Lots of opinions on Canopies

For those of you using the sport brella, is it the 8 foot or 9 foot? Extra width that also covers the cooler table would be great, but bigger is not always better if the larger umbrella puts more strain on the same size ribs...

 

The pictures I posted earlier is the 8 ft. The advantage of the 8 ft is that collapsed, it can be stored in the galley for travel. The XL or 9 ft you would need to put it in your TV or on the bed when traveling. The right “wing” on the 8 ft does go right over the cooler on the right hand table. That is exactly how I use it. It is now my favorite.

The 8ft sunbrella over the galley, and I have the 4 sided clam for a bug-free zone and privacy if I need standup-to-get-dressed space or middle of the night personal loo.

I’ve also used the sunbrella to shade the camper door when I had no shade, but it was hot and and sunny, and I wanted to have the screens on, door open, but reduce the beating sun into the bed area. Multi uses is awesome.

 

I carry 3 tent structures. The last one I purchased is the Clam Corporation Quick-Set Escape - Brown 9879. If I had purchased this one first, I probably would never have purchased the Lightspeed Privacy tent. The third tent is the REI Alcove Shelter. The REI Alcove is okay, but requires more set up time.

Tents are problematic in many RV Campgrounds because rules specifically state no stand alone tents within RV sites. I can usually get away with the REI Alcove over the galley though. My argument is most big rigs have awnings, and I use my Alcove like an awning over the kitchen.

Tents are the reason I added a roof rack to the 560 after the initial purchase. A Yakima SkyBox is attached to the roof rack and it carries all three tents, electric cord, folding table, chair, and hoses. My tow vehicle became too crowded and disorganized when carrying all the above inside the vehicle. I chose to put the SkyBox on the 560 rather than my vehicle, because the trailer and SkyBox fit under the garage door opening and everything I carry in the SkyBox is for camping. Note that the 560 with roof rack and SkyBox will not fit under a 7 foot garage door opening, as the clearance is about 7'-2". As you can see, I don't rough it like the famous Bear!

I like the Clam Quick-Set Escape the best, although I haven't DYI'd a second opening yet. Also, the length of the Escape when packed is 72 inches, whereas the other large models would be to long to fit into the SkyBox. Also, the hub height of the Escape is 90 inches, which is more convenient for one person to set up. I have a full set of wind panels that attach separately.

 

Old_Prospector- Does the Skybox interfere with the fan? If so, how do you handle at campground?

 

I use a smiliar canopy and have improved its performance with suction cup upgrade for attachment to TD and better adjustable poles.

 

Amazon.com : Airhead SUP Suction Cup Tie Downs, 2 pk. : Sports & Outdoors

Another Amazon find.

 

Hold really well and allows the canopy to be positioned ideally over the rear hatch.

 

Our last canopy (Summit 170) had a leg fold like a cheap deck of cards so we replaced it with the Eurmax and this is way, way better. It is heavy but way more durable.

 

We are waiting to purchase a bigger screen tent, but in the meantime, we are using what we have on hand: the Wenzel Solaro screen tent from Wally World, which fits nice and snug over the galley and to make it a changing room, we attach an extra rainfly we had from a large NTK dome tent over top of it. The suction cup tie downs that RShep linked to are fantastic for attaching the rainfly to the 560, and we purchased a pack of bungee cords in various sizes to help guy it out. Works great as a covered area for changing and shade.

It's not a truly effective bug-free room since we can't zip up the sides that are next to the camper, but we can set up both tables and fit some chairs and a little table inside without any problem. It would not fit a campground picnic table while attached to the camper, though.

 

The 16' Noah's Tarp is on sale at Cabelas.

 

We saw a few more Clam Pavilions at the CICO, and one of the adopters who had PM'd us this past year with some questions, had modified theirs with two additional zippered entrances. One on either side of the middle of the opposite side of the original main entrance that is taken up by the galley. Nice way to keep things equal....I mean symmetrical.

I did notice a particularly good price on the Pavilion at both Target, and Walmart ( both sold & shipped by VM Express out of Nebraska ) Quick-Set Pavilion Portable Pop Up Camping Outdoor Gazebo Canopy Shelter, Tan
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Quick-Se...F5glJwVMEzZkon5ny_O0G05rypMNVE5gaAtVXEALw_wcB

We have grown fond of our Real Tree camo version of the Pavilion, which while looking deceptively dark from the outside, actually has great light penetration that looks very bright from the inside, and almost like you were parked under the tree branches depicted on the the roof and sides, but we probably would have ordered the all tan version shown on the above links had it been available when we purchased ours. Despite doing some seam sealing, we have continued to have a bit of leakage in a few places around the perimeter edges of the interior, so move things to the center if rain is predicted over night. I would strongly consider ordering the optional rain fly made to fit the newer models.

Alan & Karen from Indianapolis, who were at CICO to finalize the options they would be adding to the Camp-Inn they are planning on ordering soon, camped across the road in a newly acquired Pavilion, to which they had added the optional floor, and rain fly, which seemed to work well in keeping them dry through the relatively soggy weekend. I followed their lead in packing up all the external tents late on Saturday afternoon however, so as to not have to do a wet pack-up on Sunday before departing for home. The rain started in the wee hours of Sunday morning, and continued right up to departure that morning, so was glad to have given up the convenience of the side tent and Clam over night.

Thanks again to the Camp-Inn crew for putting on another great CICO despite somewhat challenging weather conditions again. The new breakfast muffin fare on Sunday morning was very good, but I have to say I missed the build your own baggie omelets we've enjoyed for many years, and would vote for their return if that were to be an option, but then again, maybe Craig is getting tired of manning the boiling water pots too .

 

We recently purchased a slumberjack roadhouse screen tarp to go over the galley. This tarp is designed to attach to the roof rack cross bar and wheels on a truck. It won't attach to the wheels with the baby moon hubcaps, but we found that it works well by attaching all four straps to the front and rear roof rack crossbars.

My goal was to keep our setup/breakdown of camp to a minimum, while also not adding a ton of weight to the camper or the roof rack. This worked really well. It wasn't a perfect fit with the side tables on, but it provided nice shade and some extra privacy at our campsite at Big Lake, Arizona. It got too hot inside the screen, so we did end up rolling the screen up to let the breeze in during the day.

We also bought a pop-up tent by Gazelle Tents for my son to sleep in, and the combination was fantastic. The gazelle tent sets up in under a minute, and the tarp was deployed in about 5 minutes. Including staking, setting up chairs, leveling the camper, and setting up the camp kitchen, we had camp set up in about 10-15 minutes total. I think we're just about ready for a long haul!

The only real drawback to the slumberjack roadhouse is that you really need to be able to stake the guy lines, so if you are staying at a campsite that is paved, you'll need to plan the location of the camper carefully. But it's lightweight, quick and easy to set up/break down, and makes a very nice shelter area for the camp kitchen.

Roadhouse Screen Tarp

 

Jim,
We've been using that SUV tent for 6 years now. We liked it so much that we bought a second one for when the first one wears out. I see that you are west on the PA turnpike. We are in Carlisle. If you get this way, give me a call (717-501-5142) and I'll show you how to use your camp inn tables and how I remedied the rain problem. I find the screen room useful to store duffle, pots & pans. We even installed a wood stove. If you go camping in the cold I find it useful to throw a queen size comforter over the roof, under the rain fly.
George

 

Wow George

We are close to you too. We live in Juniata county. My wife's name is Ellen too.

 

I use the REI Alcove. It fits nicely as a kitchen extension for shade but heavy rain has presented problems with pooling water. I adapted boat cover stays to keep the canvas taught. I cut the fiberglass to allow the pieces to slide together for adjustments and storage. The ends and center do need to be fastened to the frame, I use coated wire.