Upgrade from magnets, for exterior shades?

I've been thinking more about the suggestions people made in this thread, and plusses and minuses of the different options. Would love to know people's opinions.

Velcro: This sounds like the best choice for many people, but I think with my camping style it would soon get all crudded up. I don't use exterior shades that often, and it would look bad when they were off.

Magnets: I camp in exposed, windy areas, so I would need large magnets. In order to get the shades off I would have to slide the magnets to a curvy bit of van. It would be hard not to scratch up the finish.

EZ snaps: It's hard to feel confident in the adhesive holding up to the 90 degree angle of unsnapping (vs. the peeling action with velcro).

I really don't know which would be best!

TyroneandGladys wrote:
Have a similar product and I opted for Velcro fasteners. Six small Velcro squares hold the window shade in place. Love the window screen greatly reduces the heat in the RV and can be used no matter the wind. Going on three years and no problems.

Glad to hear the adhesive on the velcro works so well!

Have a similar product and I opted for Velcro fasteners. Six small Velcro squares hold the window shade in place. Love the window screen greatly reduces the heat in the RV and can be used no matter the wind. Going on three years and no problems.

WNYBob wrote:
Adhesives do not hold up to the extreme Temps found on the surfaces of a vehicle or RV, at least none that I've found.

I would beg to differ. The right adhesives will. Just about all the mouldings on your car are held on by adhesives.

Thanks, Huck. I don't know if you saw my post above yours. I have used magnets for a few years of travel time, and am now looking for an upgrade.

I realize that you are talking about shades, not necessarily bug screens, but the same concept would apply.

On our homemade Sprinter Van Camper conversion, we made window bug screens out of some leftover door screen and a handful of Harbor Freight "Rare Earth" Magnets ($1.99). We just placed the screen up against the front windows, cut around, leaving a little extra to fold over. We then spaced out the magnets about 6" inches apart, fold over a bit of screen, secured it with some Gorilla Tape. Looks good, works great and costs next to nothing.

It takes 60 seconds to install and about 10 minutes to construct. At night we leave the windows down a couple of inches to let the fresh air in yet still have some security.

When were done, we just fold up the screen to about the size of a deck of cards and stow it for next time.

All said, about $5 invested and 10 minutes to make, and it works great.

It ticks all my boxes....cheap, easy, DIY, creative and highly functional and cheap.

WNYBob wrote:
Adhesives do not hold up to the extreme Temps found on the surfaces of a vehicle or RV, at least none that I've found.

Thanks, Bob.

I'm kind of surprised to hear that, with all the talk about dicor and eternabond on this forum. But I don't have experience with any of them. I need to learn from you folks who do.

Magnets were my plan before I saw the snaps. I could go back to that. I do have a few years' experience with magnet shades, and they have been a big hassle. I was hoping to find something better.

WNYBob wrote:
Adhesives do not hold up to the extreme Temps found on the surfaces of a vehicle or RV, at least none that I've found.

X2
Not to mention that any and everything including bugs etc get stuck in strips of the velcro and/or adhesive type attachments placed on the outside of your windshield and you can't get them out and it then looks nasty on the front of your coach.

Adhesives do not hold up to the extreme Temps found on the surfaces of a vehicle or RV, at least none that I've found.