Camper Shade

[Captain Goddammit]

I've long known the benefits of a shade over a tent, camper, bus, or anything in BRC. I've always just taken the easy route and let the A/C fight off the heat but this year I'm thinking I'd like a shade.
Way too much $$ has gone into the Land Yacht, and the fuel to get it there I don't wanna think about... and the truck/trailer are already at almost 22,000 pounds; so, cost and weight are big priorities.

The subject is an 11.5 foot truck camper. It's 19 feet from the front of the overhead bunk to the rear, and 8 feet wide. I'd like to make a flat shade about a foot or two above it.
I was thinking of four 2" PVC poles clamped to the camper jacks supporting a 1 1/2" PVC framework, with a top tarp from a Costco 10x20 on accounta I have one.
Or, just using 2x4s and a screw gun to build the same thing.
Putting holes in the camper anywhere is of course "out".

How would you do it?

[FIGJAM]

Use 1" EMT instead of PVC.

Once you have the four corners lashed to the jacks, put one of these on top of each corner.

http://www.ysbw.com/Canopy-Fitting-1-Sl ... p/2235.htm

Slip a stick of EMT through them across each end of the camper to bungee the tarp to.

For the length, hook a couple of ratchet straps into the ends of the EMT and tighten them ridged.

Carbiner the edges of the tarp to the strap.

Supplies will be...

6 sticks 1" EMT

4 sliding elbows

bungee balls

ratchet straps

carbiners

and your tarp.

Done AND tested, but mines 12'x40'!

I used rope instead of straps, but you get the idea.

[Token]

I would use whatever is on hand for everything except the tarp.

The tarp would be Aluminet, strictly for the avoidance of the sail effect and light weight.

Park wall/slide side to sunrise, door side to sunset, extend ass side for solar azimuth. (I know, your door is on the back and no slide).

The door side would extend a dozen feet to an H frame (already have a bunch of sch40 aluminum pipe) the to ground for shade structure.

Btw, Figjam had a bunch of pictures for his setup that would apply better to your geometry.

[Token]

Ha! That was fycking funny!

[Jackass]

1" EMT frame, HD tarp taught between said frame, shade cloth wrapped around the legs giving shade on three sides as well.

Like so...

BM2010 081.jpg

[Jackass]

Last year's version...

Burningman2012 005.JPG

This year, adding just a bit more.

[theCryptofishist]

Ha! That was fycking funny!

Let's face it, Figjam owns the threads about cooling.

[Elliot]

Hey Captain, this thread will also serve a valuable function for many first-timers. Shade -- with air gap -- is tremendously effective. With last year's setup (photos) Millicent The Bus was comfortable all day.

You may want your shade larger than just the footprint of the camper since the sun shines in from angles. The south side is most important, of course. I park with the "off" side of Millicent to the south, and you can see how the tarp runs almost to the ground there, completely shading the south wall (with a five-foot air gap).

I want to extend my shade east and west to handle mornings and evenings. (Pictures taken in early morning.)

As for your rig, metal tubes clamped to the jacks sounds right. Plastic has been know to shatter.

[FIGJAM]

Ha! That was fycking funny!

Let's face it, Figjam owns the threads about cooling.

Oh I say Fishy!

Steady on!!

[Elorrum]

2 designs I've seen that caught my attention:
1. one guy put saw horses on the roof of his r.v. and tensioned a big tarp over them. whole lot of tarp.
2. a large pvc arc with shade cloth over a van parked east/west. half the width was the van, the other half was a shade area that the van doors opened out to.

[theCryptofishist]

Oooh, ooh! I'll put sparkle ponies on my roof!

(Sorry, Captain, I'm contributing only silliness...)

[Captain Goddammit]

Thanks, I like the idea of 1" EMT, with those elbows in that link.
Is the 1" EMT strong and stiff enough to hold the shade in a storm without whacking the crap outta my camper?
It's on a duallie pickup, so the front jacks have swing-out brackets that I can have "out" to spread the forward uprights, and the rear corners could maybe tie onto the roof rack but I dunno how much stress that can take without ripping out.

My supply list seems like it will be longer than your list, FIGJAM... I can't have the uprights in the front corners, the jacks are about 11' apart front-to-rear with the overhead bunk extending 7 or 8 feet forward. I'll need some crossmembers and more corners, and the forward part needs to be rigid enough to hold up on it's own.

[Elliot]

You might step up to fence tubing -- such as used along the top of chain link fences. That's what my shade is made of -- beside construction scaffolding. Fence tubing comes in 1 3/8 and maybe larger. A quick trip to Master-Halco's website should fill you in. Remember that triangulation is the key to strength.

Edit: and fence rail tubing comes in pretty good lengths -- mine were 18 feet.

[FIGJAM]

Thanks, I like the idea of 1" EMT, with those elbows in that link.
Is the 1" EMT strong and stiff enough to hold the shade in a storm without whacking the crap outta my camper?
It's on a duallie pickup, so the front jacks have swing-out brackets that I can have "out" to spread the forward uprights, and the rear corners could maybe tie onto the roof rack but I dunno how much stress that can take without ripping out.

My supply list seems like it will be longer than your list, FIGJAM... I can't have the uprights in the front corners, the jacks are about 11' apart front-to-rear with the overhead bunk extending 7 or 8 feet forward. I'll need some crossmembers and more corners, and the forward part needs to be rigid enough to hold up on it's own.

Simply run the EMT the length of the camper and put the ratchet staps at the front and back.

This will mean getting 1 stick of 1 1/2" EMT to cut in half for a center splint, as you will need 2 sticks of 1" for the length of the camper on each side.

That way you can still get by with only 4 slide connectors and the splints will add strength to the middle of the long runs.

[Captain Goddammit]

OK, so you're saying to just make a rail down each side and not bother with cross members, other than just ratchet straps? I suppose that would simplify things a lot.

[Jackass]

I'd run the legs of the frame all the way to the ground and merely use the camper tie off for additional bracing. In order to insure that the two don't come together if it get's really windy.

[Sic Pup]

You might step up to fence tubing --

I studied with Will Allen of Growing Power in Milwaukee for a bit. One of the things he advocated was building hoop houses out of the stuff for inner city populations in food deserts and people in underdeveloped nations to grow their own food. We built a couple in workshops and they're pretty awesome.

He borrowed some ideas and essentially builds a jig out of plywood, some wood blocks, glue and screws that allows one to evenly and consistently bend the stuff to form the arcs.

The resulting Quonset was very sturdy, yet not permanent, and is considerably less spendy than any low tunnel kit. It doesn't provide the give and flexibility of a MH, hence probably not as wind tolerant, is much heavier and costs more. When I first discovered MH's I thought they might be a good alternative for his purposes rather than the other way around but I never relayed the idea as it's difficult to get in touch with him given his emergence as a leader in the "good food revolution".

That said, if I ever move closer, or have the resources I'd like to build one on the playa just for shits and giggles.

[Elliot]

Also, for splicing lengths, fence tubing is swedged down at one end to fit inside the other piece, so you get a full strength splice.

[Captain Goddammit]

OK... so.... fence tubing... uprights on each jack, and just a rail down the left and right sides, tarp stretched between, supported by some left-to-right ratchet straps.
I could weld up my own corner elbows or tees.
Or... I suppose I could unhitch my trailer, park it along side the truck, and mount one side of my overhead shade to it - it's a quite big flatbed that weighs 2400 empty and it won't be empty - but now I'm into a bigger tarp... dammit these projects always snowball...

[FIGJAM]

Fence rail is a good idea.

I said EMT cause it would be cheap.

They have connectors large enough for fence rail.

http://www.ysbw.com/Canopy-Fittings-Can ... s-s/37.htm

[Elliot]

OK... so.... fence tubing... uprights on each jack, and just a rail down the left and right sides, tarp stretched between, supported by some left-to-right ratchet straps.
I could weld up my own corner elbows or tees.
Or... I suppose I could unhitch my trailer, park it along side the truck, and mount one side of my overhead shade to it - it's a quite big flatbed that weighs 2400 empty and it won't be empty - but now I'm into a bigger tarp... dammit these projects always snowball...

Do you mean to have no steel across the top? That seems iffy to me. I'm envisioning the two sides bending inward.

I like the idea of tying to the trailer. I've done that (before I had scaffolding). You could attach a simple triangular frame to the trailer to hold that side of the tarp up. Then you would have a shaded courtyard, like mine.

Maybe it was on an other thread I mentioned hay tarps. I paid $305.- for my 40x60, very strong.

And you thought you were going to just put a napkin on the roof.

[Captain Goddammit]

Well I did it. I got 1 3/8" fence pipe, eight 10-foot pieces. Connected two together for each 20' side rail, and four uprights.
I couldn't find "T" connectors I liked, so I made my own from the next size up fence pipe. I cut a piece of that into 9" pieces, notch-cut to fit together in a nice "T", and welded the crap out of them. The 1 3/8" pipe passes right through them so I can set the uprights anywhere they need to be, and it ends up about two feet above the roof, right where I wanted it. It's pretty stout and I don't think the wind will destroy it.