Auxiliary outside canopy?

[lakeside013104]

We were camping over the last weekend and it poured “cats & dogs” for three days straight. I saw a couple next door to us with a 10’x10’ canopy they were using to stay in out of the wind and rain. Their canopy had three closed in sides on it leaving one end open so they could watch their campfire. This extra canopy seemed like a reasonable idea so I was wondering what others on this forum do with regards to having an extra collapsible type canopy? What brand and or type have you found that works best, easy to set up and not too heavy or large to store in the basement of a 5er? I realize NOT all commercial camp grounds allow the usage of additional outside structures or canopies. Here is to staying dry on those wet camp days.

Lakeside

[eric1514]

Walmart has an Ozark Trails stand alone screen room for right around $50. It is 9'x13' and 7' tall. It is not instant up. You need to assemble the shock-corded legs together, but even doing this the first time took only 10 min. With practice and not having to read the directions, you could do it in 5. Hey, I'm camping. If it takes me 5 mins or 1 min, who cares?

Linky

There are two advantages to this screen room. One is price, It's easily half of what others cost and they're all made in China. Secondly, the package it folds down to is less than 2' long. Everybody has space for something 2' long but the instant up ones are 4' feet long when folded. That's too big for any compartment I have.

Eric

[Omrod]

We've had lots of the instant up expandable canopies thru the years & never go camping without one. Normally I put one over my cooking area (2 grills, stove, & Dutch oven area) and use a separate screen tent over picnic table. Quality & usually more $$ will serve you longer. I agree, straight legs are better. After normal use the material stretches a bit & will hold water when it rains and could cave in under the weight of the water. I've used brooms, sticks, or whatever I could find to put between the frame & top to create peaks so the rain runs off. Now I keep 2 (4 ft.) shock-corded tent poles in the bag & they work very well. I also save all our old shower curtains & hang them up in the canopy if I need ‘em. Good investment at our place, use for tailgating, gatherings at home, sporting events, etc.

[relaxin]

my can o pee

[p220sigman]

Was in Academy Sports at lunch and they had a 13x13 for $129.00. I don't know if it is a local sale or company wide or even if the awning is any good, but it made me think of this thread.

[JamesBr]

use a walmart 10x10 plus sides all the time during cooler months

[Bumpyroad]

saw an interesting screen thingy for sale on TV yesterday, can throw it over an umbrella stand or 8x8 canopy etc and it has a "magnetic" door slit giving you a screened room.
bumpy

[sljkansas]

We have 2 EZ UP 10X10 and a 12X12 ?? (don't remember the name) We also have weights for the legs, but have never left them up over night or if the wind comes up..
I see several canopies a year that are mangled by wind. Most were not stacked or weighted down. So I started collecting frames and pieced some frames together. What I have found is that the EZ UP canopies are made up of heavier metal. Now they do make light weight ones also. If you are going to use it a lot, the EZ up canopies are superior to most all of the others on the market.

[stfnwuf]

rockhillmanor wrote:
EZ UP is the best one made. You do have to buy the additional sides and/or screen inclosure but they DO go up in a nano second and down just as fast.

We have had our EZ Up for 7 years and it has held up well. We do not have the side walls but have used tarps to make walls a couple of times. We take with us most every trip, especially if we are going with our camping group.

[noe-place]

I've noticed many MH's seem to have three enclosed sides with the fourth side open and that side is placed flush against the side of the MH where the door is so they can leave it open and still be protected from weather/bugs. I'd like to get one for ours because our door takes a beating.

[rhagfo]

We have a 10'X10' carry in the in bed "tool Box"! Used it once in a while.

[joe_baroch]

we are new to rving and was shopping for things to equip it with.one question was umbrella for table or a pop up shelter,we decided we could get more use out of the pop up shelter for now and went with that option.on our first trip out we put up the shelter and noticed the picnic tables at the campground did not have holes for umbrellas,i thought every table had one.so for now the pop up shelter has been the right choice,but will be getting an umbrella in the future

[relaxin]

whats going on at Harbor Freight????

[relaxin]

we have one of those easy up ones, 10x10 I believe, we only use it if it won't over crowd the site, not sure if we will require it as much as our new unit has a 19 foot awning and the last was only 14, amazing what 5 extra feet means with a picnic table and a couple lawn chairs.
our next trip I will moniter the long range forcast for that area for a couple days before we leave and see what may be coming that way, if theres a couple days of rain we'll bring it, if its less than 2 days we'll leave it home.
we have an awning shade screen for those spots where you end up in the sun with little to no shade

[Durhamcutter]

Had a 12x12 straight leg , put it up so I could cook because it was so hot, left it up all night , it rained, got up the next morning and it looked like a pretzel all wrapped up in green cloth, don't leave it up if it is going to rain, the water collected on top and it came crashing down, only used once, good luck.