Solar Blanket vs Safari Roof

[HerGU]

Yes i realise i am opening a can of worms but i would like to know if anyone has had both options along the way and which would you swear by?

As we have an adventure camper trailer, we need a light weight and easy option to leave on the camper when packed up. A solar blanket will not fit in the bed case packed up and would need somewhere else for it to be stored. Whereas a safari roof we are thinking would be able to be left on the tent when packed up.

I realise both options have thier pro's and con's, but has anyone used both options and swear by one or the other?

With the solar blankets, how small do they pack up (for a average size tent)? How much room to i need to allow for the packed up product?

We are planning for our 2 year lap, so this wont be for the occasional weekend, it will need to have a secure and compact home for a solar blanket. In saying that, as we cannot seem to come up with the perfect solution we want for a safari roof pole configuration wise i also need to possible store poles and a tarp at the moment if we go that way.

Ideas and opinions appreciated.

[sablesoft]

Hi,

The Solar blanket is attached to the roof of my cub escape and stays in place when I fold up the camper.

With the solar blanket attached I must unzip the annex roof and store it in the camper.

Ray

[speewa158]

l have a big silver tarp that can be both ,Drag it out when the rains as coming to keep as much as possible dry , & in the heat a really great sun shade . All you really need in 1 unit . Yes its a bit bulky but it works well & thats all it has to do 

[HerGU]

Hi,

The Solar blanket is attached to the roof of my cub escape and stays in place when I fold up the camper.

With the solar blanket attached I must unzip the annex roof and store it in the camper.

Ray

I realise most people leave it attached but the adventure tent folds down then folds in half and latches closed. So space is a premium inside the bed case and it just wont close if i leave the big doona or the pillows on the bed! haha. So packed up (unattached to the tent)  what does it fold up into?

[McGirr]

l have a big silver tarp that can be both ,Drag it out when the rains as coming to keep as much as possible dry , & in the heat a really great sun shade . All you really need in 1 unit . Yes its a bit bulky but it works well & thats all it has to do 

Same hear .. And air does get between the tarp and roof of the camper.

Mark

[Mallory Black]

ditto
big silver tarp that goes over the whole show, really makes a difference especially the temperature
well worth the extra time to set up

[Hal Harvey]

space is a premium inside the bed case and it just wont close if i leave the big doona or the pillows on the bed! haha. So packed up (unattached to the tent)  what does it fold up into?

Ours is a proper $500-$600 (can't remember) insulated reflective job designed for the particular trailer, and it takes up less space than one pillow. We couldn't close the lid with the pillows and doona on the bed either (before I attached the reflective roof), but we found we can leave the reflective roof in place and still have it close. It ties on at eight points so with any breeze at all, it becomes a tropical roof. Makes the sleeping quarters a lot darker for the occasional sleep in too.

[wiseone]

Hi HerGU,

Have you seen the Adventure Camper Solar Blanket that they make?

It folds (and kind of rolls up) and goes in to a long cigar tube canvas bag which you can put either in the side storage area or on the camper boat rack basket.  It slips in very easy in to the bag.

[welchygq]

Hi HerGU,

Have you seen the Adventure Camper Solar Blanket that they make?

It folds (and kid of rolls up) and goes in to a long cigar tube canvas bag which you can put either in the side storage area or on the camper boat rack basket.  It slips in very easy in to the bag.

Unfortunatly yes we have - and from the dimensions we got from paul at adventure - its HUGE!!!! - in no way do we have the room to store it.

Welchy

[wiseone]

Unfortunatly yes we have - and from the dimensions we got from paul at adventure - its HUGE!!!! - in no way do we have the room to store it.

Welchy

Nah you'll squeeze it in.

Ours lies length ways and is kind of the last thing in below locking the lid down.

[HerGU]

Nah you'll squeeze it in.

Ours lies length ways and is kind of the last thing in below locking the lid down.

Is yours really tight and a bit of a struggle to close? I currently leave the sheets and a thin summer blanket on the bed and now i added a matress topper (about the same thickness as the blanket) and we find we need to lean on it heaps to get the latch closed. I have left the winter doona on and the box skimmed the cut out when we put it away so i dont leave it on anymore.

Paul from adventure reckons he leaves his pillows in it. no way we could!

So would you be able to slip it down the side of the bed case? we are trying to avoid putting it on the roof rack (extra drag etc and figure all our other life possensions will end up there lol). prefer not to put stuff in the kitchen and the other side has boxes and shelves laid out in there that we made up.

[wiseone]

Is yours really tight and a bit of a struggle to close? I currently leave the sheets and a thin summer blanket on the bed and now i added a matress topper (about the same thickness as the blanket) and we find we need to lean on it heaps to get the latch closed. I have left the winter doona on and the box skimmed the cut out when we put it away so i dont leave it on anymore.

Paul from adventure reckons he leaves his pillows in it. no way we could!

So would you be able to slip it down the side of the bed case? we are trying to avoid putting it on the roof rack (extra drag etc and figure all our other life possensions will end up there lol). prefer not to put stuff in the kitchen and the other side has boxes and shelves laid out in there that we made up.

Yes I agree with not being able to close bed case with pillows, unless they're very flat ones.
We have on the bed:- blue tarp covering,  sheets, blanket , doona, 2 x kids sleeping bags and 2 x small kids blankets.

I'll have a play on the weekend re: solar blanket down the side in with the bed case as we current put ours in storage side.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

[wiseone]

Yes I agree with not being able to close bed case with pillows, unless they're very flat ones.
We have on the bed:- blue tarp covering,  sheets, blanket , doona, 2 x kids sleeping bags and 2 x small kids blankets.

I'll have a play on the weekend re: solar blanket down the side in with the bed case as we current put ours in storage side.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

Had a play on the weekend and tried putting to solar blanket with bag (cigar shape) in storage bin beside bed case. I can get it in but have to take out pole bag which isn't an option, so the answer is NO it must go in side storage bin or on roof rack.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

[welchygq]

can you confirm where you were trying to put it? just next to the bed case? or in the storage side?

i just dont understand what you mean by storage bin next to bed case?

[wiseone]

can you confirm where you were trying to put it? just next to the bed case? or in the storage side?

i just dont understand what you mean by storage bin next to bed case?

Sorry. 
When you have the rear wheel door down and you're looking in at the bed case I'm talking about the gap on the RHS between the bed case and the wall of the storage bin. 
This gap is where you normally slide the canvas bag in that contains the poles for the A-Frame shade sail and in my case also the poles for the additional room. 

You may be able to slide the Solar Blanket bag down with only the 3 poles but I didn't try this.  With out the pole bag you could slide the Solar Blanket bag.

I'll post some photos up for you if I get a chance.

[welchygq]

Hey mate,

yeah photos would be good.  We dont store our poles in the "bed area". we store them , in the bag, under the floor on the storage side of the camper.

Hope that makes sense?

Welchy

[wiseone]

Hey mate,

yeah photos would be good.  We dont store our poles in the "bed area". we store them , in the bag, under the floor on the storage side of the camper.

Hope that makes sense?

Welchy

Here you go Welchy: -

The Solar Blanket in it's canvas bag: -


The bag open showing the solar blanket: -


My Standard config in the back of the camper, i.e. pole bag, rake and broom down the side next to the bed case:-


Just Pole Bag: -


Pole bag sticking out: -


The gap beside the bed case: -


Close up of gap: -


Solar Blanket/bag 3 quarters in:-


Solar Blanket/Bag IN: -


Regards,

Wiseone

[jk]

We use a large silver tarp, I bought it ...took it home and fitted it over the camper and annex, then cut it to size. The camping shop has a sewing service for all sorts of canvas/tarps/repairs etc, so they hemmed two sides ( that I had cut ) and fitted brass eyelets for the poles.
Once up it provides rain protection, sun relief and catches bird poo. It is a bit of a handfull to put up but with two people it's not a huge job and drops the temp under the annex quite a bit.  Cheers
jk

[HerGU]

Hi Wiseone

Thanks heaps for the photo's! gives us a much better idea. From what paul told us, we thought it was going to be much bigger than that. If it sits down the side of the bed case easy enough it looks like it might be the go. Do you recall how much you paid for yours? I am assuming you bought that one off Adventure?

Do you happen to have a photo of it on your camper?

Again thanks for getting the photos for us and mucking around with trying it down the bed case   

[wiseone]

Hi Wiseone

Thanks heaps for the photo's! gives us a much better idea. From what paul told us, we thought it was going to be much bigger than that. If it sits down the side of the bed case easy enough it looks like it might be the go. Do you recall how much you paid for yours? I am assuming you bought that one off Adventure?

Do you happen to have a photo of it on your camper?

Again thanks for getting the photos for us and mucking around with trying it down the bed case   

Here you go cobber. I've tried to get photos from different angles for you: -





It was a bit blowy on this day








Price wise I'm pretty sure it was $375 plus freight. See: http://www.adventurecampers.com.au/pdf/adventurecampers-specs-12-2009-web.pdf

[HerGU]

Hi Wiseone,

Thanks for that! Really appreciate your time! 

You have a nice set up!