Date:         Tue, 24 Jul 2012 23:19:54 -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: Side tent?
In-Reply-To:  <33115542.703595.1343051251586.JavaMail.root@vznit170146>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

This may be a good opening for me to mention that my 2nd generation Add-A-Room will be shipping at end of the week. It maintains all the functionality of the last one (all the sides raise or lower, detachable floor, etc.), but with one major change.  When the walls raise to form awnings, this is now done with lightweight fiberglass poles instead of metal ones. Eliminating those metal poles shaves about 15 pounds off the weight and eliminates a good deal of bulk too. In addition it domes the awning roofs so there is no rain sag. I tested this not long ago camping with some friends in heavy rain. One of us used the old style with metal poles, one the new domed fiberglass one. Sure enough the old one did need a bit of rainwater dumping here and there, while the new one held its dome shape and collected no rain at all. Another benefit is that the new design does not have any poles going to the ground when you raise the walls into awnings (just two guy wires per side), so there's less to trip on. 

The new Add-A-Room now includes enough fiberglass poles to raise all 3 sides into awnings (every side but the one attached to the van). Last year's version only raised 2 sides as shipped; the poles for the third side were optional. Also, the new fiberglass pole design is backward-compatible, so if you have the previous generation you can get the fiberglass poles separately at a reasonable price.

I also improved the wind break going under the camper, reinforced the bottom of the pole bag (we had a few rip), and made a number of smaller changes.   See http://www.busdepot.com/details/addaroom/ for all the details.  (Incidentally, all of this added almost $50 to my manufacturing cost. For now I’m holding the old price but probably there will eventually be a small price increase.)

In the same shipment will also be a new Add-A-Room Rear Hatch Shelter, which is only $69 ($99 for Eurovans). I have been using the prototype all summer long and am really excited about it. It uses the rear hatch for support and therefore has no poles, so it packs tiny, but it adds a lot of extra space. My family and I used it to store all of our belongings while sleeping in our Westy - keeping them out of our way yet out of the elements and out of site. Even with five people’s stuff in it there was still enough room to use it as a changing room. There are both an opaque door and a screen door, so you can close the opaque one for privacy (changing, solar shower, etc.) or use just the screen door if you're sleeping in your van and want ventilation.

Finally, I’ve updated our Ezy-Awning, now offering a second color option (beige with brown trim), as well as inexpensive optional side walls. (Both changes were suggested by list members, incidentally). The side walls have huge screens with shades. Open the shades to create a screen house; close them for privacy. Again, the walls are backwards-compatible with earlier Ezy-Awnings.  See http://www.busdepot.com/details/awning/

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

_____________________________________________
Toll-Free for Orders by PART # :  1-866-BUS-DEPOT