Personal shade for tent, what works? (to buy, not build)

Remark · Post by **Remark** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:54 pm

My trick for keeping my ezup alive and well (used same one for five years). Profile, profile, profile.

Sunny out = Ezup 6' tall with walls attached

Windy and/or Cloudy out = Ezup lowered to 4' with walls tied up or removed.

Homemade lightweight material walls held up with metal shower curtain rings. Walls start to catch wind, metal rings bend and/or break.

My shade really isn't used to protect me from wind and dust. If it is that bad, I'll go wait in my car.

and STAKE IT DOWN!

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:55 pm

Free2B wrote:So that's why Disney World sprayed us at every turn. I thought they were nuts. I think I'll get one, thanks. Didn't find any battery operated, but a few w/pump "lasts for hours"

Rather humid at disney world.
They were just being mean.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:23 pm

Misters spread salmonella! News at 11!

JezebelinHell · Post by **JezebelinHell** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 9:38 pm

If you're willing to blow a little over a bill then this fucker looks pretty badass:

http://www.safetycentral.com/coboxpobaopr.html

Boijoy · Post by **Boijoy** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:06 am

hi. I have a "pretty solid" ez up. Steel frame, teflon coated top, etc. paid about 100 for it. It bent some last year. I took the shade off during the really bad wind storms. THIS year i'm taking a hacksaw just in case I have to take apart a badly bent shade. funs time at the Burn !!

Boijoy · Post by **Boijoy** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:11 am

Misters. If you have a way to power a mid. sized fan, you can attach a "Misty Mate" to the front of it. Works Great !! Be careful of the "self powered" systems. They seem to either use too much water or don't have enough cooling power for the desert. Alternative Energy Zone has a kewell design for portable solar powered battery & inverter. Costs approx. 300 in materials. Solar Rocks on the Playa !!

Free2B · Post by **Free2B** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:04 am

Bob wrote:Couple bedsheets propped on broomsticks and you're done.

Forget the carport -- buy a knot book. Arrrrr.

I thought you were kidding, but someone on tribe (sorry, bad w/names) told me bed sheets are a good idea, quieter... so... you ARE kidding about broom sticks, aren't you? Should I get rope & extra stakes & just stretch the sheets over my tent? I really need something space & money saving, if this works, it would be great.

Thanks again!

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:20 am

http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/tarp/TarpShel.htm

Token · Post by **Token** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:39 am

Listen up noobs, when the almighty Bob gives advice on tarp, ye shall listen.

http://www.geocities.com/potatotrap/

So it is written, so it shall be done.

Every noob should read at least the Dessert Structures and Rabar Rope and Rigging FAQ.

I used a fire staff and scythe once as a spreader for our camo netting. Worked fine.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:58 am

Such as it is... geocities has been pretty broken since yahoo fucked it up, and I haven't been able to update it.

Ninth Path · Post by **Ninth Path** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:31 am

I picked up one of these from the REI outlet. Google rei coupons and save even more money.
http://www.rei.com/outlet/product/766980
I set it up and it looks great. Not playa tested yet, but I think it will work well.

We're also designing and building our own shade structures with the help of creativeshelters.com. We're thinking 20x10, 5' high with a flat roof for the tents. The 16x10 with a ^ roof my buddy made for the '07 burn was a big hit. Easy to setup, extremely sturdy. Great website.

Ninth Path

Teo del Fuego · Post by **Teo del Fuego** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:34 am

That REI shade structure looks alittle "whispy" to me. Where you on the Playa last year?

QUESTION: has anyone checked out the carports Harbor Freight sells? They didnt have any on display and I couldnt tell much just looking at the photo in the catalogue. Definitely cheaper than Costco but would they hold up to 50-60 mph winds?

Post by **trilobyte** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:23 am

And don't be afraid to hit up a fabric outlet and get something to decorate your EZ-up/carport. Sadly the cookie cutter shade units are starting to be as much of an eyesore as the giant land yachts or the 800-RV-RENT adverts.

Make it yours and all that.

Trilo

C187 · Post by **C187** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:49 am

If you stake it right, along with doing other things. A few 10x10's together are nice. Some of the burners from my area did it last year. They used something like the Groundmaster Post's, along with a good rail up. Some ties, and duct tape keep things together. Only once did anyone feel the need to hold onto the shade structure.

For myself, the poles from the basic pop-up bent to all hell. I forgot to pack my replacement poles. So What i ended up doing was taking the tarp and pooping it slightly above my tent, with the rest of it held down by my extra rebar. I set it up so it was mostly in the areas the Sun would be at while I was in the tent. It worked well.

For this year, my friend and I are working out a plan to use both our tents and have our shade over both. Since we know that we're not going to be spending a lot of time home. The shade will only 15ish cm above the tents.

Like someone else said. If you can't make it solid, make it flex. One more thing, the normal poles that come with a pop up... they will break.

(You can see the structure I was talking about in my Flicker BM set...)

Remark · Post by **Remark** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:23 pm

What i ended up doing was taking the tarp and pooping it slightly above my tent,

snicker snicker

I'm such a child

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 11:40 pm

Hunter S...T-posts? will keep anything down, but pulling them is a bitch.They can be pulled with a t-post puller and high lift jack, for as cheap as $60 I attached an EZ up canopy to them..didn't go anywhere , but metal structure inside got torn to shit.

Josh-n-Cody · Post by **Josh-n-Cody** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 10:54 am

I can see that if you are going over a tent... makes sense... how tall can they get over a trailer?

stormfeather · Post by **stormfeather** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:39 am

I found out about Tarpman "swap meet style" shade structures, last year on the shade geeks Tribe.
Buy the connectors, tarp and ball bungees, tie downs and stakes from him, buy your EMT conduit pipe cut to size locally.

http://www.tarpman.us/servlet/the-CANOP ... Categories

There may be other mfgrs. of the corner connectors, you might check locally. I believe there is someone in the Bay Area, CA who sells at Oakland/Berkeley/Emeryville at the swapmeet.

You can add shadecloth, aluminette, tarp, or bedsheet walls. It is 9' ft high at peaked center, 7 ' ft high along the sides.

We have a 20x20.
Shade cloth attached to the structure shades our tent trailer.
My husband built a simple plastic pipe frame that sits up on tent trailer roof, keeps the shade cloth up off top of tenting and creates airspace.

One person can erect in 2 hours, with help about an hour.

playa tested, lower cost than carports, less fiddly bits.

Staked and with tie downs, It was rock solid. Of course we did not bother with solid tarp walls as we had our little tent trailer to retreat to in a dust storm, but you could always close in half of a 20x 20 for privacy or to sleep in.

As the sTEAp teahouse at SOAK:

On the Playa:

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:23 am

Shelter Systems is a joint connector style too.
Their cheap tarp is a full block tarp.
I like the version they have that comes with two size tarps so you can set it up as a small or large shade structure.
They carry sides too, in screen and solid.
Slip joints are very useful if you need to cut your poles to carry them.
http://www.shelsys.com/
They also have parts for a flat roof.
They have a very wide accessory choice like feet for sand, wall braces.
$140 for a 10 x 20, 10 x 10 combo.

Free2B · Post by **Free2B** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:26 am

Anybody know where to buy a nice large sheet of reflectix or something like it? I've found 3-4 feet wide, they gotta make em big. (not for the "custom size" price!)

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 10:37 am

Did you call Reflectix?
It comes up to ten feet wide.
I have had good luck special ordering through Lowes here, though not reflectix.

The scrim is without the bubbles. 4 x 120 feet.
Makes it easy to pack.

I think silvicool is available in some good sizes.
How big is big?

Free2B · Post by **Free2B** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:51 pm

gyre wrote:Did you call Reflectix?
It comes up to ten feet wide.
I have had good luck special ordering through Lowes here, though not reflectix.

The scrim is without the bubbles. 4 x 120 feet.
Makes it easy to pack.

I think silvicool is available in some good sizes.
How big is big?

Did you mean http://www.reflectixinc.com/ or another reflectix site? I did email them but I think they sell through delaers which I don't have near me. I might go w/lowes, tape it together. So.. it's pretty bulky ha? How do you call just the reflective part w/out the bubbles, I searched for "scrim" that didn't work:) Would I be able to sow or tape it to a tarp or bed sheet? I'm copletely new to this, just trying to make something usefull for my tent, I really hate waking up so hot I got a headache for the rest of the day.

I have another dumb question, are there any sturdy poles that can be staked down real good, are tall but relatively light & connectable for easy transport? (fit in suitcase) I read one in front, one in back, connect w/rope & throw tarp over, but my tent's 6 feet high.

Free2B · Post by **Free2B** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:41 pm

Just bought 2' x 70' reflectix on ebay, $38 shipping included. There's no way back... based on shipping at least it's not heavy. I'm gonna have me a shinny tent! Now off to find some poles. (PS Ebay got a few deals, this one's defected cause it's stapled on one side, but they came up when searching "Foil Bubble Insulation" not reflectix)

ziptie · Post by **ziptie** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:21 pm

How's the durability on the Reflectix?

Also, does anyone have experience with Tyvek Reflekta?

-piper

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:39 pm

BP Foil/Bubble Products
â€¢ BP48025
â€¢ BP24025
â€¢ ST16025
â€¢ BP48050 or BP48100 (Typically - Special Order Products)
Foil/Scrim/Foil Sheet Product
â€¢ RB48125
http://www.reflectixinc.com/diy/default ... eIndex=530

Someone posted a link to a page of someone covering a tent in this stuff recently with stats.
I haven't tried attaching it myself.
The advantage to the scrim would be packing, I think.
It seems fragile, but Unjon has slept on it.
They tell me it will take 180 degrees directly and takes attic abuse.

I haven't seen the Tyvek.

I have seen solid aluminet on the playa.
It seems less shiny but very tough.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:44 pm

ziptie wrote:How's the durability on the Reflectix?

Also, does anyone have experience with Tyvek Reflekta?

-piper

I have some reflectix here I can test to a point.
I have handled some white tyvek car covers and was very impressed.
Tyvek tends to be very tough.

Reflectix may sell direct if you can't find a fair price elsewhere.

ziptie · Post by **ziptie** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:53 pm

I've found the Reflectix for a fair price online, but not having had experience with insulation-abuse I don't know how much it can stand. I'd be interested to hear what kind of results you get from it.

The Tyvek Reflektra option is looking very attractive but I'm wondering about its % of light-blockage. Since it's metallized and UV-protective it's probably pretty good . . . I will probably scout around to see if any of the hardware stores around here stock it. Google doesn't turn up a lot of results for it so I am wondering whether it is fairly difficult to find in the wild.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:10 pm

If it is a metal coating, the % should be accurate.
I find I can't locate much of the special Tyvek in stock.
You might call and ask for a sample.

ziptie · Post by **ziptie** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:20 pm

Picked up a bit of Reflectix to play with. We will see how it holds up.

Had to ask around at several places for the fancy Tyvek and have been told that it is merely the old name for the ThermaWrap, but I am not sure that that is true, given that the latter is hard-structure home-wrap and the former is soft-structure. Tomorrow I will call the people who sell it online to see if they will send me a sample.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:08 pm

You might have better luck asking the manufacturer for a sample.
They aren't always set up to do it, but most are.
Some times you find stuff you never heard of.
That's how I found out about stainless steel velcro.

Personal shade for tent, what works? (to buy, not build)

Bob is god spelled by a dog.

tent shade

EZ Pop ups are ok?