Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 23:30:58 -0700
Reply-To: MC <gipsyflies@COMCAST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: MC <gipsyflies@COMCAST.NET>
Subject: Shady Boy Awning - Initial Impression
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It has been 7-8 years that I have on and off considered adding an awning
to my 89 GL Camper. My quest for a good awning started before a first
hand experience in installing an European one on a friend's 91 Syncro
camper. Although that awning is among the best out there are a number of
things I don't like.
1) The significant length of the extruded aluminum housing.
2) The added weight to the vehicle.
3) The typical awning design which works well in still air but becomes
unstable in any breeze. The biggest weakness is the metal tube that runs
the length of the fabric on the outer edge. It can be very dangerous if
ever the wind catches the tent which becomes a sail with it wiping
around.
4) The gutter mount bracket though looks very beefy, cannot be secured
on the Vanagon gutter tightly despite significant torque is applied to
the bolts. Upon close inspection it reveals the bracket does not conform
well to the Vanagon cutter cross section.
5) The vinyl material used for the awning fabric.
The advantage of this awning is the relatively ease of setting up as
long as the wind is calm.
I knew about the Shady Boy awning before installing my friend's awning.
However the lack of detailed information on the quality and design have
kept me apprehensive. Only recently I decided to conduct some research
again into it. I managed to find a few websites with bits and pieces of
information on it including a few photos. I also spoke to the Canadian
owner of the manufacturer Wolfgang at EquinoX. Over the phone he gave me
the impression of a man with pride of his products. By now I begun to
warm up to that this is likely a very well made product. Though I like
the battened design, underneath I was still unease about the fiberglass
battens imaging them like the generic flimsy poles found in cheap tents
with the thing sheet aluminum connectors. However spoken to Wolfgang on
the phone significant easy my concern so I decided to order one and hope
for the best. The price is extremely reasonable with total came to well
under $300US including shipping to the US and the optional down draft
poles.
It took about a week and a half for the made to order awning to arrive.
The shipping is thru US Mail. I picked it up from the post office this
morning and cannot help to immediately tear into the package to see how
it really is. Although I know it is only about 25 lbs holding such a
large package surprised me about the light weight.
The awning is packed meticulously in corrugated cardboard in the most
logical fashion, without any excess material. There were judicious
application of "Fragile" warning labels.
I unwrapped the packing material to find the beautiful extruded aluminum
housing. It is a very clean design devoid of any frivolous decoration.
It has the appearance of a purpose-made design where form follows
function. There is the sole Shady Boy label with small letters that
states "Design Wolf, Parts Made in USA, Assembled in Canada". At first
glance everything is of extremely high quality.
Though I have to leave for work I open the flap of the housing to
examine the construction inside. The fabric was neatly folded and rolled
up with the 12 pieces of fiberglass pole sections in the center. Slipped
on two end of the roll are two beautiful bags that contains the two guy
ropes. I only learnt later that the eccentric placement of the two bags
with the guy ropes inside have a very important purpose. It is to
prevent the tent fabric from chafing during vehicle movement!
I carefully unrolled the fabric to expose the battens. The fiberglass
poles are no run-of-the-mill cheap tent poles. They are so heavy duty
and smooth that I initially mistaken them as painted aluminum. The
connectors are made of what looks like 6061 aluminum tubing of heavy
gauges. On the two down draft poles there are stainless retaining rings
to hole the two piece securely together. The poles ends that inserts
into the fabric pocket are all encased in protective soft covers to
prevent damage to the fabric. The two sections are different diameter
with the small diameter one at the far end of the tent. This tapered
arrangement provides the best stiffness to weight ratio. The receiving
blocks on two ends of the housing where the other end of the battens
attached to are milled and machined 6061 aluminum with beautiful red
anodized finish. They are so beefy that it is clear they can withstand
significant force imparted by the battens. Examine closer reveals the
slight angles on the holes intended to reload the flexible fiberglass
poles. The end caps of the housing are made of high strength plastic
with excellent fit to the aluminum extrusion secured by what looks like
black epoxy. The flip up cover action is very smooth and is held in the
up position by a stainless steel spring. The spring end is encased in a
soft plastic to add friction against and to protect it from scratching
the aluminum anodized surface. The rolled up tent fabric and poles are
held inside the housing with a webbing with a stainless steel snap in
the center. When the awning is all packed up and the cover closed a
single snap with a short webbing holds the cover securely closed The
installation instruction is the most detailed writen instruction of any
product I seen - clear, concise, and technical in simple language.
I initially ordered the silver reflective fabric for lowest solar gain.
Since I was concerned with the awning operation in light breeze I
conferred with Wolfgang. He immediately recommended me to go with the
standard fabric because it is the strongest and most rip resistant.
Although the fabric is fairly thin but one can immediately tell it is
very high quality nylon unlike the vinyl one found in most awnings.
The two mounting bracket are made out of stainless steel and are more
than 1/8" thick. They will definitely outlast every part on the camper.
All the fasteners are stainless and all are sized optimally. I will not
be using these brackets in my installation because of my roof rack.
Instead I will mount the awning onto one single roof rack feet.
Though I have yet to install the unit and see how it perform, I am very
impressed with every aspect, from design to construction and quality. I
am sure this is an add-on in keeping with the excellent Westfalia coach
work.
I hope to have it install this coming weekend.
- Vince