Hopefully Ron is busy designing new cool products, so I will answer....There are no snaps. It simply wraps around the hatch with velcro straps and stakes to the ground. It takes minutes to set up and tear down. It is a snug fit to the bus and minimal space for bugs or rain to get in. We had ours up during a steady three day rain in the San Juan islands and little to no leaking into the interior. There is a built in screen door and flap to open or close the rear. Also there is a small opening at the top to allow a solar shower and or hose for showering. Cheers !
   Jeff Woodall"keep on pushin'"       woody

> Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 23:43:15 -0400
> From: ghourtouat@GMAIL.COM
> Subject: Re: A camping season with the Bus Depot Add-A-Room
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> 
> Ron,
> The Rear Hatch Shelter looks like a neat product at an attractive price --
> great thinking!
> 
> Does it mate up to the snaps for the rear hatch mosquito screen?  Does it
> have a method of making a seal to the rest of the van (such as a flap of
> material that tucks under the mattress, for example) to seal out the bugs
> that might find their way up from underneath the van?
> 
> Thanks!
> Gabby
> 
> On Tue, Oct 14, 2014 at 11:48 AM, The Bus Depot <vanagon@busdepot.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > Ron, have you ever thought about putting a clear section on top of the
> > Rear Hatch
> > > tent?  We love the idea, concept, construction (have bought them as gift
> > for van
> > > friends) but we also love sleeping and showering and being able to see
> > the sky.
> > > I know you can't have the perfect product for everyone but this would
> > seal the deal
> > > for us.
> >
> > I could look into it at some future date (we design several years out and
> > then do a lot of field testing before the product is commercially
> > released), but it would probably be a lot more complicated and expensive
> > than you think and perhaps not worth the additional cost.  The only reason
> > our Rear Hatch Shelter is so affordable is that we managed to come up with
> > one pattern that fits both Buses and Vanagons, allowing us to sell a single
> > model for all years 1968-91.  No single "skylight" location would line up
> > to both vehicles' rear hatch windows, necessitating separate Bus and
> > Vanagon versions. Without the economies of scale, the price would go up for
> > both. Also, adding a "skylight"  would introduce some risk of the stitching
> > around the skylight leaking during torrential rain. That is why tents
> > generally don't have skylights but rather have windows on vertical surfaces
> > only. There are workarounds, of course - overlapped fabric, a shade that
> > closes over the window, additional stitching, etc. - which we use on our
> > side mounted Add-A-Room (whose windowed side walls can all be extended out
> > to form awnings). But again cost becomes a factor. The rear hatch version
> > is $79, the side version is $399. At $399 I can add features like this and
> > make sure they're done right. At $79 not so much, and nobody wants a leaky
> > roof. The other solution would be to make the entire roof clear, but a
> > large clear plastic roof would be pricier, thicker, and stiffer than nylon.
> > One of the nice things about the current version is that it folds up to
> > almost nothing so it doesn't take much space in the van. A thicker, stiffer
> > roof would reduce that advantage somewhat (exactly by what amount I don't
> > know). So while I couldn't rule it out entirely, and don't think the
> > obstacles are unsurmountable, it's not a simple modification and couldn't
> > happen anytime soon if at all.
> >
> > Ron Salmon
> > The Bus Depot, Inc.
> > www.busdepot.com
> >