Date: Mon, 4 Oct 2010 13:49:02 -0400
Reply-To: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: The Bus Depot <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
Subject: Re: Bus Depot Side Tent...
In-Reply-To: <BAY113-W50217D9A5A5D682C4C9D66CE6B0@phx.gbl>
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> A few seconds into the film you'll see the BD's new side
> tent. I wish I had shot a little more closer footage of it .
> That thing is sweet! It's amazing well made, versitle and
> looks like it can withstand some higher winds than most EZ
> ups and other side tents. What was really impressive was how
> it stands by itself when the van is gone. Those old side
> tents with the thin little poles did not fair as well. I
> think I'll pick one of these things up after I do the dash
> fan and heater core, clutch, etc. etc.
Thanks for your positive comments on the Add-A-Room, Bryan. And thank you to
David Beierl for his very thorough review last week. You can find a number
of pictures and info on the Add-A-Room at the following link:
http://busdepot.com/details/addaroom.jsp
The Add-A-Room was indeed a big hit at Buses By The Depot this year, and a
number of attendees were impressed enough to buy one after seeing it in use.
My wife (5'1" and 110 lbs) and I timed how long it took us to set it up, and
between the pair of us we had it from bag to fully assembled in 10 minutes.
(This does not include clamping it to the side of the van and putting in a
few stakes, which took another 5 minutes.) David commented that it is
entirely possible to put it up alone, which I can confirm because I did it
myself with the prototype several times. The only tough part is hoisting the
tent over the frame, but since the legs telescope this can be done before
you raise the frame, making it much easier. I'm sure it would take a bit
longer than 10 minutes that way, but not by too much. The learning curve is
very fast, as most of the poles are sprung together and can only go one way.
I'd like to take a moment to comment on a couple of David's observations in
his review last week. I am gratified that he commented on its "astounding
vesitility," "ease of assembly," and "excellent construction." These were
the same three comments I heard repeatedly at Buses By The Depot. The
Add-A-Room was literally two years in design and I made many changes along
the way with these three criteria being the primary goals, so it's rewarding
to hear that by all accounts we succeeded.
David commented that there are about 50 tent pegs. That's not necessarily
because you need them all, but also to provide spares. (Also there are a
couple of extra spring clips etc. just so you can save them in case you ever
have one break.) The Add-A-Room can be staked down every 8 inches or so all
the way around, and enough pegs are provided for that if you really wanted
to. I've had it up in very heavy wind and even with it only secured in each
corner it didn't go anywhere, so it would probably be overkill, but there's
no harm in being overcautious. Also, I don't believe this is mentioned in
the instructions (which I wrote pre-production), but we included two
different profile tent pegs - some J shaped and some L shaped. The L shaped
ones are intended for the floor when you use it as a ground sheet; the lack
of a hook at the top of the stake prevents it from poking and theoretically
ripping the floor.
Speaking of the floor, David had mentioned the way it attaches to the tent
wall with velcro (which goes all the way around). The "hook" side of the
velcro is on the side wall skirts, and the "loop" side on the floor. If you
position the side wall skirts toward the inside rather than outside of the
Add-A-Room, the velcro strip will face upwards and also be raised off of the
ground, to prevent it from getting dirty. The floor can be attached to the
walls, but it also can be laid flat at any point where you have raised a
wall or opened a door, so you won't trip on it. When you lay it flat, there
is a flap that folds over the velcro strip to protect it from getting dirty
when on the ground.
David had mentioned the lack of a rain fly and also the roof between the
Add-A-Room and the vehicle. Having used many different side tents for about
20 years, I have actually never seen a frame style VW side tent with rain
fly, nor ever felt the need for one. I can certainly confirm this with the
Add-A-Room. Rather than rush it to market, we camped with the prototype all
throughout the spring and summer, to test it thoroughly under various
weather conditions and tweak the design. Even in torrential rain the tent
did not leak, due to the water resistance of the roof material. Once or
twice during severe rain I did press upward on the roof from the inside to
prevent a bit of pooling on the roof, but this could probably have been
alleviated by making the tent roof more taut. (I had not fully extended the
legs or staked it down anywhere but in the corners.) In any case the pooling
was minor, did not cause any leaking, and is not uncommon with peaked
(rather than dome) tents. Prior to production, I also tested the water
resistance of the walls. I suspended some of the wall material over a large
bucket and let it sag in the middle, then filled the sagging area with
several inches of water. With that material continuously underwater, it took
about a day and a half for any of the water to start dripping through it to
the bucket. Again, this was a side wall, not a roof or the skirt (which are
made of more waterproof material). Since the side wall is vertical, there
would not actually be water pooling on it in real life. The exception would
be if you had the wall extended out into an awning. As the instructions
note, we don't recommend using the side walls as awnings during rain, as
they are meant as fair-weather sun canopies only (you could either close
them or roll them up during rain). However, this shows that if they were
used in rain they would still maintain their protection for quite some time.
I'm sure a tent waterproofing spray could be used to extend this protection
even further.
As for rain sag on the roof of the vestibule between the Add-A-Room and the
vehicle, this is always an issue with side tents because that short section
is indeed flat, not peaked. During the two year design phase we experimented
with various methods of peaking and/or suspending that small section to
eliminate rain sag, including the use of poles, straps, different roof
contours, etc. Ultimately none of the solutions proved satisfying, for
various reasons. We then experimented with various lengths of roof (in
terms of distance between Add-A-Room and vehicle), and settled on the one
that provided the tautest possible fit and least amount of rain sag under
heavy rain conditions. I will say that the Add-A-Room has much less rain sag
in the vestibule roof area than any side tent I've ever had. In heavy rain,
you may need to push up on it once or twice to make it shed the rain. But
even under torrential conditions, with the vestibule roof pulled taut and
the elasticized sides pulled against the Vanagon, the vestibule area stayed
dry. The only exception is if you actually do press up on the vestibule roof
for a moment to "peak" it and make the rain run off. During those few
seconds you are dumping extra water all at once, and it can be more than
your Vanagon's rain gutter can handle (especially since the rain gutter has
a pole in it, the point of attachment of the side tent unless you use one of
our optional mounts). Some water can drip right along the sliding door while
you press the roof up to let the water off of it. Not a lot, but enough that
you will want to close the sliding door when doing it to keep the edge of
your Vanagon carpet from getting wet.
I hope that this addresses some of the issues/questions that David brought
up in his otherwise very positive review. Anyone who is considering the
Add-A-Room is welcome to email me with questions.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com
(215) 234-VWVW
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Toll-Free for Orders by PART # : 1-866-BUS-DEPOT
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