These days we try to save a little money any way we can. In this video we make some DIY upgrades to our motorhome to prepare for a long trip out west. One of those upgrades is modifying our mattress so it works a little better for us.
Neil… excellent job of showing the love that you and Kara have cultivated over the past 20 years. It’s rare to see a family that’s still together and seeking the next adventure. Thanks and good luck in finding many more. I watched with particular interest your mattress mod. As you know, I spent 34 years in the furniture industry. 22 of those were in making & assembling wire, spring padding and covering of mattresses. Critiquing your work, I couldn’t find one thing that I would have done better! You even went a step further! I would have just overlapped the ends of the border wire and clamped a few clips to hold them. Welding them is far better! Watch out world… the Koch’s are on their way. No secret fun spots are out of their reach! Enjoy!!!
I'm so incredibly humbled to have this endorsement from a seasoned pro! When I opened up that fabric, I thought "there is no way I'll ever get this back together right". But luckily it came together pretty well! I'm grateful to have earned that QC sticker. And thanks for the kind words. Kara and I are grateful to have each other and I just thought this was a great opportunity to throw in some archival footage. Thanks and have a great week Dave.
First and foremost, Happy Anniversary to y'all! Second, you are officially better than my welding instructor back in 1986. He said he could weld anything from a broken heart to the Crack of dawn, but he didn't say anything about welding a mattress. You are the man! Safe travels and thanks for sharing.
Congratulations to her, for putting up with you for 20yrs. It's awesome to see a great family on another adventure. You are a lucky man! Keep us updated on the adventure.
Congratulations on your anniversary! We celebrated our 40th this year! Hope y'all have a great vacation, and I'm looking forward to the next adventure with the Koch family!
We did a big camping trip this summer. We towed our camper from Southern Indiana to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and then Glacier. It was an amazing adventure, 17 days together 24/7, and we got 5.5 miles per gallon. We made so many memories.
I may have never repaired a mattress with zip ties but I can admit that I have repaired a sofa with zip ties with similar construction to the mattress. Glad to see others think outside the box of a throw away society.
Well, I never thought I’d watch a video on welding up a mattress, but here we are! 😂 In all honesty, you really took the time to do it right, not cut any corners (see what I did there?) and come out with a quality final product; It was quite impressive. I probably would have lopped off the corner and then spent all my time trying to hide the hole! Safe travels and happy anniversary!
Hi Neil. I don't know if I would have tackled the mattress mod but it looks like it came out pretty good. Your reasoning for doing it was certainly sound. Hope you have a wonderful time on your trip! Thank you for sharing your past memories with us. I enjoyed that very much. See you when you get back! -mike
Congratulations on receiving a IT'S PERFECT, and also on the 20 year anniversary celebration. Me and my better half just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. Seems to be a lost thing these days, and glad to be a "rebel" to the "modern- norm". May God bless you and continue to prosper you and your wife and young ladies.
We have a little RV experience also. We also have some with marrige. 57 years worth so far. If you think the first twenty went by fast, hang on. I was really hoping to see that pond full and the girls swimming in it but I guess that might be a video for next year. With all of your construction experience don't you have access to a water truck? It couldn't take any more trips than hauling the dirt out. If it holds water that is. They fill pools in florida that way. Hope you folks are having a great time on your vacation.
You have an amazing ability to modify and fix things. Keep up the great videos and congratulations on 20 years. I hope some time that I can personally meet you.
It is easy to see what keeps you going and motivated, what a beautiful family you have, it`s all about the memories that will last a lifetime, well done sir.
NOOOoooooo!!! LoL... I Stumbled on your video's a while back and absolutely love watching them... I have a couple acres and would love to be able to do a pond like y'all's... great job... Now for the "noooooo"!!!!---- comment!!! LoL... I'm 66 years old and have driven 18-wheeler's... Hot Shot... pulled boats, cars, motorcycles, equipment trailers with skid steers... and everything else you can imagine... I grew up in the heart of Rv'ing in Northern Indiana... and to this day... I still do not understand the logic, of pulling a "Vehicle" behind an RV... Please forgive me... I mean no disrespect... I get the financial aspect of it, and some may not be able to afford a quality trailer... But for less then $2,000 I was able to buy a used Tandem Axel car Hauler trailer... mine is rated at 7,000 lbs... is dove tail and a full diamond plate deck... I've hauled my Monster 4x4 Suburban on it and a ton of other items... and absolutely love it!!! and have yet to really notice that I have a load behind it... I have loaned it to friends who also agree with no effort... it's easy to forget it's even behind your truck... Here's my thought... if I may... If I'm hauling something on the trailer... I am putting miles on this trailer and on it's brakes and tires... if something goes wrong... (which it very well can)... any damage is to the trailer system... Shoot replacement axels with breaks at most are $500... axels without brakes $300+/- If I blow a tire... there's minimum damage to the trailer... maybe a rim... tire, and worse case a fender... all easily replaceable... If I'm pulling a vehicle... with respect... like your Jeep... Every single mile I put on that motor home... is being put on the drive train of that Jeep... Every single mile... on the tires... Those BF Goodrich All Terran TA's are not cheap... I have 37 x 18" tires and rims on my rig... and tires were $350 each, and so were the rims!!! (suggestion... switch from air in the tires to Nitrogen... Nitrogen doesn't heat up and expand like air)... you're putting wear and tear on the brakes... the rear end... and transmission... Yes... the transmission... Even though you have the transmission in Neutral... some of, if not a lot of... the gears inside that transmission are still turning... So you are still putting wear on the trans... and the drive train...Here's the sad part... if it's a Automatic transmission... by pulling it behind your RV,,, the engine on the vehicle in back, is not running... therefore the transmission fluid is not circulating through it's cooling system creating an "overheating" possibility... If you have a failure of some type on the vehicle being towed... by the time you are able to notice the problem... and address the situation... thousands of dollars worth of damage can very well happen... I apologize if this comes across as inappropriate thoughts or questions... It's just something I myself have never understood... As an added note it would be easy to say well we can't afford the cost of the trailer... But a couple of things if I may... #1)... the cost of repairs to the towed vehicle can very quickly equal the cost of a trailer... #2)... With my trailer I have made "Side boards", that give me an additional 2 ft of side clearance...for hauling everything from scrap metal to trash to furniture, additionally I have a 9,500 lb winch on it for those occasions when what I may be hauling won't start!!! Just an old fat man's opinion... I see "Uber" expensive motor homes rolling down the road every day... and they too are pulling their vehicles behind their RV's... and not on trailers... It's just something I don't understand...
I have a car trailer already. I've towed it behind the motorhome and it sucks. Here are my thoughts on it. 1. Our RV in particular is already about maxed out for weight capacity when fully loaded down. Adding 800-1000 pounds of additional tongue weight is a substantial load addition to an already taxed system. It doesn't like it and the suspension bottoms out against the bump stops when I tow the trailer. 2. I don't want to deal with the unloaded trailer behind the RV. We want to be able to park in an easy spots and not mess around with the trailer after unloading the vehicle. Having a car trailer on just makes the rig bulky and harder to park in many tight lots and parking places that we like to find. 3. Speed of connect/disconnect. I can unhook the Jeep in 2-3 minutes and hook up in 4 minutes. Would take me much longer to load on and off the trailer with ramps and straps and etc. So while I can understand your points about using a trailer, I think that most folks just don't want the hassle of dealing with the loose trailer when wanting to unload the vehicle. It makes for a third object to find room for in what is always a crowded space. I think that is likely the main reason.
Hope you have/had a great vacation!! It's been really fun to watch your "camera skills" and editing develop in your time on RU-vid. I love and appreciate all the different camera angles and "special effects" you do to make it interesting. I really liked the camera inside the mattress in this vid! Cheers to many more years with the love of your life! ❤
I operated on our memory foam mattress in our travel trailer. There was no room at the foot of the bed. But since the front of the camper was slanted, the mattress could only slide forward so far. So I slanted the whole front of the mattress. I left slack and sewed it back up. Then I had enough room to get around the foot of the bed.
You modified a mattress. I have heard it all now. I do believe that if an alien space ship landed in your yard that you could get them back up and on their way. Congratulations on your anniversary. My wife and I will be celebrating 25 years in August. Hope you have a wonderful and safe trip.
Please cross the safety cables under the tow bar. It will help keep the bar from dropping to the pavement is the case of a hitch or ball failure. Have a great trip and many more anniversaries.
Neil! Loved the music throughout, “We’re finally landing” is a great piece and I think excellent selection for the travel montage! Also, that’s a nice welding helmet, looks brand new! How are the Vulcan helmets? Never tried one myself.
I love that song. My nephew Trent knew it and picked it and it's just perfect somehow. This is the second video I've used it in. That new helmet is great. This was my first time using it and I was impressed. It's basically the most expensive one at Harbor Freight but so far, so good.
I often find myself fixing things I could just replace for less than the value of my time. I sometimes wonder why and it boils down to 2 things for me. 1) It's rewarding to fix broken things and 2) the cost of things we buy at the store doesn't really price in the cost of waste from the thing that's thrown away. I'd rather spend a bit of time than needlessly throw something out.
The Rocky Mountains are BEAUTIFUL, MAGICAL and AMAZING! As a native of Colorado there isn’t a season I don’t love. However, it has become a mini California. The political arena is left wing and moving fast for favoring socialism 😢. The population exploded when pot became legal. I hope you and your family enjoyed your trip. I sure do love this channel!!
As a trucker I hope you have a radio of sorts in your rv I don't know how many rv I pass that have something about to fall off the back or a light out or something that is unsafe or about to go wrong with there rig and can't tell them
@stromxtc2033 True great test of family bonding, lol But losing a bike or something or substantial size falling in the middle of the road would suck for anyone who hits it
That's a great tip. I do have a handheld CB. It admittedly didn't have it turned on yet. I've spent a lot of time driving big trucks too so I'm right there with ya!
@digdrivediy cool! I wish more trucker had them still, but the one who do will use them to give heads up. But there's a lot of baystation chatter when you don't want it
The girls are going to be off and on their own in the blink of an eye. Get to living while you can , take pictures , keep a journal. The priority you make today can last three life times
Loving your videos. You are a quality guy. John 15:5. Based on the type of fruit I see across many of your videos and in your life, I think I know Who the Vine is. Thanks for letting us participate. Greg
saving money and fighting inflation is not the same thing. It is rather more or less the opposite. Good job though in reusing the bed. Throwing stuff away is never a good thing.
I get it. I knew I would get called out on that eventually 😋 I guess I meant it to be a little more "tongue in cheek" than literal, but hey, you don't suffer the effects of inflation if you don't have to buy things at inflated prices. Is there even truly a way that an individual could fight inflation? I should have bought the mattress 3 years ago when it was $150! 😁
@@digdrivediy Thanks for replying. I guess the only way to fight inflation as an individual is to not vote for trump or any right winged party. Because of the protectionist view on the economy, the economy first starts to get stronger because of obvious reasons but the declines rapidly (for the society it seems like the Biden administration is to blame but these are the effects of trumps protectionist way of handling politics). I know there is little to no education about this but please don't get your facts out of questionable sources or hearsay. Oh and also migration is a good thing against inflation as well. Because more workforce in generated through migration it will build up the economy and strengthen it more sustainable than protectionism ever will. I am eager to read your thoughts in a civilized matter:)
Happy Anniversary!! This may have been one of my favorites! It just made me smile… as if I could see the joy you two have had in life together. Best wishes! Drive safe! 😊
I have to admit I had my doubts about the mattress modification. That said, it turned out really good! Always good to see you and dad doing projects together. I lost my dad in 2019 and would love to have one last project together.
Happy Anniversary you love birds! You guys are such good role models! I also can’t wait to see the videos from this pilgrimage! When I was the girls age and even now, the road trip on the way to camping or just traveling was always my favorite part! That RV was a great investment for memories and great family time!
Neil and Kara, congratulations on celebrating your 20th anniversary. We celebrated our 40th this past May. Hope you both have many many more. Glad you didn't burn down the garage when you welded the mattress. All the best from your friend in NJ. Tom
Happy Anniversary to both of you!...it takes work and understanding to stay married you have a beautiful family congratulations enjoy and Be safe on the road.
