FROM THIS…
TO THIS…
We’re glad we went with the AluCab roof conversion, but to be honest we hardly used the 270 degree awning – too much trouble for too little gain. It was only worth putting up for shade or shelter, and not in high winds. Also, in campgrounds, we often felt very exposed standing out the back of the vehicle cooking – not much privacy.
We had looked into acquiring the AluCab tent walls but they are heavy, space-occupying and expensive. Plus we couldn’t see ourselves wrangling with them.
But then we came across Shady Gear.
These walls are stretches of aluminium-based material with Velcro along the long edge, and eyelet holes along all edges. We put the awning out and did some measuring, and figured that two 5.2m walls would wrap around the awning from the passenger door to the right rear spare tyre.
But first, we needed two AluCab tent poles (the awning comes with just one). Three tent poles really stabilise the three corners of the awning (seriously, why can’t AluCab just include them in the awning – it costs a bomb already!). As it happened, Ironman was quitting their AluCab partnership (AluCab are going to set up in Oz), so lots of the accessories were going cheap. I got lucky and snagged the last pair at a big discount of $45. Lucky me!
It was a bit of a gamble – would it work and were we willing to spend $650 to find out? Yep, we were!
So…two Shady 5.6m gear walls cost us $600 with shipping. They are very light and each one comes in a large ziplock plastic bag which probably won’t last the distance to be honest, but we’re going to tie them with Velcro straps ($10 a pair from Bunnings). They will be stowed in the centre corridor of the fitout when we’re on the road, or perhaps in a spare wheel bag.
As it happens, our gamble paid off: the walls are a hit! They provide privacy (opaque from the outside except if you have a light on) and let the air through, and are rain resistant (note they are NOT fire resistant). Shady Gear is an Australian company and the quality is excellent. This has made camping a much better experience.
Here’s a walkthrough and some other views…
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