I've often noticed comments regarding the "flimsy" nature of the stock
vanagon bumpers.

All the altenatives I've seen put a beefier bunch of metal in place of
the original. There is a problem with this approach. if the "bumper" is
strong enough, it will now transfer the energy of the impact to the
frame of our beasts of burden. A bent frame is a wonderful way to total
a vehicle. :(

Ideally, a REAL improvement would be to add a more modern bumper
mechanism that includes a shock absorber in between the bumper and the
frame. Even on modern cars the outside section of the bumper (the
visible section) is cosmetic and designed to be sacrificial..i.e.
quickly replaced when damaged.

The "flimsy" nature of the original bumpers is really designed to
absorb the impact and NOT transfer it to the frame (i.e. our bumpers
are sacrificial).

Of course the best policy is, don't use the bumpers (i.e. don't get
hit, or hit something with them.) :)