Materials needed for this project —>

• The blackout curtains

• The poll mounts

• The poll

• Thinsulate

Step 1:

Mount your “curtain.”

I pre-drilled some holes into the side metal columns and then secured the poll mounts to the wall as flat as I could. I mounted one and then stuck the poll in it, extended it to the other side of the van and then used this to make sure I was mounting the second mount in the most flat and logical position.

Step 2:

Fit your curtain and take measurements.

Once the poll mounts were secure, I put up the rod and then attached the curtain in order to see how much length I would be cutting off and how much width. (The curtain comes at a length and width for a regular house sliding door or large window so I shortened it length and breadthwise for the van)

I kept the curtain a little longer and wider than needed in order to make sure there was plenty of extra curtain to seal the space between the cargo and cab as much as possible.

Step 3:

Sew in your Thinsulate.

Once I had my measurements, we took two blackout curtains and created a big bag (if you will) out of them to match those measurements. We then cut and inserted a large sheet of Thinsulate from the roll leftover from the rest of the van build.

This makes the curtain quite thick. For a while I stored the curtain stuffed behind the driver’s seat but then I noticed my neck starting to hurt from not being able to lean the seat back to my desired place while driving long distances. So, now I use two bungee cords around the curtain and the passenger seat to secure it there. Not as aesthetically pleasing but…this IS nonaesthetic van lifer after all.

Final thoughts:

I have heard that some people use magnets to secure their curtain to the ceiling…I would consider doing this if I went back and did it all again. This would bring the curtain all the way to the ceiling (right now, I stuff something up into that top area to finish the seal) and also get rid of the rod over the headspace between cab and cargo area (which actually hasn’t been as annoying as I thought it would be).

Overall, I am happy with using this rather than window inserts in all of the front windows (another common solution) to better insulate the van.