Barn Door for JK factory hardtops

[jscherb]

Back in the summer I posted about a company that asked Overland Outfitters and me to do a custom design for their Anniversary Jeep. They had originally planned to unveil the Jeep at SEMA, but SEMA was cancelled so they didn't do the debut until now. The company is Quadratec, and for their 30th Anniversary they customized a 2dr LJ to pay tribune to the YJ Sahara their founder had 30 years ago when he founded the company.

The YJ Sahara had map pockets on the back of the seats and they wanted an updated version of the pockets for their Anniversary Jeep. I had just finished designing bags for the Gladiator Storage System I did for Overland Outfitters so I pitched those bags to Quadratec. They loved the bags but since they were doing custom Corbeau seats in the Jeep they needed a custom attachment designed, so I studied the Corbeau seats and came up with a zipper mount that could be installed without modifying the seats.

The entire Quadratec video is worth watching, but if you can't wait to see the seat-back bags, they're at about 7:30 in.


A couple of stills from the video:

In addition to those bags being available as part of the Gladiator Storage System, OO has made them available for the seat backs of other Jeeps, including the JK and the JL.

Here's one in my JKU:

I've also used them in my LJ. One is on the passenger seat in this photo; an OO Saddlebag is at the inner fender and their new matching gear bag is on the floor. They plan to offer the zipper attachments for the LJ/TJ seats very soon, the bag is hanging on a prototype I sewed in this photo.

 

[jscherb]

Yesterday Overland Outfitters emailed me some quick cell phone photos of their preproduction door pockets. Top to bottom in this photo - panel with Molle and a water bottle pocket plus a large map pocket; panel with a larger Molle area and a large map pocket; panel with a cell phone pocket, a larger pocket with closure flap and a large map pocket. The small Molle panel in the center is part of a different project, that one replaces the small access panel on the JK/JKU tailgate.

All of these are heavy military-grade canvas with real leather accents and pockets.

A few closer views. The Molle panel:

With a Grab & Go First Aid bag attached:

Left and right versions of the 3-pocket panel:

Molle plus water bottle pocket:

I don't know if they'll bring all three versions to market, they haven't revealed their plans to me. They will be sending samples to me for testing, when I get them I'll post more photos.

 

[zgfiredude]

And how do these attach to the doors?

 

[jscherb]

And how do these attach to the doors?

They slip under the bottom of the door panels - notice the curve at the top of the panel which matches the curve under the handle on the door panel and in the back there's a piece of fabric in a straight line - the straight line piece goes behind the door panel (it's constructed like a pocket that slips over the bottom of the factory door panel). There are grommets along the top (only on some of the pictured samples when the photos were taken) which can be used for screws into the door panel, and they will also come with stick-on Velcro near the grommets if someone doesn't want to screw into the door panels.

 

[Jurfie]

Those are nice; will keep an eye out for when they release and might pick up a set.

 

[jscherb]

Occasionally when I'm in the neighborhood and have a few minutes I browse around the local Sportsman's Warehouse store looking for ideas that might apply to overland camping or Jeeps in general. I did that the other day and found these things interesting:

Camp Shower

There are lots of solutions for camp showers, here's one for about $15:

I think the chart on the back page would be helpful. I found a review of the product: https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/camping-shower/coghlans-5-gallon

Did some more searching and found one that's about half the price of the Coughlan's: https://www.amazon.com/DOTSOG-Portable-Removable-Switchable-Traveling/dp/B07WFKP8QD. Turns out there are lots of these cheap showers, I never knew. I can't imagine they would provide a very satisfying shower though.

Maybe something like this might be a better (stronger) water source for the roof than the flimsy plastic bags that come with those showers (I posted this item earlier in the Land Rover Ideas thread):

"Stuff Bags"

These are inexpensive and I can think of lots of uses for them as I pack for an overland expedition:

10L Scepter Water Containers

These aren't available in many places. This 10L size might be useful sometimes:

Ripstop Tarp

A while back in the Land Rover Ideas thread I sewed an awning based on a Land Rover design; I used a Harbor Freight tarp for it and have been planning to update it with some nicer fabric. Maybe this will provide the fabric:

The awning in question:

Jump Seats

Back when I had a Scrambler I added jump seats in the back:

It was hard to find appropriate seats but I found used jump seats from an older Toyota FJ40 and they worked out perfectly. It turns out there are folding seats in the marine market that could easily be adapted into being jump seats in a Jeep...

I found a few other small items there but those above are the most interesting ones.

 

[pith helmet]

I have one of those Swiss army water bladders, it is incredibly tough and functional. My only gripe is they have a push button valve like the old Igloo water coolers and I’ve been trying to match the neck threads to change that to a spigot type so you don’t have to hold the valve open to use it.

 

[Zeep]

The door pockets should be good sellers!

 

[jscherb]

I have one of those Swiss army water bladders, it is incredibly tough and functional. My only gripe is they have a push button valve like the old Igloo water coolers and I’ve been trying to match the neck threads to change that to a spigot type so you don’t have to hold the valve open to use it.

I think the push button valve problem is easily solved with a simple mod. I ordered one of the Swiss bladders yesterday to experiment with and when it comes in I'll make the change and post the details.

 

[jgaz]

Where did you order the Swiss bladder from?

 

[jscherb]

Where did you order the Swiss bladder from?

Amazon.com : Sturm Military Surplus Swiss 20 Liter Black Water Bag : Military Water Bladder : Sports & Outdoors

Amazon.com : Sturm Military Surplus Swiss 20 Liter Black Water Bag : Military Water Bladder : Sports & Outdoors

www.amazon.com

 

[jgaz]

Thank you! I wasn’t sure if it was the famous river site or one of your favorite surplus web sites.

 

[pith helmet]

Thank you! I wasn’t sure if it was the famous river site or one of your favorite surplus web sites.

I got mine from a website called RKguns back when I couldn’t find it anywhere else. Glad to see they are available, I’m going to get another one. I don’t think you could damage those things thru any kind of normal use. They aren’t the best for potable water, though due to the rubbery taste. Have used baking soda to fix it somewhat.

 

[jscherb]

My favorite "jeep" of all time isn't a "Jeep" at all, it's the Mahindra Savari:

I like pretty much everything about it, including the camel train graphics on the sides. Just for fun I created a vector graphics version of the Mahindra image, adapted for my JKU Safari Cab:

A simple printout test:

My new Cricut is capable of cutting decals that long and also capable of cutting multi-color decals so I can actually make this at home. It wouldn't have the white background, that's just my quick laser print, it would look like the vector version above.

I'll think I'll get removable vinyl in the right colors and make one to stick to the hardtop to see what it would really look like. If I like it I can cut final ones out of permanent-stick vinyl.

 

[jscherb]

This morning I cut the decal in 3 colors on my Cricut using removable vinyl (because it's a test for now). The palm tree and "SAFARI" have been on the hardtop since I built it; if I decide to do these decals in permanent vinyl I'd probably remove that and recut the tree and SAFARI in black.