Huck, we spend lots of time in the outer banks. We used to go in July but found it just too hot for us. We go for a week or more in the spring or fall, sometimes both. I was going to buy a screen room but after seeing numerous screen rooms, tents, etc. take off in the wind, I gave up. Awnings don't do well there either. We try to pick a site so the sun rises on one long side and sets on the other thus gaining shade for most of the day from the trailer. We have a homemade awning that's made of ripstop and attaches with Velcro. It's open at the top in places allowing the wind to blow through. Finally I have an O2Cool fan ($15 Walmart) that runs off 12 v. I put it in the window blowing over the bed at night. We bought our Trillium with camping in the outer banks in mind. It has windows that open on all four sides. Raz
I wear one of these hats almost every day for the last 15 years. When its hot out you soak it in water and as the air goes through the hat it cools your head. Doesn't have to be wind natural convection moves enough air. Its a bit pricy but lasts an extremely long time.
I wear one of these hats almost every day for the last 15 years. When its hot out you soak it in water and as the air goes through the hat it cools your head. Doesn't have to be wind natural convection moves enough air. Its a bit pricy but lasts an extremely long time.
Any hat that shades the head, face and neck make a big difference in comfort. Sitting on a riding lawn tractor mowing wearing my hat makes a world of difference on a sunny day.
Straw hats I think are most comfortable, but GI soft hat, cowboy hat, even baseball cap all seem to help to greater or lesser amount. Never tried a pith helmet. Neighbors already think I'm crazy enough as it is. Oh wait that means I can wear a pith helmet without worrying about my reputation.
Roger; you need one of those pith helmets with the little fan in it. A local farmer ( now gone ) always wore a pith helmet. Said it saved his head from tree branches more than once. My dermatologist told me, I think mainly because I'm old, that I should wear a hat that shades my ears too. Baseball hat no good she says.
I've been trying to come up with an awning that would extend over the trailer. It would stake down on the hookup side and be an awning on the door side. Something that would provide shade for the trailer itself.
A couple of ideas we have in use on Parkliner #35...
Tyvek ground sheets... we have a ~15 x 16ft cover. We typically only have it out the sunny side. . . but velcro a couple more and easily cover the whole thing.
We have several of these 8ft x 10ft sheets taped together (after we washed them to make them less noisy. They are bright white with no decals). These sheets are waterproof/resistant and work fine in the rain also.
All of these would need some sort of pole support. We use multiple aluminum extension camp poles.
All of that said...here in our native Pacific Northwest we need more "Shade" from the rain than sun. And either of the above can give adequate rain protection for about 3 days before starting to soak through (Noahs tarps. Tyvek is yet untested for us in rain, though apparently it is the preferred lightweight rain fly for minimalist hikers.)
Trailer: 2018 13’ Scamp Standard, formerly had a 2005 13’ Scamp standard
New Hampshire
Posts: 294
Accrete: would you have any pics to post of how you do your awnings with the tyvek and the noah's tarp? I've been pondering this type of thing for rain and sun.
I have yet to actually utilize the _over entire trailer_ type of set up as it has never exceeded ~75 degrees. So we use them as stated on the sunny side...rain or shine to date. I do have pictures of the NOAHS tarp(s) in action when partly rainy weather took place (it actually rained off/on for ~3 days). On the afternoon of the 3rd day we noticed some drops on the inner upper surface of the NOAHS tarps...guess they wouldn't have made it through the 40 days and 40 nights of rainfall
Here is the NOAHS tarps, One was on sunny side of trailer, one was stretched out between trailer and our van's FIAMA awning:
I will take photos of the tyvek as we currently use it which is actually drapped over the top of our Gander Mountain Dinning Canopy 12ft x 12ft sun-shade. I do have a couple of the Granger up on sunny days without the Tyvek rain-fly over the top. What we do is simply place the trailer side of the sun shade on the roof of the parkliner (which happens to have a 12ft to 12ft dimension from front to back walls), and then utilize two of the polls that came with the shade outward in camp with the included rope ties/stakes. When we see rain in the forcast the Tyvek goes up, or if it will be hotter than the typical ~mid70's for extra sun-shade factor.
This shot is a bit a ways but still gives the general idea, and i will take closer shots next week. The picture below has a caption about this being a fair weather only set up, and that is true, and why we will utilize the Tyvek cloth over the top if rain is forcasted:
As for protecting the fiberglass roof from any abrasion i place a gardening knee pad under the two sun-shade corners that are in contact with roof.
Trailer: 2018 13’ Scamp Standard, formerly had a 2005 13’ Scamp standard
New Hampshire
Posts: 294
Interesting. How rugged is that Green awning? is that a standalone? Would it hold up in a breeze? I like that it looks like it wouldn't collect rainwater in. The pic with the Noah's tarp: I can't quite understand what I'm looking at: how tall is that pole in the foreground holding up the top of the tarp? Is it a lot taller than the camper??
Last week we had it set up on the Parkliner as discussed above (two poles/lines), and there was an afternoon breeze of maybe ~20mph? And the canopy did fine. If winds were much over 30 i would likely take the time to drop and pack the canopy.
Here is another shot of the NOAHS tarp in action, but in a different camp. Again with same poles in use:
So in the original image you asked about i am taking the shot from down hill near the river and looking up so the height of pole is an optical illusion. The base of pole is at about -3 ft in altitude and the top is at about +5ft. There was a slant to tarp and rain was running off the downhill (nearest camera) edge. Since the tarps we have are so large we probably never have it set up exactly the same, and actually that is part of my fun time in camp. Sometimes i'll take things down just to switch it up if i know Cari is safe down at the river (no bears sighted). . . otherwise i'm always down there with my bear spray and a good book.
We've been in the Outer Banks a few times with the popup, usually in early August, and the Oregon Inlet CG is our usual spot.
Temps are usually in the 85 to 95 F range during the day, 75 to 80 during the night.
Heat is not an issue, as there's almost always a breeze. With the popup, we had ample ventilation just by unzipping all the canvas. The OB is probably the southernmost place one can camp without A/C, thanks to the wind. Nice 4X4-free beach with free parking about 2 miles north of Oregon Inlet.
It really gets windy at times, and in our popup the roof was shaking and swinging back and forth all the time. I had no fear the popup would flip, but I put ropes and stakes at each corner post and everything stopped moving, that really quieted everything down. Also after going through a few big thunderstorms I was glad to have the popup secured like this.
Needless to say, using the awning is out of question in the OB. If the constant wind doesn't rip it off, some thunderstorm will.
The problem is when there is no wind, especially during the night. And then the problem is not the heat as much as the no-see-ums (sand flies). They go through window screens by the thousands and eat you alive if you don't put repellant before going to bed.
Last time it happened, it was still 93F when we went to bed, around 100% humidity (we had the usual thunderstorm right after sunset), not a breeze, felt like no air to breathe, and we were out of insect repellant... That was a night of misery, sweating and scratching, and nobody really slept that night. It actually was our last night at the CG, and at sunrise the camper was hitched and we were gone.
Last time we were in the OB, we went to a full hookup CG in Rodanthe instead of the NPS. Still no A/C (we don't have one) but we could use 110V fans (and we needed them as the place was not as windy). However, at $90 per night versus like $24 at the NPS, we're not sure it was worth it.
The problem is when there is no wind, especially during the night. And then the problem is not the heat as much as the no-see-ums (sand flies). They go through window screens by the thousands and eat you alive if you don't put repellant before going to bed.
Last time it happened, it was still 93F when we went to bed, around 100% humidity (we had the usual thunderstorm right after sunset), not a breeze, felt like no air to breathe, and we were out of insect repellant... That was a night of misery, sweating and scratching, and nobody really slept that night. It actually was our last night at the CG, and at sunrise the camper was hitched and we were gone.
Last time we were in the OB, we went to a full hookup CG in Rodanthe instead of the NPS. Still no A/C (we don't have one) but we could use 110V fans (and we needed them as the place was not as windy). However, at $90 per night versus like $24 at the NPS, we're not sure it was worth it.
Carl
So, exactly how much is a good nights sleep without being eaten alive worth? Somewhere between $24 and $90 appearantly.
As I said, we don't have A/C anyway, so being in a full hookup site wouldn't have changed anything that night.
On the few occasions we had bugs, repellant did the trick.
Bugs and money are not the only things to consider. Camping in a big RV park vs being almost alone in a NPS campground is not the same thing, especially in a popup. I have nothing against 38ft RVs pulled by F350s, but this is simply not our kind of camping.
2012 casita spirit deluxe
Parkliner
Bob
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