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buspor63
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 17, 2011 10:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I applaud all the many and varied designs for Vanagon specific awnings, as 20 year Vanagon owner, I'm still a fan of the Easy-Up. Yes it's bulky and heavy, but I can use it next to the Vanagon, then later down by the river and yet still later on a road trip to the beach in the Honda van. In all situations I can use none, several or all of the walls to protect from sun, wind or to hold in heat. I've even got a cheaper knock off that can usually be bought for $20-$25 in the off season. Break it? recycle it! It even works great in the back yard when a brief rain shower rolls through and the band needs to cover the equipment quickly.
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

re Easy Ups: do you know where you can just get the frame?
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BillWYellowstone
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 6:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Daizee
http://ezupdirect.com/index.html
will take you to EZ-Up. Some it appears are not available as replacement frames. Some are. Mine was not. Looked at one, and frame was $220. At Sam's Club here in the states, a new EZ Up with one side curtain, costs $189.

Might be better off getting a new one and having a second cover.
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DAIZEE
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 8:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks YIKES!
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debbiej
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 18, 2011 11:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

well, we've had the dometic 2500 awning on our westy for about 5 camping trips now. I had a lot of doubts about fixing something permanantly to my van.

spent a lot of time and money trying to rig/make/retrofit an awning. not too happy with many of my attempts for lots of different reasons. I wanted something easy, stable, easily stowed that didn't take up interior space and cause clutter. and I wanted it to look nice too.

If I hadn't found a good deal on a used one, I never, ever would have spent the money one of these units cost new. figuring out the proper mounting took research and lots of help from samba members. Once I had the mounting hardware and saw pictures posted, I could tell it wasn't a big deal. but till then, I almost had decided to pass it on to someone else.

But now that I have it? LOVE it. easy, easy, easy. stable, incredibly convenient. it looks good and it works.

I have to admit, after using this one, now I think I would buy one new, if I had to, it is so nice!
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cprwalker
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 12:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I picked up the ARB awning in May and use it all the time. Very convienent and easy set-up/take-down. I will have to remove it for the winter, though, don't want any wet salty mix getting inside the zipper.
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MacFhearguis
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 2:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That ARB looks to be the exact same make as my Camping Lab.
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 4:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

MacFhearguis wrote:
That ARB looks to be the exact same make as my Camping Lab.


I'm pretty sure they are the same. I think they are close in price, too.
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SpudlyHotPotato
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 6:55 pm    Post subject: Fiamma Reply with quote

Gotta say, I LOVE reading and seeing pictures of people's mods. If I couldn't have afforded the ridiculously priced Fiamma, I'd have to do whatever I could for shade. To me, it's a huge deal because I live in Phoenix and have Irish genes. I hate the sun. Shade is gold and we covet it around here, the bigger the footprint the better.

That being said, for shade and shade alone, loads of solutions will work. But we learned a really cool lesson about our Fiamma awning when we were camping in Sedona in September and a hail storm came through. I've heard folks in here mention the shade footprint aint much but we managed to build a small shaded living room underneath it.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Then suddenly a huge storm blew in, multiple times that day, with hail, big rain, creating mudslides through everyone else's camp.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

But we just put all our chairs and firewood underneath the awning, left it up and went inside to read books while listening to the rain. Our firewood was totally kept dry just under that awning. As others have mentioned, you have to lower one side of the awning so that the gallons of icewater can dump off of it. But it's nice because you can direct the flow and make sure all the water runs downhill from where you are.
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I was amazed at the awning's ability to hold up to all the hail.

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We used the opportunity to refill the ice that was getting low in our cooler.
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The only weak point is the tiny gap between the awning and the van, water can drip in that little margin of space. I've heard suggestions to get garage door rubber edging and maybe put that in between to route the water into the proper rain gutters maybe ... worth thinking about if you know you're going to be encountering this sort of weather on your camping trip.

So yeah, it's a lot of money ... but it's more than just shade, it's a 10 foot wide umbrella too. It helps to have a place to pack the van in the rain. It keeps mud at bay and rolls out or in at a record pace.

The morning after this, we saw dents in the material and thought it was done for. They all came out in two days of sunshine at the Jerome Jamboree and all was well though.
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cprwalker
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 7:44 pm    Post subject: Re: Fiamma Reply with quote

SpudlyHotPotato wrote:
Shade is gold and we covet it around here, the bigger the footprint the better.


I'm diggin' the two mats. Who needs an Engel when you have hail?
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 7:58 pm    Post subject: Re: Fiamma Reply with quote

SpudlyHotPotato wrote:
... but we managed to build a small shaded living room underneath it.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

T

Man, that looks like an awesome space. Like those mats - any details? We got a 2nd dog (puppy today! Shocked ) and those would be good at the campgrounds down Cape Cod, where your site is kinda sandy dirt.
Nice post BTW
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andy syncro-nutz
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fiamma f45ti has to be the mutts! I would only like to add a Bow in the centre for the heavest of rainfall,
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SpudlyHotPotato
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 9:36 pm    Post subject: Re: Fiamma Reply with quote

vanagonjr wrote:
Like those mats - any details? We got a 2nd dog (puppy today! Shocked ) and those would be good at the campgrounds down Cape Cod, where your site is kinda sandy dirt.


Thanks for the kind words. We love the space, especially that reclining chair which feels like a hammock in the shade, we covet it.

Those mats are Mad Mats, I got them from GoWesty and I don't see the particular style we have right now on their web site. We picked up three of them when we were passing through and saw them in person at their shop. They're recycled plastic, fully weatherproof and quick-drying. We get loads of use from them. We also take them to outdoor concerts and use them weekly at our farmers market events where I sell knitted stuff that previously was knocked off the counter onto dead grass and getting grassed up. I can't say enough great things about them. I just found them here for $30, this web site looks to have em:

http://www.sweepdreams.com/raianbowpartymat-1.aspx

The main benefit to these "Party mats," as these ones are specifically called, is how they fold up extremely small, the footprint is practically irrelevant inside the rear bench seat. But when you roll them out, you can make a footprint that matches the awning overhead. You can see a picture of them and how they roll up (into thirds with built-in handles) on that web site.

We have enough of them to lay out a completely "carpeted floor" outside the sliding door going all the way to the hatch in the back, or up to your front passenger door depending on what you need. So at night you can wander around inside and outside the tent wearing just socks, regardless of what the ground beneath it is really like and it keeps the inside of the van mud-free and your campsite feeling homey. If they get muddy, they dry fast and you can hose them off or simply sweep them with a tiny broom.

Here's a more close up photo of the stripes, since no web sites really represent its appearance right:
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And here's what I mean when I say "regardless of what the ground is like." At the Jerome Jamboree these saved our feet - the whole site's ground is huge gravel chunks, not so cozy to walk on barefooted.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


And the Fiamma awning looks kinda baggy in these pictures, which was our own user error. We were all concerned about it (saying "oh crap, that hail must've ruined it!") We noticed when we got there and unrolled it that it was, after all, full of fallen leaves and things that we should've brushed off before rolling it back up after that storm, and the fabric was at first looking pretty wrinkly. d'oh! At the end of the trip, when packing up, we realized that we'd just needed to tighten it up a little ... it self-fixed when we went to roll it back up and we exhaled with relief that we hadn't stupidly busted our pricey umbrella in Sedona after all. Laughing
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MacFhearguis
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That campground is where we took our first Westy camping trip, and our son's first camping trip at 5 months old.

We had snow and rain, and man was it nice in the Westy!
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 1:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its been a lot of fun reading through this post. Lots of good ideas, and it does seem, as mentioned earlier, that there seems to be two types of awning owners/shoppers. Under $100 and over $500. I'm definitely a more "bang-for-the-buck" kinda a guy (gotta save up for that SA grill somehow) so I went with the uber-budget Northwest Territory Vista. Its very similar to the BD Ez, which I like, but at $35 plus the cost of a couple of conduit clamps and some large binder clips (temporary) I have to go budget (me likey SA grill).

We're heading out of Oakland to Big Sur and Hearst Castle for Thanksgiving and rain is in the forecast, so I'll take pics and post them as soon as we get back with a report.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody,
Eat lots, stay safe
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 4:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ricebowl wrote:
Its been a lot of fun reading through this post. Lots of good ideas, and it does seem, as mentioned earlier, that there seems to be two types of awning owners/shoppers. Under $100 and over $500. I'm definitely a more "bang-for-the-buck" kinda a guy (gotta save up for that SA grill somehow) so I went with the uber-budget Northwest Territory Vista. Its very similar to the BD Ez, which I like, but at $35 plus the cost of a couple of conduit clamps and some large binder clips (temporary) I have to go budget (me likey SA grill).

We're heading out of Oakland to Big Sur and Hearst Castle for Thanksgiving and rain is in the forecast, so I'll take pics and post them as soon as we get back with a report.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody,
Eat lots, stay safe


With any of these budget awnings you may want to use some silicon spray and or
some seem sealer on it before you use it. They tend to weep at the seems and in big rain
storm it's just like rain under the awning.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 9:36 am    Post subject: awnings Reply with quote

Blue Bay Bus I met you at Jerome, glad the awning is ok, know you were worried about it. AT Jerome I had a bus depot awning, Iknow I'm cheep but they work. Wanted a fiamma just cant spring that much money. SO I got one the middle , a shady boy, love it has the best of both. Good looks and a ok price. Sold the bus depot one with my brown 84 weaty. Got the shady boy for my new to me 87 syncro built by go westy. See you next year at Jerome, or maybe at buses on bridge. peace Joseph Cool
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 10:39 am    Post subject: Re: awnings Reply with quote

joseph928 wrote:
Blue Bay Bus I met you at Jerome, glad the awning is ok, know you were worried about it ... Sold the bus depot one with my brown 84 weaty. Got the shady boy for my new to me 87 syncro built by go westy. See you next year at Jerome, or maybe at buses on bridge. peace Joseph Cool


WOW I'd say in the game of rock-paper-scissors you have our Fiamma beat with an 87 GoWesty Syncro! Anxious
I'm green with envy. Can't wait to see your new ride.
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 11:15 am    Post subject: Re: awnings Reply with quote

joseph928 wrote:
Got the shady boy for my new to me 87 syncro built by go westy. See you next year at Jerome, or maybe at buses on bridge. peace Joseph Cool


I was filled with Syncro-jealousy until I witnessed 2WDs ripping it up at Syncrofest this year. Now it's simply Syncro-envy. Wink Razz

Old Blue and I, along with our Trans-Awn 2000 (might even take the enclosure for it to install for the first time) plan to be at Buses by the Bridge in January; if you AZ folks are going, see you there! Cool
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 22, 2011 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My friends had a old Apache pop up trailer in their backyard. I permanently "borrowed" the bag awning from it (with permission), went to the local RV store and got 11' of track for the beaded edge on the bag. Mounted the track to the drip rail with 3 stainless bolts. Costs $10.00 total

I can travel with it attached, or stash it in the pop top diagonally.

$10.00 total cost.

It sags a little in the center, so I have a pole to keep it somewhat teepe'd in the center during rains. Last labor day, it rained quite heavy, and the easy-up I had setting next to the van collapsed from the rain puddles that layed in the edges. The $10.00 awning was un-effected..


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