years
of storage under unpredicatable conditions.



---- Original Message ----
From: chucknot@xxxxxxxxx
To: type2@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [T2] Child Cot
Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2001 21:07:59 -0700 (PDT)

>Was Written
>*********************************************
>With the child's cot over the drivers seat, age is 
>more important than weight.  The attachments to the
>pillars are not that secure.  As soon as the child
>awakes, he or she should be removed from the cot. 
>If the child starts to move around, one of the poles
>will slip out and "down will come baby, cradle and
>all."  
>**********************************************
>
>My son has been sleeping in the front child cot for
>many years in my 67 Sundial camper. His weight now is
>appx 65 pounds and even has on occasion had a friend
>up there with him for a total of 100lbs or more
>without any sign of stress or problem.
>Just my 2cents....
>
>Chuck Notmeyer
>Reno NV
>PS  I am looking for a front childs cot for my 79
>Westy, anyone, anyone?