Remis blinds for Sprinter

[GeorgeRa]

I am researching a purchase of Remis front cab covers for our Sprinter. Looking for windshield and side windows blinds quick to deploy not requiring large volume of storage. Our current home made cover is a little cumbersome to deploy. I checked with Eurocampers, Hengs Industries and was told that they are no longer distributing Remis product. Eurocampers fellow told me that the issue was with airbags with newer vans. It is still available in Europe but no one I found want to sell them to USA. Remis is still listing this product on their product catalog. Ant help would be welcome, thank you.

https://www.reimo.com/en/download-catalogues
https://www.remis.de/fileadmin/user_...iten_EN-lq.pdf
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202139249787

[avanti]

Yeah, as they said, you can't use them in vans with side curtain airbags (which have been standard for some time now). I imagine that their problem is that almost everyone who has an older van and wants them already has them, so there is essentially no market.

Not that you asked, but here is my review of the Remis that we had in our erstwhile Sprinter:
The look and convenience can't be beat. I guess that this is pretty obvious. What is less obvious is that they are pretty delicate and have a kind of cheap feel to them. They come out of their tracks easily, the magnets don't hold them closed very well, the glue that holds the magnet strips lets go after they have gotten hot, and it take a lot of fiddling to get the "fold around the camera pod" mechanism to work right (if you have one).

If they were available for the Transit, I would probably get them again, but they are not quite the class product that they appear to be at a distance.

[GeorgeRa]

Originally Posted by avanti

Yeah, as they said, you can't use them in vans with side curtain airbags (which have been standard for some time now). I imagine that their problem is that almost everyone who has an older van and wants them already has them, so there is essentially no market.

Not that you asked, but here is my review of the Remis that we had in our erstwhile Sprinter:
The look and convenience can't be beat. I guess that this is pretty obvious. What is less obvious is that they are pretty delicate and have a kind of cheap feel to them. They come out of their tracks easily, the magnets don't hold them closed very well, the glue that holds the magnet strips lets go after they have gotten hot, and it takes a lot of fiddling to get the "fold around the camera pod" mechanism to work right (if you have one).

If they were available for the Transit, I would probably get them again, but they are not quite the class product that they appear to be at a distance.

Thank you for your comment, what do you have on your new Transit?

[avanti]

Originally Posted by GeorgeRa

Thank you for your comment, what do you have on your new Transit?

Well,
first I got the expensive and well-reputed Van Essentials shades for the windshield and front doors:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09VCGDL3R
Everybody seems to love them, but we did not. We found them bulky, heavy, and unwieldy to put up every night.

So, we sent them back and replaced them with these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086DFXY7F
No great shakes, but a fraction of the price, and a lot easier to deal with.

I'm sure the Van Essentials products insulate a lot better, but not worth it for us.

I have been fantasizing about trying to design and build a set of custom roller-shades, like the ones that Class A rigs have. The Transit has a lot of room above and below the windshield. It is a tricky problem, but I have a few ideas. I will post if I ever actually try this.

[GeorgeRa]

I have quick to deploy side and rear windows utilizing 80/20 as curtain guide so no improvement necessary. I recently added overhead shelf with a permanent, quick to deploy curtain for late arrivals. Windshield and cab side windows is a headache. I used to use aluminized bubble inserts but they were too bulky and cumbersome. Now we have a one homemade curtain attached to mounted Velcro straps. I recently added magnets in lieu of Velcro, but it is still cumbersome. It is amazing that with such a surge of van camping we don’t have a quick to deploy blinds for van cab windshield and side windows in NA.

[GeorgeRa]

I would like to modify my original post to 4 questions:

What type of blinds or curtains you are using for your van cab windshield and driver/passenger windows?

Are they easy to deploy?

Are they easy to store?

Are they blocking light?

Thank you.

[jakegw2]

I have their Promaster version and love it. It is not perfect - with an odd combination of high quality construction in the largest pieces and weirdly low-quality parts in other sections. I would still get a replacement in a heartbeat if something happened to the one I have. It literally goes up and down in under 10s without lots of body contortions in the process, so I use it for even short stops to block sun and provide privacy.

[alaimie]

I have window covers by Sokozi Covers Inc in Canada. They are well made and folded in an accordion style. I plan to store them overhead once I extend the overhead shelf in my Transit.

The covers provide insulation and darkening. Their best feature is the added bug screen for the front roll down windows. Held in place by magnets, all one needs to do is fold down the window cover a fold or two and you let fresh air in but not the bugs!

My covers were delivered in 10 days. Check the company out at www.sokozi.com. I’m hoping they will add a cab divider soon.

E

[pasusan]

We have a 2004 Roadtrek 170 and we use reflectix in the side windows cut to size and they cut out all light. We have a sunshade for the front window:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The sunshade folds up so takes up little space and the relectix rolls up to be stowed in a cupboard. They've been working great for years now.

[MsNomer]

Originally Posted by jakegw2

I have their Promaster version and love it. It is not perfect - with an odd combination of high quality construction in the largest pieces and weirdly low-quality parts in other sections. I would still get a replacement in a heartbeat if something happened to the one I have. It literally goes up and down in under 10s without lots of body contortions in the process, so I use it for even short stops to block sun and provide privacy.

Whose are you referring to?

[GeorgeRa]

After long search we finely got to a final point for window covers on our 2013 Sprinter Voila.

I split this summary into two groups:

1. Cab windshield, driver side window, passenger side window and a sliding door window

2. Driver side two rear windows, passenger side rear window, rear door windows

Re 2. This was a saga. We started with aluminized bubble pack attached with Velcro. We used it once; rolls of these cover were too bulky for storage.

We purchased external windshield cover with insect screens for driver and passenger windows, works great but it takes some time to deploy. We still used if we camp for extended period of time.

We made cab windows and windshield cover from the same colorful fabric used for curtains which was barely OK, cumbersome to deploy, easy to store, limiting cab doors access to the van. This cover was attached to Velcro straps located around the cab ceiling.

So, we purchased windshield, driver and passenger side windows, sliding door window and MaxxAir fan covers from the XPLR outfitters. With the exception of windshield all other covers use magnetic attachment. We will store these covers in the rear overhead cabinet and strapped behind the sofa in an unused space.

Re 2. I used overhead cabinet aluminum 80/20 frames as curtain guides which works perfectly. We are bored with seventies psychedelic colors and decided to change. We purchase a roll of fabric (gray #3) from XPLR matching well MB trim color and Mercury Grey HDPE color cabinetry. We also purchased curtain liner white insulated blackout fabric to replace our colorful curtains utilizing 80/20 sliders of my design. Replacing all curtains will become this winter DIY project or we find someone to sew the curtains.

During my search I Found quite few folks advertising their covers insulating qualities by incorporating reflective bubble foil in between other fabrics, well, heat transfer by radiation works only if reflective layer is exposed not covered by another fabric. It is a common mistake among camper vans builders.

https://www.eurocampers.com/2007--20...ge_p_2345.html

https://www.joann.com/p/eclipse-whit.../18449827.html

https://www.xplroutfitters.com/