Pop up canopy

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Pop up canopy

Postby ae6black » Tue Mar 27, 2018 11:46 am

How hard are these pop up canopies to put up with just one person? What size do you that have them like to use? Any particular brand that you have had good luck with? I am currently using a large garage type canopy that's a bear to put up with just one person, but is quite serviceable and will take quite a beating. I like the thing for winter camping and for shade in the middle of a hot field during concert camping.

Also, anybody using a shower tent or something else for a potty enclosure? What kind do you like? Any recommendations? Camping with the dog, I don't always like walking all the way to the campground potty because of the dog barking at people or other dogs. Normally when I use my tear during the early spring, I don't have a lot of company and so the dog isn't much of a problem. But now that I put AC in the TD, I might run into issues camping during warmer weather when the campground has a lot more people in it.

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Pop up canopy

Postby Alfred » Tue Mar 27, 2018 12:55 pm

I’ve used the Walmart version of the EZ-Up. They can be done by one person, with some effort, but really much, much easier with two persons. This is because the legs have to be unfolded/be walked to 10’ apart, and they drag on the ground if there isn’t one person each on two opposite/separate corners. They go up fast, 5-10 minutes, once you’ve done it a couple of times and know the routine. Hope this helps! AL


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Re: Pop up canopy

Postby working on it » Tue Mar 27, 2018 5:24 pm

Alfred wrote:I’ve used the Walmart version of the EZ-Up. They can be done by one person, with some effort, but really much, much easier with two persons. This is because the legs have to be unfolded/be walked to 10’ apart, and they drag on the ground if there isn’t one person each on two opposite/separate corners. They go up fast, 5-10 minutes, once you’ve done it a couple of times and know the routine. Hope this helps! AL Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I use 3 types of canopies & side-tents for my camping trips:
  • 1) a pop-up style canopy, like Alfred has; I have two of them ...an EZ-Up and an Academy Sports version (both bought at Academy for $49, years apart)...I carry two now, but only have used one, since my hatch door provides good cover by itself. It covers my whole trailer, and it furnishes me with a 4-ft deep by 8-ft wide covered sitting area..if I need a larger space, then I'll use the second canopy. Either one takes me 15 minutes to pop-up, move over my 4x8 trailer, lash one set of legs to the trailer, and the freeside legs to hold-down weights (I always seem to camp in thunderstorm havens).
  • 2) a dedicated side-tent (with zippered opening and sewn-in floor)...it attaches to the canopy (the side I attach to the trailer, where it provides covered access directly from my secondary door). and is large enough for use as potty palace and changing room, both...it takes 15-20 minutes to assemble (with hold-downs and internal framework)
  • 3) a collapsible tee-pee style tent (collapses like a windshield sun-screen) that stores flat, and is instantly open, though it takes me 5 minutes to get the correct twist to collapse it! I've been lashing it under the main door side of my canopy/sitting area, because it serves as a smaller substitute to my real side-tent, which I had misplaced. When using that tee-pee tent as my porta-potty/changing room, I put up a sidewall on the other side, as a sun/rain shield.
  • Here's a portion of a previous post, on an earlier thread, about my canopy & tent choices:
    working on it wrote:
    • I bought the same side tent at Academy Sports for $20 in 2013. At $20, it was an outstanding deal. It only takes 10 minutes to set up, and it fits under the Easy-up valance. I used it for a few trips, but I lost track of it, in all the clutter in my garage (3 bays of everything under the sun).
    • I bought a pop-up tepee style tent to replace it, in 2014 (it doesn't have a floor, but it is super-easy to set up or take down). I paid about $20 for it, on E-bay. It only takes 30 seconds to set up, or put away. I found the "lost" side tent, just last week, but didn't pull it out of the sports tote bag I put it in, back in 2013 (I put it away wet; it might be mildewed). If it's OK, then I'll bring it along on the next trip.
    • two tent styles.JPG
      two tent styles.JPG (53.49 KiB) Viewed 526 times
      $20 tent (blue) $20 tent (camo)
    • Either side tent will work great, but the bigger one has a sewn-in floor, which I favor. I'll be glad to use it again.
  • I've been trying to figure out a way to avoid having to use canopies and side-tents, but they seem to be the easiest and cheapest alternative to multiple bag awnings, and/or conduit-framed larger tent canopies. Last time I camped, my bad left shoulder (now healed) made assembly/take-down more difficult, but I was still able to perform it. Maybe next time, I might ask one or more of my camping friends to help, but that's sorta like asking for directions, which I never learned to do....
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Re: Pop up canopy

Postby les45 » Wed Mar 28, 2018 2:58 am

I've had a standard 10' EZ-Up for several years and it has held up well. It sets up fairly quickly with two people (hint: put a couple of plastic cups under two of the feet for dragging it into place). I used it to cover my galley on my old weekender and now use it as a standalone space with my pop-up project.

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