Captain Chairs for BTs

Rob & June

I haven't got an answer for you but the question is exactly the one we wish to pose to BT - our 19 ft van is on order for Sept 07 ( or thereabouts ) and this is one of the main design features we want to make - our first thought was to leave the dinette as is and try for two small recliners at the back of the van instead of the cupboard/bunk but lateral thinking from a friend led us to the same thought as you - replace the dinnette with two recliners - but is there such a thing.

We have been told by some that they have seen such an item ( smaller recliner ) at the caravan & camping shows - so we will be scouring the Adelaide event and the Sydney event - and of course asking BT.

We have had Vans and a dozen tents ( now in the shed ) and one item that seems to be missing in a van is a place to recline and drink good wine - or whisky - or beer ?

We look forward to comments by others to this implacable issue.

Regards

Hello, Lost, you are not Lost, The Ranger is out there Scouting.... Somewhere

We have done this maybe 20 times. Just be careful, and do not buy the chairs until you have your van size and layout designed first. In the full range from puffy overstuffed, to more austere fancy Office Furniture style, you need to first determine how much room you have to play with and still have an acceptable sized table....

Myself, I would not do it in a van under 20', as I think it is too much loss of storage and such under the Dining area, and ruins the ability to seat another Couple. At 21, maybe 22', you can have both with a loung across the back and swivel chairs in front, with a table that spins to company or just the two of you... But this does not work well in smaller vans, back to just two person dining with the chairs in the place of Cafe dining.

Buy the chairs after you have this design done, and that will dictate what chairs you get...

Hi Lost,

Been thinking along similar lines. Nothing like a nice recliner in the evening I reckon. Anyway I was at Hardly Normals looking to see if there was anything other than the largish type I am familiar with - yes they had about 6 of a smaller/leaner variety that would take up a lot less room. Tried them out for size and I am pleased to be able to report that they were comfy. They had seperate foot rests.

Kind regards

Hi...here are a few thoughts I have had...I was hesitant about posting this for fear of some saying...Ah there goes fosssil again....lol...but here it is anyway!!!
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Hi...I did this exercise a year ago, and the ideal item is certainly not common and is still fairly bulky ...I did see some in photos of Winnebago's

I have not actually seen one in the flesh, but that does not mean they are not out there somewhere.

The one thing I did look at were High back Executive or Directors chairs with the rollers on or off and mounted to the floor.....and there are some quality ones out there...except you might need a foot stool,...

The thing about these chairs is that they are not terribly wide, so you could have a table in between ....but one problem with having them at the rear of the van is the rake angle comes out into the floor area limiting how far back you can go...also have to allow for the door to fit before the wheel arch....so you need a van 20 ft minimum.

If the whole area of where you will place the chairs is raised 225mm at the end of the van...ie an area of 4 x width of van, the rake angle is reduced by about 50% and you would also be able to fit a fair size table there between the chairs...this also means that the ensuite would have to go to the middle of the van and that requires the use of the Vacuflush toilet otherwise with the Thetford the ensuite is too wide due to the wheel arch...

After having considered all of that I decided to just have a lounge at the rear with the ability to raise one end...but I have to say I was not completely happy with any solution I came up with...

fosss

THANKYOU ALL FOR YOUR REPLIES.It seems we all want a bit of comfort just like home. We found a supplier in Melbourne www.onroadcomfort.com who have a range of Captain Chairs available but are designed for motor homes, however after contacting them they gave me the name of a client over here in the west who we contacted and visited last weekend. We do have the layout of our van, armed with this and a fridge carton made up to scale of the room we have to play with (2m X 1m).
The two chairs with recline and footrests fitted ok with room for a table about .500m.
When in recline the footrest intruded into the area infront of the stove etc, which would mean folding the chair upright to allow one to move past. These chairs come with an electric drive motor to recline and slide. The slide is a good idea, as is folding arm rests, which give much more movement and allow the chair to swing under the table.
These chairs are very expensive at $3700 each plus freight.We feel this over the top.
I have been searching the web for other suppliers but no luck yet hence my query in BOG.
We have seen the Euro Recliners mentioned and agree are very comfortable, we may end up with this type, no fitted footrest but will have to make a compromise. We think a fitted footrest will be less cumbersome, not having to find somewhere to store a loose footrest while travelling. The Captian Chairs have a lock inbuilt thus preventing it from swinging around while travelling where as the Euro type would have to be secured some other way.
Will keep looking.