Paddler Ed
Well-Known Member
I've been suffering a bit of equipment envy, especially after being at an event the other day with no shade, where others had an ezy-up or an side awning.
I've always wanted an awning, and on the FJ73 I struggled to work out how to mount one as there weren't "proper" rain gutters, and the 4Runner doesn't have gutters or roof rails. An ezy-up is just too much hassle and too big for what I wanted, whilst a side awning requires roof racks, which my 4Runner does not have.
One of the outdoor shops over here (most of whom do some 4wd gear as well as camping gear and fishing kit) had this:
(Lent against a 225/75R16 for scale)
3 Suckers (like the GPS mounts for the windscreen) onto the roof, 2 poles and a couple of guy ropes and I now have a 2m x 2.4m shaded area:
Can be used either green side up for stealth, or silver side up for cool, packs down to nothing and weighs about 2kg. It's a big enough area to put our swags underneath when we're touring, as well as a shaded area when we're off at events.
It seems to be stable enough; I think that there might be a need for some form of strainer system on it, but I've not worked that bit out yet. It will sag if it gets rained on, because there is some excess material, but it's a good system to start with. I think I might look at running some cordlette or bungy cord across the top with some tabs sewn into the top (GF doesn't know this yet... she'll be doing the sewing) so that you can tension it upwards. However, for shade I don't think it can be beaten!
Really expensive as well... $30!
I've always wanted an awning, and on the FJ73 I struggled to work out how to mount one as there weren't "proper" rain gutters, and the 4Runner doesn't have gutters or roof rails. An ezy-up is just too much hassle and too big for what I wanted, whilst a side awning requires roof racks, which my 4Runner does not have.
One of the outdoor shops over here (most of whom do some 4wd gear as well as camping gear and fishing kit) had this:
(Lent against a 225/75R16 for scale)
3 Suckers (like the GPS mounts for the windscreen) onto the roof, 2 poles and a couple of guy ropes and I now have a 2m x 2.4m shaded area:
Can be used either green side up for stealth, or silver side up for cool, packs down to nothing and weighs about 2kg. It's a big enough area to put our swags underneath when we're touring, as well as a shaded area when we're off at events.
It seems to be stable enough; I think that there might be a need for some form of strainer system on it, but I've not worked that bit out yet. It will sag if it gets rained on, because there is some excess material, but it's a good system to start with. I think I might look at running some cordlette or bungy cord across the top with some tabs sewn into the top (GF doesn't know this yet... she'll be doing the sewing) so that you can tension it upwards. However, for shade I don't think it can be beaten!
Really expensive as well... $30!
