These are well-designed for independence:
solar panel
solar shower warmers (big plastic bags that you fill with water and
leave in the sun, and they have shower nozzles)
collapsible boxes for firewood and for immediate necessities

These are well-designed for camper comfort:
coleman bedding (we have a zippered blanket/sheet and a zippered
comforter/sheet.  We have four choices of bedding warmth, and it's
generously sized for the pop-top bed)
Harbor Freight 12-volt LED light

These make van life soooo much nicer:
heavy-duty struts on rear hatch (strong enough to hold our solar
shower bags-o-hot-water)
pop-top struts
poptop step
second battery, with a relay in the charging circuitry to ensure the
primary battery stays charged up

B&S
'87 Westy 'Esmerelda Blanc'
SoCal

On Sep 12, 2008, at 1:38 PM, Don Hanson wrote:

> My S.O. coined that word yesterday as she handed me a little rug she
> just
> found at an IKEA store.
>
>  She's been laughingly approving of my 84 Faux-Westie van since I
> began
> using it to replace my diesel-guzzling Powerstroke Ford and Alaskan
> camper
> combo.  My van has pretty nice seats, brown captains chairs, but my
> Chesapeake retriever and our barn cat really seem to like that soft
> velour
> like upholstery, so I try to keep the passenger side, at least,
> covered up
> from wet pets, etc.  Usually, it's an old Mexican blanket, folded
> up, or
> sometimes a Pendleton wool throw blanket that matches my dog's
> hair..She
> always has to take the 'seat cover' off to sit in the right seat, to
> avoid
> dog hair and stickers, etc etc.
>
>  On a rare trip to town (Portland, Or.) she went into that store,
> for some
> reason..and came home with this small 'rag-weave' throw rug, just
> right to
> lay across the passenger seat.  "Here, dear" she said, "For you.  I
> saw this
> and it was so "westphalian" that I just HAD to get it for your van"
>
>  Anyone else want to point out other examples of very "Westphalian"
> stuff?
> I have a few more examples:  Those small three legged stools..mine are
> Mexican with tooled leather seats.  My rear seat upholstery..Never
> seen that
> pattern of multi-colored blocks on brown background elsewhere but in
> Westies...Ummm, that distinctive sound that the slider makes when
> being
> slammed closed...I can hear one of "us" for half a mile in a
> campsite.. Tie
> dyed curtains? Probably more "splitty-specialized"
>
>  anyhow, I liked the word.
> Don Hanson