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Date:         Thu, 27 Apr 2006 10:14:23 -0600
Reply-To:     bueses <bueses@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         bueses <bueses@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      Re: shady boy (SB)  owners
Comments: To: Stephen Steele <steeles@HORIZONVIEW.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <C0761B4A.112C6%steeles@horizonview.net>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

......... > At EveryBus on a very rainy Saturday I took the opportunity to look at every > SB in the campground. There were seven or eight; two Syncros parked > parallel with sliders facing in and SBs overlapping; only one (Frank C.'s) > had the optional corner poles; two of the eight were "new style", all the > rest "old style".

My SB is 3-4 years old-not sure from the description whether it is old or new style, but I think new. I have the corner pole option(thank goodness) & the silver reflecting color option on my 84 Westy. My tarp has the pockets for all the "ribs" (poles?) & little clips on the corners to attach the optional poles/hold down straps. I can't speak to rain as I have not had it up in any prolonged rain storms(10-15 inches a year in the desert at the most), but many wind storms at which at first w/o the hold down poles in place, I actually bent the roof brackets from big downdrafts in the night, so now always use the poles & the hold down ropes. Then in some 60+- mph wind dust storms even the poles were a problem as the wind would lift up the tarp & poles off the ground & cause the poles to separate & then the ole downdraft problem would cause the tarp to put stress on the roof brackets again. Had to put a little baling wire cotter pin in the poles in the holes provided w/ them to keep them together & anchor the bottoms of the poles to the ground w/ small bungees & stakes into the ground. Finally ended up taking the whole assembly down as the wind/dust was so bad, you couldn't be out in it in any event. But no rain!

Now that I have experienced a few of these storms, I think it works great for sun shading, but not for big winds & maybe rain. But then again, I like its small profile, ease of set up, etc. & would get another one. It helps to have it not facing into the wind! I got mine directly from the guy in BC for considerably less/faster than the dealers.

Tom > > My observations are that: > 1) It was raining a lot and very hard at some times. Mild to moderate > wind. > 2) Old style had the corner ribs attached by a plastic clip and the ribs > tended to bow out and away from the tarp a little. The tarp stayed a little > flatter with these. > 3) The new style have a fabric pocket at the corner ribs which held the rib > under the tarp and caused the tarp to be a little more bowed horizontally. > The ribs were held under the tarp completely by the geometry caused by the > pocket .................. > The SB rides out moderate wind with the tie downs in place to the bumpers on > the corners. In heavier wind it is advisable to use the tie downs to pull > the tarp down tightly to form a parabola curving slightly toward the van at > the bottom... otherwise put it away as it will not weather strong winds > without damage to it or the van. > > Others' comments/suggestions?

> > > > on 4/27/06 0:45, Jake de Villiers at crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM wrote: > >> Now that you've brought it up Tom, how is the Shady Boy in the wind? >> Wolfgang offered me a deal on one( he lives just a few blocks away) but I >> have some reservations about it's robustness. I'd love to hear areview. >>>>> Did anybody come up with a good idea on keeping the water from >>>>> dripping off of the back of the case. It drips along the sliding door >>>>> and down on the floor when the door is open.


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