BajaNomad

A canopy that works in windy conditions?

guerosurfero - 4-6-2005 at 09:41 AM

Hi -

Does anybody have suggestions for a good shade canopy which would work on the Pacific coast of Baja? I've had no luck with a couple of different models (the standard cheap blue tarp thing & a 3 pole flexible dome). I'm tired of trying to rig up my own with the remnants. Having to make constant adjustments is such a hassle. I've looked at the EZ-UP canopies, but I'm not sure how they'd handle the winds of Baja.

Has anybody had luck with a brand or two?

Bruce R Leech - 4-6-2005 at 09:54 AM

I agree with Pompano north face has the best things . a bit pricey but you git what you pay for . there quality and research and development cant be beat.

http://www.thenorthface.com/na/index.html

El Jefe - 4-6-2005 at 09:55 AM

Cheap, bulletproof and effective:
For many years I have used the kind they use in the swap meets. Four ten foot heavy 1/2" conduit pipe make a square with corner connectors. Four eight foot pipes for legs. A square silver tarp connects to the pipe square with little bungies through the grommets forming a flat roof that has very little wind resistance. Hold the whole thing down with a longer bungie to a water jug or two (or anything heavy). No moving parts and works every time. I carry the pipes on the surf rack all taped together with duct tape. Go really high tech with some shade cloth clamped to one or two sides of the setup for wind protection and afternoon shade. There is nothing better, I don't care how much you spend.

El Jefe - 4-6-2005 at 10:06 AM

A source that I know carries these is SOS Survival Products in VAn Nuys. 800 479.7988. Ask for a flat roof 10' shade structure. They sell it as a package with cool bungie connectors and a nice quality tarp. The pipe end connectors is the tricky part. Otherwise you could put it together from Home Depot parts.

The other thing I like about it is that it can be moved around, not being connected to the vehicle.

guerosurfero - 4-6-2005 at 10:27 AM

Thanks El Jefe! I like the sound of that bungee system! I have a backpacking tent which uses bungies to suspend the tent from the frame and it has withstood some serious winds...guess i never put 2 and 2 together...doh!

guerosurfero - 4-6-2005 at 11:34 AM

I called SOS to see how much their setups were before i priced it out at home depot. Their number is actually 800-479-7998. The other number is "Custom Automotive". I guess they get this mix up all the time, cause he gave me the number for SOS right off the bat :)

The canopies that SOS makes are $79! That is seriously affordable if it is a quality setup.

El Jefe, do you know people who have uses their configurations?

bajalou - 4-6-2005 at 02:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by El Jefe
Cheap, bulletproof and effective:
For many years I have used the kind they use in the swap meets. Four ten foot heavy 1/2" conduit pipe make a square with corner connectors. Four eight foot pipes for legs. A square silver tarp connects to the pipe square with little bungies through the grommets forming a flat roof that has very little wind resistance. Hold the whole thing down with a longer bungie to a water jug or two (or anything heavy). No moving parts and works every time. I carry the pipes on the surf rack all taped together with duct tape. Go really high tech with some shade cloth clamped to one or two sides of the setup for wind protection and afternoon shade. There is nothing better, I don't care how much you spend.



Well, I've used the same for some time also but when the wind kicks up watch out - they will fly. I had one by my trailer with 2 fr of rebar sticking out of the ground to locate each leg and ropes with 8X8X16 cement blocks on each leg. Along came a gust and turned the whole thing over on my trailer, bending the 3/4 in tubing like spagetti. Threw one of the blocks on the roof smashing a solar panel. I had changed from the silver tarps to solar shade cloth to let some of the wind thru but still destroyed it. If you need somne 3/4 conduit with U bends about 16 in from one end, come on by. This is in San Felipe by the way.


:biggrin:

El Jefe - 4-6-2005 at 02:46 PM

Anything can blow away including surfboards as I have found. But the point is that this is an inexpensive, yet very durable setup that won't let you down. Bend a pole? Replace it at home depot for $3.

Mine has lasted 20 years with some replacements of the tarp. I've been in some very strong winds and never had it take off. It is important to tie the thing down in heavy winds. Usually I set a five gallon water jug at a couple of the corners to tie off to and tie one corner down to the truck. Stakes can pull out and you are always kicking them in the night:(

If you wrap a piece of six foot wide - twenty one foot long shade cloth around two sides and clamp it to the poles with spring clamps (the ones with the orange coated handles) it provides a decent wind block in which to cook or hang out. Move your tent in under there at night and sleep without the incessent hammering of the wind.

I bought an additional one from SOS a couple of years ago to keep with my trailer down south. Works great.

Proven on many winter trips to the sisters area where staying out of the cold wind is essential, as well as hot summer conditions in Sur. Excellent for hanging wetsuits and towels to dry. I could go on and on.
Go buy it.

[Edited on 4-6-2005 by El Jefe]

guerosurfero - 4-6-2005 at 04:06 PM

All the materials at home depot add up to about $40. That's what i call budget. :D

Do you have more tips on its construction..proven methods of attaching the bungees to the posts?

woody with a view - 4-6-2005 at 04:37 PM

get to wal mart or wherever and get 3- 8x10' silver tarps for $7 apiece. a pack of zip ties to connect the tarps at each grommet to your ezy-up/budget shade with the lower 1' of the tarp held down with dirt placed along the entire edge. this gives you three sides of wind screen.

at home depot they sell these metal spikes that are 12" long. get as many as you think you'll need for tie down points with two ropes from each corner to compensate for the changes in wind direction during the day.

if you use the ezy-up, get 4 pieces of 2" pvc each 2 feet long. bury (shovel) the pvc at each corner so only 6-8" are above ground. pour dirt inside pvc so that shade legs are about 3-5" below ground level. make sure ropes are tight and you shouldn't have any problems...but, after all, it's baja and you gotta adapt, improvise, and overcome!

Jefe sounds like he has a method there also.
[Edited on 4-6-2005 by woody in ob]

[Edited on 4-6-2005 by woody in ob]

Swapmeet shelters

Frigatebird - 4-6-2005 at 05:11 PM

are the way to go. El Jefe knows of what he speaks. I'm gonna have to try the shade cloth idea next time down. I usually drape another tarp down the sides using the bungees and bury about two feet on the other end to hold it down. This also helps keep the whole structure in place as well. Shade cloth would make the sides see-through, which the tarp approach fails to deliver.

My shelter came with concrete filled coffee cans that had leg-pole receiving pipe inserted for weighing the structure down. Despite this set up, during the week of the July 1991 eclipse of the sun, while we were all approaching camp after a swim, we watched in horror as the windward side of the shelter (16' X 20') went up and over pivoting on the leeward legs. Luckily it missed our vehicles. We had to unbend the legs (candy canes) but everything else was fine. I now cinch down the windward side (usually ocean side) with rope attached to the shelter's frame and some buried 4 gallon utility pails. It's a little work to excavate the hole, but I haven't had another cartwheel incident.

chesnut - 4-6-2005 at 06:26 PM

Kelty makes a pretty good shade canopy in two different sizes. I've seen other people use it but we just stuck a green tarp of the side of the camper and tied it to a couple of poles. $15.

Don

The Sculpin - 4-7-2005 at 01:24 PM

Instead of coffee cans or cinder blocks (which can destroy the interior of your truck or trailer) I use sand bags. I bring about 30 of 'em, and fill up what I need. I then place them in a hammock like thing - looks like a seiner fishing net - and attach the ends to the top of the shade legs. Never had one blow over! Besides, sand bags are actually quite useful when camping in baja - you can make furniture with them, use them to get your truck out of the sand, block the trailer tires, rebuild a cliff trail, put fish in them, you get the picture...anf they're cheap!

guerosurfero - 4-7-2005 at 04:26 PM

Sand bags sound like a damn good idea in general. Maybe if you bring enough of them, and the surf is closed out, you can make an artificial reef! :spingrin:

An outfit at the Orange County swapmeet

Hook - 4-7-2005 at 09:45 PM

named Jenkins sells high quality swapmeet type structures. The tarp corners are the reinforced brass grommets with the hard plastic corners. It also has rope sewn in the entire outer edge of the tarp.

Mine withstood approx. 40 kt. winds on the beach at Chivato one year. It was the only thing standing. Several boats were swamped.

I prefer the peaked shelters. They allow heat to be trapped higher up where any slight breeze moves it out from under the peak. Even if you attach a side tarp for more shade, the peak is exposed to air for venting. And in a big wind, it passes air easier than the flat top models. It also sheds rain better; more predictably.

Jenkins also sells some cordura bags that measure about 2 feet tall and 6 inches in diameter; they are cylinders open at one end that you fill with sand. They have nylon cord sewn in a sleeve around the opening like the drawstring on a stuff sac. With these bags comes cotton 5/16" diameter rope with an "S" hook at one end. The "S"s goes over the four corners of the structure and the other end attaches to the top of the bags. The structure withstood the winds with only about 15 lbs of sand in each bag.

It used to be the tarp material of this quality was hard to find but now it's available at Harbor Freight and Walmart. Much stronger and more opaque than the awful blue tarps.

[Edited on 4-8-2005 by Hook]

1/2" fittings

Colin - 4-9-2005 at 02:02 PM

Someone mentioned using 1/2" conduit. Is that the outside diameter, or the inside diameter?

Does anyone know where I can get the 1/2" fittings? The smallest I can find are the 3/4" ones. Does Home DePot have them?

bajajudy - 4-9-2005 at 04:38 PM

If all you want is shade, get shade cloth for any of the above configurations. It wont blow away because it has holes in it. If we have a blue or any color tarp over our pickup bed, we always throw a shade cloth over that and no more flapping and slapping in the breeze.

Bruce R Leech - 4-9-2005 at 04:56 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Colin
Someone mentioned using 1/2" conduit. Is that the outside diameter, or the inside diameter?

Does anyone know where I can get the 1/2" fittings? The smallest I can find are the 3/4" ones. Does Home DePot have them?


yes or any good hardware store.

Colin, if I were you.....

Hook - 4-12-2005 at 10:19 AM

.....I would not mess with the 1/2" conduit for this application. I have seen the 1/2" buckle big time in a strong blow. The 3/4" is much stronger.

[Edited on 4-12-2005 by Hook]