shade covers July 06, 2019, 03:16:09 pm Just wondering what portable shade structures most LD folks use. Planning for an extended stay at a campground and would like an outside covered area. Any suggestions?
Re: shade covers Reply #1 – July 06, 2019, 06:57:57 pm There's many options. Too many are cheap; almost throw-away. If you're into quality -- this is the Lazy Daze Owner's Forum, afterall -- then check out PahaQue Wilderness Tents. They cost more but from our experience, they're easy-to-use, very durable, look good, and last forever. 1 Likes
Re: shade covers Reply #2 – July 06, 2019, 07:59:52 pm After blowing up a few canopies, over the years, we finally bought a commercial grade canopy, one with a heavy duty internal frame. If properly staked down, it will stand up to a lot of wind, something the cheapies can't tolerate .We assisted Joel Wiley last week, at june Lake, when a hard wind came up and his neighboring campsite's three cheap canopies starting lifting, we saved two but the third one flipped over and destroyed the frame. None of the canopies were staked down.Here is the canopy we are now using, it's available with and without sides. It does weigh more than the previous cheap canopies we have owned. You get what you pay for.Amazon.com : Eurmax 10'x10' Ez Pop Up Canopy Tent Commercial Instant...Larry 1 Likes As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: shade covers Reply #3 – July 06, 2019, 08:16:42 pm When were were at Quarzite back in January, do you recall seeing the rig Colddog has? They replaced a couple of screws on the top edge with eyebolts and attach a triangular shade. Quite robust and I've been thinking about it ever since.joel 1 Likes
Re: shade covers Reply #4 – July 06, 2019, 08:42:58 pm Larry, the EURMAX shade you mentioned is the same ones that our veterans association used at our Fourth of July event. They do seem to be very good quality and easy to use.
Re: shade covers Reply #5 – July 07, 2019, 08:15:36 am Some folks have discussed Coolaroo Sail Shades here before.Bill
Re: shade covers Reply #6 – July 07, 2019, 09:56:28 am Thread were shades were 'talked' about ......Shades ThreadBy the way the image on the right was taken after a night of rain and wind. <smile> try that will the 'great' awing LD supplies.
Re: shade covers Reply #7 – July 09, 2019, 10:22:38 pm Thanks, I did look at archives but put in wrong search words. I remember Colddog shade but don't remember what kind of stake kept up the third side. I'm going to try some reviews of above mentioned products, thanks for ideas, to see what they say about set up by one person. I liked Colddog set up and could have bolts inserted but need info on the pole situation. Seems like it was at an angle pointed away from the roof. How was it anchored? What is the name of the sail cloth? Thanks Joel and troops. Sharon
Re: shade covers Reply #8 – July 09, 2019, 10:40:23 pm Found archive. The rope is used instead of metal hooks. Quieter? Scratches? What type of tent pegs? Thanks Colddog and LD idea family.
Re: shade covers Reply #9 – July 10, 2019, 02:07:18 am Colddog - I would love a solution better than the standard attached awnings (that need worrying if a wind will come up, they get snagged, etc.).Yours looks like a good idea. So questions:Do you intentionally use two triangles so that the wind is less likely to whip that cloth away? (more places for the wind to find a path).Have you noticed any wear and tear on the screws in the rig (e.g. are they coming loose? do you check them regularly and fix as needed)?I checked the other threads and saw where you put connections on both sides of the rig so you could put it wherever you wanted it.It also looked like you took it down on windy/rainy days (e.g. lowered it some if you were outside, but used the same rule of thumb that says don't leave the awning out if you are not right there as it could all of a sudden get windy and tear the awning off). I wonder if anyone has put a quick connect place at the bottom of the LD so that if wind comes up, you just flatten the sail against the rig for a couple hours/overnight/while gone for the day, then pop it back out when you are ready to use it again. That would be easier than taking it down and putting it back up each time - could be a couple minute task with no climbing up on a ladder to get that top eyehole hook undone.I like the idea you show of putting a ladder on the LD ladder, so you could use it for reaching high places on the rig without climbing up on the roof.Jane 1 Likes
Re: shade covers Reply #10 – July 10, 2019, 09:26:34 am Do you intentionally use two triangles so that the wind is less likely to whip that cloth away? (more places for the wind to find a path).No the idea was to increase the area of coverage. We have clips to hook the two sails togethers but I get lazy.Have you noticed any wear and tear on the screws in the rig (e.g. are they coming loose? do you check them regularly and fix as needed)?I do check the eye hook each time I wash Baxter. They have not come loose. The eyehooks replaced the screws the factory used. I unscrewed the factory screws put some caulking in the empty holes then screwed in the eyehooks. I checked the other threads and saw where you put connections on both sides of the rig so you could put it wherever you wanted it.Yes. Interesting we have no had to use the other side. It also looked like you took it down on windy/rainy days (e.g. lowered it some if you were outside, but used the same rule of thumb that says don't leave the awning out if you are not right there as it could all of a sudden get windy and tear the awning off). I took down one (the 'rear' one only because in high winds the sail would pull out the pole and 'kick' around. I need some better system to tie them down. The single sail made it thought many very windy and large downpours. <snip> to remove some stuffI like the idea you show of putting a ladder on the LD ladder, so you could use it for reaching high places on the rig without climbing up on the roof.Yes I like using the ladder to clean the windows and do a waterless wash on the road. We use Amazon.com: Camco Heavy Duty Chair Rack- Hook on RV Ladder to Support... as a attachment to the LD ladder. I use Ratchet Tie Down Straps - 4 Pk - 15 Ft- 500 Lbs Load Cap- 1500 Lb Break... to keep them on the LD ladder.glen 1 Likes As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: shade covers Reply #11 – July 10, 2019, 10:47:26 am Ikea has also had a ob-longish square one called the DYNING which also included ropes and springs for about $25. Karen~Liam 98 ~ MB NinA
Re: shade covers Reply #12 – July 10, 2019, 09:32:24 pm These sails will go on our todo list - we have never use the awning other than to confirm it was ok, just too many problems with bad consequences if high wind comes up for us to bother.
Re: shade covers Reply #13 – July 31, 2020, 05:22:58 pm I wanted to update. We put up some shade sails, after talking to Glen and doing a little brain picking.We used rectangular ones - just cause that is what Costco local had. Two 13' x 7' ones.We put in 3 eyebolts, like Glen did, so that we can put the sail clothes up with the shorter sides at the RV - so we have 14' at the RV side (it goes from the far back up to past the door in our TK), and 13' extended out from the RV.Or we can put the long side at the RV and put a second one at the poles and tilted toward the ground to give some protection from the non LD side.We have had them up a couple months now I think - they have (with some adjustments) tolerated up to 30 mph wind gusts. I am using windy.com to check wind speed and sometimes it sure seems the gusts are higher - Windy takes measurements 10' from the ground and a few miles away from us.We got poles from Amazon very similar to the style Glen used. And we use metal tent stakes with poly cord to give tension to the poles (away from the LD on all 3 poles, the outer poles also have rope and stake going along the same plane the edge of the shade sails. We added some Guyline Cord Adjusters thinking this would make it quicker to put up/take down/adjust but we are not thrilled with them so far. They are difficult to slide (probably good so they don't lose tension) and hard to get that last bit of rope tight.Glen suggested as an improvement to his original design to put bungee cords on to take up the forces of the wind gusts. I agree with this - when the winds are going crazy it feels like a large adult is doing little leaps from side to side of the LD. But I would have to do something custom to get one short enough. I would like to put it between the shade sail and the LD but not have a significant gap where sunshine would just come down onto the side of the LD. The shortest I have found that feel strong enough are about 9", but they can be "re-tooled" to make them shorter. So that is likely what I would try first.Another planned alteration - for when high wind shows up unexpectedly, I would like to have some eyebolts at the bottom of the LD so the shade sail poles can be quickly taken down, the shade sail rolled up some, and secured to the side of the LD. It would just be temporary securing and it would block the view on that side of the LD but it saves time from having to unclip from the eye screws at the top of the LD side if high winds kicked up unexpectedly.Jane 1 Likes As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
Re: shade covers Reply #14 – September 24, 2020, 11:15:17 pm Update, our sail cloths lasted well until a freak 40mph plus wind came thru. The kind that picks up things you think are solid and throws them around.We had the poles tightened down tight and the poles bent but Scott thinks they can be straightened easily.This was right before our trip, so we didn't put them back up again. We got these rubber bungee cords and will likely double them up so they are half the length. We will put them between the sail cloth and the LD and also between the sailcloth and the pole.I will keep you all updated to see how well this new setup works.I wanted to add the eye screws we used since I didn't put that in our last post. They were 1/4-in x 3-3/4-in Stainless Steel Eye-Head Exterior Lag Screws. They actually came two in a package so we returned the extra ones. We wanted it a little larger than the current screws. We didn't really want it to stick out as far as they do but we lived with that to get the other qualities we wanted.We also put in grommets and didn't use the sail cloth material loops for poles. That worked well (we used 1/2" ones as we use a carabiner between the LD eye screws and the sail cloth). I still want to put in the bottom eye screws (less heavy ones) for a quick take down (take off poles and hook to bottom of LD likely rolling it up some).When we get it back up I will take some pictures to post.Jane As an Amazon Associate Lazy Daze Owners' Group earns from qualifying purchases.
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