New from Atlanta

[TygerCub]

Originally Posted by apache137

seating for 5, sleeping room for 5, a poker table that can be used as an all purpose table, maybe a flip out beer pong table
racks on the walls for our airsoft guns and gear, or store them under the beds...

If you are trying to seat & sleep 5 guys you may want to go with a full size bus. It all depends on how friendly you all are

Bunks take up a lot of room. The average bed is 6.5ft. to 7ft. long, plus one across the back at 2.5ft. to 3ft. wide (you can rack your equipment above the back bunk), you've already taken up about 10ft. Add in a "poker table", plus the seating and that's another 7ft. easy (2ft. each side for seating + 3ft. table)... Space gets full fast when you're talking a lot of people in a bus. You could offset this space need by putting the table outside instead of inside. Then all you will need is the space for seating 4 guys, which is only 2 bench seats that could be as short as the original 3ft seats run along either wall so the passengers faced each other. Tight seating, but... Y'all are friends! Buddies! Pals! You can shoot the sh!t outta each other when you get to the game!

[putterspitt]

wish I could get all that in my shortie, still trying to figure out a good floor plan

[TygerCub]

I would look for a bus with at least 8 windows. Since a lot of buses have approximately 2.5 to 2.7 inches from window frame to window frame, that would give you about 20 to 22 feet in length by 7.5 feet in width. More or less, depending on if you find a dog nose or flat nose bus. That may sound like a lot of bus, but it's really very mid sized.

A twin sized mattress is 39 inches wide. If you put the bunks on either side of a rear emergency door, I would recommend making the bunks no wider than 30 inches. This will overlap the door a little bit, but not enough to cause serious obstruction, and give you 2 feet between the bunks to manhandle supplies.

If it were me, I'd put a single bunk on the hinge side of the door (usually the passenger's side) and put the equipment storage under that single bunk so I wouldn't have to carry the stuff too far into the bus. The double bunks would be on the driver's side. The fridge / table / long bench seat would be on the passenger's side beyond the single bed and a short bench seat would be on the driver's side in front of the double bunks.

[Sojakai]

I was thinking to put a High Bunk against the back wall, leaving the door mostly free to load and unload. Put two bunks on both sides. The top bunks flip up, use the bottom bunks like couches, and use several smaller "Set-in-place" tables to make up your beer pong/poker table (single pedestal with the round weight/foot). When you don't need your table, there is all that room under the High Bunk to store them on both sides of the door, and if they have removable tops, even better. Make a drawer under the lower bunks just big enough to fit your guns in, maybe even use foam to keep them from sliding.

The average bed can sit five people with little problem...unless they are Big Shouldered. Mount the TV under one of the bunks so when it is flipped up, you can watch TV from the opposite bed/couch... If you use a futon/foam mattress for that bunk, you can tilt the back up.

Not sure on the flag pole though... What if it rains or gets cold. Is it something that you would want to put up and take down every day as needed?

I am sure that it would eat all the space of a shorty, but a mid would probably give you the extra room for a fridge and maybe leave in the front two rows of seats for travel.

[sdwarf36]

Well-I can help out some. I did my floorplan to fit 2 + a large dog-and the rear 5 ft as a shop. Also with a closet + bathroom But I do have the tunes (1000 watt amp+ sub) the (small) flat screen.
For some reason, short buses go for more than big buses. But looking around on craigslist+ some non conventional hunting can find bargins. I have apx 16ft from the back of the drivers seat to the back door-i think it 8.5 ft wide.
Heres some pics.
http://rides.webshots.com/album/574697073bcKqck

[keith]

ha atl iam from ellijay just north of you and i got a skoolie too it a 94 bird 72 pass if you up this way stop by and take a look at her....

rengader keith

[GoldenGate]

I'm a college kid too and I have a short bus that I've taken on some pretty long distance roadtrips, and I can tell you that although short buses seem like a lot of space, it fills up quickly. My bus is the standard 90 inches (7.5') wide by about 19 feet long, with a usable floor space of roughly 7.5' x 11'. When I went on a 1500 mile road-trip to Vegas and up the California coast, I took myself and 3 other guys. Luggage and beer took up a lot of space and the bus was in a constant state of chaos it seemed, always needing to be cleaned. The floor plan I was working with at the time included a homemade thinner-than-normal bunkbed spanning across the back, a couch along one side, and a TV/stereo/storage spot along the other side. It worked out for us, and the trip was a blast, but honestly more space would have been nice and I'm actually looking into buying a full size bus in addition to my short-bus for future trips. You have to think of the bus as a living space and not as a car. Yes, relative to a car or a van, short-busses are pretty damn big, but when you think about it in terms of a living space--lets say a SUPER small dorm room, its pretty tiny for 5 people. Not saying you can't make it work, but just make sure you know what you need and buy a bus accordingly.

Oh and as far as finding one goes, it really all boils down to keeping your eyes open and being persistent. I was in the market for a while before I came upon my gem of a bus...only dropped $375 on it and it didn't need an ounce of work, nor has it (except some simple routine maintenance) through out my 6 month, 6,000 mile ownership. Check out craigslist.org