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Shade Tarp

bearbait1 - 5-14-2008 at 09:42 PM

I am looking for suggestions on what is the best type of tarp to use as a shade canopy. Most tarps I've tried transmit alot of heat and many do not completely block sunlight. Any suggestions?

Thanks

ckiefer - 5-14-2008 at 09:44 PM

Don't know where you're at, but you could try looking for the solar screen for sliding doors and windows. Home Depot may carry this down here.

bajaguy - 5-14-2008 at 10:08 PM

Go to an Army surplus store and buy a square of the new camo netting, it is designed to provid shade and let the wind blow through. If the surplus store has the camo netting poles and spreaders, get at least 2 or 3 of each. Some rope, bungee cords and you are good to go. Lighweight and stores easily.

Diver - 5-14-2008 at 10:53 PM

You need something that will reflect the heat instead of absorb it.
White or reflective (silver) tarps seem to work best in really hot conditions.
Also, block the sun from hitting the floor or sand under the tarp if possible.
Personally, I prefer A/C !! :biggrin:

Taco de Baja - 5-15-2008 at 07:42 AM

Go to http://www.all4canopy.com/category_s/94.htm

I have one of their Extra heavy duty tarps, silver on oneside and white on the other. Silver goes out white in. Not a drop of sunlight gets through. Last year we had another shade structure set up with a heavy duty white tarp, light and heat could filter through it, and it was hotter in that structure.

Or you could go all out and get their Super extra heavy duty version, but it's quite expensive.

Regular nursery shade cloth works well too (on the sides in the photo below), as is allows heat to vent out, but still provides some shade.

Extra heavy duty features:

14x14 Mesh Count
6 oz per square yard
12 mil thickness
Water Proof
Hemmed Four Side
Woven & Laminated
Mildew & Rot Resistance
Hem reinforced with Plastic rope
Metal Grommets Every 18"
UV Treated - For Longer Protection
Reinforced Corner with Plastic Patch
Finished Sizes are 4" to 6" shorter than listed size

Super heavy duty features:

Polyethylene Super Heavy Duty Tarps are the best quality and most durable tarp we carry! It is 50% heavier, 40% thicker than our Extra Heavy Duty Tarp and UV treated in all layers.
It also contains Black yarn inside for the maximum Sunblock.

14x14 Mesh Count
9 oz per square yard
17-mil thickness
Water Proof
Hemmed Four Side
Woven & Laminated
Mildew & Rot Resistance
Brass Grommets Every 18"
UV Treated in All layers - For Maximum Protection
Black yarn inside for Sunblock
CPAI 84, 6 flame retardant treated
Silver on top, white underneath
Finished Sizes are 4" to 6" shorter than listed size.

Here was our camp last year. The room on the left is the extra heavy duty, the one on the right is the heavy duty. Notice, everyone inside is hanging out on the left side

tripledigitken - 5-15-2008 at 08:14 AM

We like the Kelty Noah tarp, they come is several sizes ours is 16'.

It does not come with poles, we use 2 or 3.

I bought some 2' rebar pieces for use in sand. It weighs 4#'s without poles or stakes. It is a durable polyester material with ties and grommets.

Ken

picture taken a Bahia de las Animas

Martyman - 5-15-2008 at 08:44 AM

NRS Wing. Very similar to the kelty above. All fits into a tent bag. More of a remote camping lightweight version. It depends on your situation.

Santiago - 5-15-2008 at 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tripledigitken
We like the Kelty Noah tarp, they come is several sizes ours is 16'.

It does not come with poles, we use 2 or 3.

I bought some 2' rebar pieces for use in sand. It weighs 4#'s without poles or stakes. It is a durable polyester material with ties and grommets.

Ken

picture taken a Bahia de las Animas

Put something over the ends of the re-bar - good friend did not and impaled himself on the end. You can buy caps at specialty stores or just use empty plastic water bottles - slice a slot to go over rope.

Sunman - 5-15-2008 at 11:33 AM

Assuming you are using it in conjunction w/ a vehicle, I've used this with great success. A little pricey but takes the wind well too...

http://www.kelty.com/kelty/products.php?type=all&cat=71&...

You can get it cheap(er) here:

http://www.mountainsports.com/msmain.asp?Option=Detail&

etail=081987

Hook - 5-15-2008 at 11:43 AM

Quote:

picture taken a Bahia de las Animas

It hurts my back just thinking about cooking under that.

I own two shade structures. A basic 10x10 EZ-up and the standard swap meet style silver tarp on a 10x12 peaked structure. The silver one is incredible durable and lasted through winds estimated at 50 mph one night at Chivato. It was the ONLY structure on the beach left standing that night, due to a combo of fortuitous positioning into the wind and the refillable sandbags with S hooks and line attached to the upper corners.

The EZ-up is quick, stores much easier, sets up WAY easier but does allow some heat/light through the shade material. I have seen it make it through winds of about 25-30 with good holding earth for the stakes but that was about the limit. The accordion struts would have crumpled in much more wind.

If it's simply tarp material you want, go with the silver tarp T de B mentions.

[Edited on 5-15-2008 by Hook]

Pescador - 5-15-2008 at 12:40 PM

If you ever go through Quartzite, AZ, you can find at least 25 different places that sell all of the above and most have experience about what really works in the desert. This is the place that swells up with 500,000 people in the winter and looks like a ghost town right now.

Tin=Can - 5-15-2008 at 06:51 PM

for my money you can't beat any coolaroo products. google coolaroo and look under shade sails.

Mike99km - 5-15-2008 at 08:52 PM

It depends on how much you want to spend. I picked up the corners and down piece's from swap meet supply place. Then we cut 1 inch emt to size. I went with 1" shorter then my truck bed. The tarp was custom made out of the same stuff they use on big rigs to cover the load. It fits the top and down the back. I have used it in 50 mile winds without a problem. The tarp is a wine color and is cool to sit under, it is almost opaque. The sides are 13 oz scrim vinyl they are recycle billboards.
The tarp was not cheap, about $300.00 15 years ago.
The real issue is keeping it down in the wind. I use it's storage box in the middle back and fill it with sea water or sand and 5 gal buckets with the same on all other down pipes. It has also been tied up to my truck a few times as well. I saw a guy use 1" emt about 30" long as corner stakes seemed to work.
I love my tarp and is still going very strong. If you want to go with standard sizes, the silver tarps are the way to go and when they ware out cheap to replace.
There is a guy OC swap meet every weekend that will sell you all the part you need. meet

Bob and Susan - 5-16-2008 at 06:22 AM

you guys work WAY too hard...

an ez-up is available everywhere and is about $100

sets up in a minute and stores in a bag with wheels

doesn't blow around like tarps :light:

Hook - 5-16-2008 at 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mike99km
It depends on how much you want to spend. I picked up the corners and down piece's from swap meet supply place. Then we cut 1 inch emt to size. I went with 1" shorter then my truck bed. The tarp was custom made out of the same stuff they use on big rigs to cover the load. It fits the top and down the back. I have used it in 50 mile winds without a problem. The tarp is a wine color and is cool to sit under, it is almost opaque. The sides are 13 oz scrim vinyl they are recycle billboards.
The tarp was not cheap, about $300.00 15 years ago.
The real issue is keeping it down in the wind. I use it's storage box in the middle back and fill it with sea water or sand and 5 gal buckets with the same on all other down pipes. It has also been tied up to my truck a few times as well. I saw a guy use 1" emt about 30" long as corner stakes seemed to work.
I love my tarp and is still going very strong. If you want to go with standard sizes, the silver tarps are the way to go and when they ware out cheap to replace.
There is a guy OC swap meet every weekend that will sell you all the part you need. meet

Mike, I think you're talking about Jenkins at the OC swap meet. I havent been in a year or so but the last two times I was there, they were gone. How recently have you seen them?

bajalou - 5-16-2008 at 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob and Susan
you guys work WAY too hard...

an ez-up is available everywhere and is about $100

sets up in a minute and stores in a bag with wheels

doesn't blow around like tarps :light:

I have a cut in the hood of my F350 where one of those got picked up by the wind and came down on the PU as I was driving past it on the highway.

David K - 5-16-2008 at 09:40 AM

El Cheapo sun shade: one tarp, five sections of 1" sch. 40 PVC pipe (four at 5' long and one at 7' for the center)... four buckets (Costco soap, for example) filled with sand or rocks and bungees for the 4 corners...

(After being yelled at by BajaBoy and other concerned Nomads, we bought one of those pop up shade things and will be trying it out for the first time Memorial Day weekend on Shell Island) :lol:

[Edited on 5-16-2008 by David K]

6-18-06 016r.JPG - 33kB

Bob and Susan - 5-16-2008 at 10:55 AM

"I have a cut in the hood of my F350 where one of those got picked up by the wind and came down on the PU as I was driving past it on the highway. "

lou...you should be buying LOTTERY TICKETS!!! :no:

actually we use one everyday!!!

[Edited on 5-16-2008 by Bob and Susan]

exup.JPG - 35kB

Diver - 5-16-2008 at 11:59 AM

We use the Easy-up type canopies at the track.
We have to weight them down at all corners or they WILL blow away.
They last about 2 years before they just fatigue or bust.
.

bearbait1 - 5-23-2008 at 03:51 PM

Thanks for the replies but what I am looking for is a tarp or cloth material that does a better job of blocking all light and not transfering heat.

Taco de Baja - 5-23-2008 at 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bearbait1
Thanks for the replies but what I am looking for is a tarp or cloth material that does a better job of blocking all light and not transfering heat.

Go with the Super heavy duty tarp (silver and white) from http://www.all4canopy.com/category_s/94.htm

Their extra heavy duty (silver and white) does block ALL light and most heat; the super heavy duty has an extra layer of yarn in the middle that should block all heat, as well. But it will set you back $45 for a 10x10

Barry A. - 5-23-2008 at 09:33 PM

In our experience on the beaches the WIND is the biggest negative factor when talking about shade tarps---------the wind can destroy most tarps, and easily destroys the easy-ups.

We use a regular Army duck 12' x 18' tent fly with reinforced grommets. We mount it on 6 steel telescoping poles with heavy duty 1 foot long springs between each pole and the tarp (absorbs the wind gusts). The poles are secured with non-stretching rope tied off to 2 foot steel stakes pounded into the sand, with rubber cups on each stake so that we don't impale ourselves in the night. If wind is a problem we install two ropes per corner pole at a 45 degree from each other. The springs allow us to keep the tarp tight under all temp. conditions, and in any wind.

This setup has (so far) withstood the worse winds that Baja can offer, and it flaps very little due to the tightnest maintained by the heavy duty springs. I have never felt any heat transfer from the tarp.

It is heavy, and takes about a 1/2 hour to set up, but you never have to worry once it is up. We use this setup mostly when we are settled in for more than one night.

Barry

Bob and Susan - 5-24-2008 at 06:04 AM

well barry...
my hats of to you...
1/2 hour to set up...WOW!!!

110 degrees...1/2 hour...WOW!!!
susan WOULD kill me

ez-up 1 minute...SHADE...play

Bruce R Leech - 5-24-2008 at 07:22 AM

Bob plant fast growing trees as fast as you can, they are by far the best shade.

Bob and Susan - 5-24-2008 at 08:05 AM

actually it was 75 yesterday and i had on a jacket :cool:

Barry A. - 5-24-2008 at 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bob and Susan
well barry...
my hats of to you...
1/2 hour to set up...WOW!!!

110 degrees...1/2 hour...WOW!!!
susan WOULD kill me

ez-up 1 minute...SHADE...play

Heh, Bob, it's Baja, and we are NEVER in a hurry in "the baja", right???

Also, when we go to Baja California it is never 110 degrees----I don't GO to Baja in the summer----only in the winter. I admit that this "shade" of mine is slightly overkill, but I hate it when things blow away in the night, and normally we set up camp for 5 days + when we go down for a "beach camp" stay. I get a sorta sadistic satisfaction out of watching other peoples shade structures self-destruct when mine is still standing tall and proud. :lol:

The only problem is that I seem to accumulate a lot of HOT folks in my camp after a big blow!!

It is great to know that when you return by boat from a big fishing day that your camp is still "standing"------you just can sit down and have a cool one, and enjoy the sunset.

Barry