Lots of opinions on Canopies

Still love my now discontinued REI Alcove, we’ve been through a lot together! Have a permanent EBay search and every now and then one pops ups (forgive the pun!). This one looks to be in great condition.

REI Alcove on EBay
 
Randy said:
Still love my now discontinued REI Alcove, we’ve been through a lot together! Have a permanent EBay search and every now and then one pops ups (forgive the pun!). This one looks to be in great condition.

REI Alcove on EBay
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I'm surprised there isn't a collection of 3d print STL's for this tent -- it has a loyal following!!!!
 
Randy said:
Still love my now discontinued REI Alcove, we’ve been through a lot together! Have a permanent EBay search and every now and then one pops ups (forgive the pun!). This one looks to be in great condition.

REI Alcove on EBay
Click to expand...
I bought three of them when REI announced they were being discontinued. I set ours up differently than most with the short side of the Alcove against the rear of the CampInn. That provides a good seal if it rains along with the wind walls, and you can still open the rear hatch.
 
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Van_and_Terri said:
I bought three of them when REI announced they were being discontinued. I set ours up differently than most with the short side of the Alcove against the rear of the CampInn. That provides a good seal if it rains along with the wind walls, and you can still open the rear hatch.
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Yup, I have an extra in reserve also!
 
We have an Alcove we bought from a member of this forum. I like it quite a bit, but it collects rain at the edges horribly. It’s almost unusable for us if the rainfall is anything significant.
 
dirty6 said:
We have an Alcove we bought from a member of this forum. I like it quite a bit, but it collects rain at the edges horribly. It’s almost unusable for us if the rainfall is anything significant.
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We in the PNW know that you can easily break the frame of an Alcove overnight. Somewhere here, maybe even in this thread, are a couple solutions resourceful people have devised.

One was a half dozen bungies on each side, running from the peak to the side top rail, creating support to drain water over the side.

Another was to 3d print some snap on attachments to the peak and side top rails, running battens of maybe 1/8” thick x 1.5” wide, same idea as the bungies. I don’t recall if they were wood or fiberglass…

My solution was to sell the Alcove to someone who lives in a drier climate!

Edit
Apparently I mixed two campers’ solutions:
rmbrowder

Post in thread 'Lots of opinions on Canopies'

I use the REI Alcove. It fits nicely as a kitchen extension for shade but heavy rain has presented problems with pooling water. I adapted boat cover stays to keep the canvas taught. I cut the fiberglass to allow the pieces to slide together for adjustments and storage. The ends and center do need to be fastened to the frame, I use coated wire.
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rotus8

Post in thread 'Lots of opinions on Canopies'

Great, the West Marine stays are much higher quality than the ones on Amazon; they are molded with nice rounded edges where the Amazon ones are cut from a sheet and have sharp edges that shed fibers.
I got three 8 foot stays, then designed and printed three sets of brackets. The stays are cut in 43.5" long pieces. The fit is good and support the canopy cover well. There was no rain (thankfully) on our latest outing so I can't attest to the prevention of any water pooling, but I think it should work.

I am happy to share my design files if anyone wants to try printing their own...
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dirty6 said:
We have an Alcove we bought from a member of this forum. I like it quite a bit, but it collects rain at the edges horribly. It’s almost unusable for us if the rainfall
Click to expand...

dirty6 said:
We have an Alcove we bought from a member of this forum. I like it quite a bit, but it collects rain at the edges horribly. It’s almost unusable for us if the rainfall is anything significant.
Click to expand...
I put multiple bungees (36inch) running from the top of the alcove to the horizontal side bars. I use 6 bungees for each side. Never had the canopy pool water in heavy rain doing that.
 
36 inch bungees from the ridge pole to the side poles work really well for rain, and my alcove has held up incredibly well through some high winds and big storms. You just have to be sure to guy it out properly. With it up against the galley, three wind walls have kept me dry and are great for a little privacy as well in tight campsites. I also invested in some hand forged tent stakes which have really helped with the hard ground of the West. As you can tell, I’m a big fan!

Randy
 
Carl U said:
Good stakes are worth there weight in gold! They should call them Out West stakes

Inherited these from dad including the bowling shoes bag…. Couldn’t tell you how many times they were pounded in and pulled out!
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Proably outlive the ones that I've got - basically barn nails with a 't' handle by..who'm I kidding! What you have will outlive us all!

Very cool
 
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