NO-SEE-UM FRONT WINDOW SCREEN FOR THE AIRSTREAM INTERSTATE

Apparently I'm not the only Sprinter-based Class B RV owner who reached this unexpected conclusion - sometimes it is necessary to leave the cab windows open for proper whole-vehicle ventilation - the sliding door may not be the best option.  Something about the Sprinter being long and linear probably results in this.  The Roadtreking Store sells "Skeeter Beater RV Window Screens" that fit both the T1N and the NCV3 Sprinter front windows.  As of the date of this blog post, they had an advisory on their website saying, "ATTENTION - DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, OUR SKEETER BEATERS ARE RUNNING ABOUT A WEEK OUT FOR SHIPMENT".

Particularly because their product is advertised as no-see-um proof, in ordinary circumstances I would declare it to be a good investment and I would just go with it.  For the amount of material and labor it would take to make them yourself, Roadtreking's offering price is fair and it wouldn't be worth doing them as a DIY job.  

However, I'm in the process of helping my husband with our solar system installation, which means I spend a fair amount of time standing around waiting for my name to be called.  For this reason, I need little "filler" projects to keep myself busy in between tool fetches and other assistive responses, and so I decided to try my hand at a home-made no-see-um screen.  Here is how I did it.

I templated the window using butcher paper.  

Cut out the window shape and placed it on no-see-um netting as a guide.  This piece of netting was available on Amazon. 

Then I cut out the window shape, leaving a wide margin.

Self-portrait, thumbs up - I found it easiest just to fit the screen to the window, pinning as I went, given that I'd never done this before.  Unlike The Roadtreking Store, I used pieces of magnetic strip (they reportedly used dot magnets).  I did that because I'd bought a roll of the stuff for another project, and I had it sitting around unused.  

And now for the proverbial money shot, post-sewing-machine...

Yes, it's actually there, in place.  If you look carefully you can see the strip magnets around the edge of the window.