Door shades and shelters come in various designs, from large umbrellas to custom covers complete with floors to pop-up ice house lodges. They can be as simple as just a covering for your head as you step out the door or a complete enclosure with room for dressing, lounging and even putting down beds for dogs and children. I've even seen full little rooms with camp toilets, closets and dressing tables. Lux!
Personally, I don't have any type of shelter covering the Sunflower's doors. I've thought about getting one that can double as a changing area, but I really enjoy seeing mountain and lake views outside my bedroom window in the morning. Does anyone use a door cover where you can have both a view and shelter at the same time AND doesn't get blown around in the wind?
We have a vestibule like the one shown above in the 3rd photo from the bottom. It's nice, but at the same time it takes away from the minimalistic aspect of teardrop camping: all of a sudden you DO have a tent to set up, tear down, and have to dry after wet trips. The benefit of "no setup" that comes with a teardrop is gone. We just had a discussion about it after a particularly rainy camping trip: the tents (vestibule and over-the-galley dining shelter) both saved us and created tons of overhead work. But you can't have it both ways...
ReplyDeleteThank you for the input Aneta. I was admiring that particular cover at a gathering and was wondering how long it takes to put up and take down. It was very roomy inside, but it blocked a lot of light and views. Again, we would have to have two of them for both doors...
DeleteYes, we try to keep our camp setup time to a minimum, so anything extra is scrutinized.
It takes a bit of fuss to put up, everything needs to be aligned just so to work correctly arround the door. I find it annoying despite of having quite a bit of practice by now. It also takes in water in heavy rain (without the fly - I don't know how much better it is with the fly, we don't have one). The vestibule helps me get my dog wiped clean before I let him into the bed in wet weather, but then again, if it's wet inside, the dog's paws will be rinsed (clean rain water) but still wet - can't wipe them dry if he's just gonna step in the puddle anyway.
DeleteLittle Guy has a better designed tent with the nylon going around the door lip of the teardrop (which you also have pictured above), which is possible only because Little Guy trailers have a different door design.
Hi Christina, I just did a blog post showing my teardrop camping trips, feel free to use the content if you would like. Just a link back to my blog would be appreciated. http://naturebee.blogspot.ca/2014/08/teardrop-camping-tips.html
ReplyDeleteI love your blog.