Black out curtains or black out blinds ?

[alan H]

My wife and I are trying to decide which to use... The new to us Casitas that we recently purchased has blinds and curtains ( i thought we could simply leave the blinds and tye dye the existing curtains from off white to a darker color( yup i'm from the tye dye era)
She says no way
What is everyone using and where did you get the blinds ( if thats what you use).... Or what other options are out there ?



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[Roy in TO]

We use the block out curtain material.
Energy Efficient & Blackout Curtains : Curtains & Window Treatments - Walmart.com

But I can see the benefit of blinds. They can be positioned to allow a cross breeze while preventing people from seeing inside.

[Donna D.]

Curtains are either open or closed. Blinds allow you to position them a bit for some privacy and light. Besides you can see out (a bit) with blinds, not so with closed curtains.


Just remember whatever you use, if [whatever] are open at night and lights are on inside.... it's like being under a spot light.

[Darral T.]

In the Scamp of course, we have the stand-offs for the curtain rods.

When we first got our Scamp, some friends highly recommended us getting some "privacy" curtains or liners. I sewed some simple Roc-Lun panels on them along the top of the curtain only. This material can be purchased from JoAnns.

STILL, I wanted more "black-out" for sleeping. I purchased some more "Roc-Lun" that IS totally "black-out"...not one bit of light can pass through. I simply used some clear vinyl tape, taped the Roclun to some 3/8" wooden dowels. I roll them up and store them in the over head cabinets. The dowels easily fit in the curtain rod standoffs and really seal the windows from light! I have 4 made- 2 for the side and 2 for the back window.

On the side windows, I added a small piece of Velcro to the bottom corners of the roc-lun. Why? Because the walls angle in and there's about a 3-4" gap at the bottom of the window right over your head!

If I had it to do over, I would purchase the total blackout to sew on the back of the curtains instead of the "room darkening". That would have saved me money and kept me from having extra "shades" which is what the dowel combination acts as. The way it is though, when the wife has the curtains closed, light can still come through the windows in the daytime...not as closed-in feeling she proclaims.

[Jon Vermilye]

I have Pleated Draw-Down Window Shades in my Escape. I have some Reflectix cutouts for each window made for a trip to Alaska thinking I'd combine the black out function with a bit of insulation. The blinds hold them against the windows, and they roll up into small bundles that fit in a storage compartment. It was warm enough that I didn't need it for Alaska (and I got used to the 20 hours of daylight) , but they are handy here in Quartzsite where it was 23°F this morning!

[Gilda]

I like the look of curtains in my trailer as it adds to the decor and can be changed out easily for new looks. I keep the original Scamp curtains in the middle as they let in light but create privacy in the daytime. I, too, made "shades" out of black out fabric (available at fabric stores).

To see my previous postings on curtains/window coverings do a search on FGRV forum. Go to the "Search" button, go to the drop-down menu to "Google Search" and put in the words "Gilda curtains".

[Darnelle]

We bought those folding silver sun shades for cars. Cut to shape and size of each window, then sewed fabric to one side. Velcro tabs were glued to the window frames and sewed to the shade. Fabric faces in and silver faces out. When in use they insulate and block light while looking good. They fold for storage and then the matching valances are all that remain at the tops of the Windows, letting in as much light and air as possible. Takes seconds to install or remove.

[Dudley]

Before we left for the Yukon (land of the midnight sun) we replaced the curtains in the Casita with light blocking ones. We found some premade curtains in a fabric store on sale for $10 and the wife cut them down and made them fit the trailer. Even made covers for the vents and door windows. We used regular curtain rods for the top and vinyl covered spring for the bottom (the curve of the trailer keeps the curtains too far out). No tie dye here but they are blue camo!

[Roadie1]

Black out blinds for me in the PL. if your stuck in a parking lot for the night, there's no substitute for blackout blinds due to the bright parking lot lights. Plus when your camping it's great to have them for the added privacy.


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[Roadie1]

A better pic


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