.........
> At EveryBus on a very rainy Saturday I took the opportunity to look at every
> SB in the campground.  There were seven or eight;  two Syncros parked
> parallel with sliders facing in and SBs overlapping; only one (Frank C.'s)
> had the optional corner poles; two of the eight were "new style", all the
> rest "old style".

My SB is 3-4 years old-not sure from the description whether it is old or
new style, but I think new.  I have the corner pole option(thank goodness) &
the silver reflecting color option on my 84 Westy. My tarp has the pockets
for all the "ribs" (poles?) & little clips on the corners to attach the
optional poles/hold down straps.  I can't speak to rain as I have not had it
up in any prolonged rain storms(10-15 inches a year in the desert at the
most), but many wind storms at which at first w/o the hold down poles in
place, I actually bent the roof brackets from big downdrafts in the night,
so now always use the poles & the hold down ropes. Then in some 60+- mph
wind dust storms even the poles were a problem as the wind would lift up the
tarp & poles off the ground & cause the poles to separate & then the ole
downdraft problem would cause the tarp to put stress on the roof brackets
again.  Had to put a little baling wire cotter pin in the poles in the holes
provided w/ them to keep them together & anchor the bottoms of the poles to
the ground w/ small bungees & stakes into the ground.  Finally ended up
taking the whole assembly down as the wind/dust was so bad, you couldn't be
out in it in any event. But no rain!

Now that I have experienced a few of these storms, I think it works great
for sun shading, but not for big winds & maybe rain. But then again, I like
its small profile, ease of set up, etc. & would get another one. It helps to
have it not facing into the wind! I got mine directly from the guy in BC for
considerably less/faster than the dealers.

Tom
>
> My observations are that:
> 1)  It was  raining a lot and very hard at some times.  Mild to moderate
> wind.
> 2)  Old style had the corner ribs attached by a plastic clip and the ribs
> tended to bow out and away from the tarp a little. The tarp stayed a little
> flatter with these.
> 3)  The new style have a fabric pocket at the corner ribs which held the rib
> under the tarp and caused the tarp to be a little more bowed horizontally.
> The ribs were held under the tarp completely by the geometry caused by the
> pocket
..................
> The SB rides out moderate wind with the tie downs in place to the bumpers on
> the corners.   In heavier wind it is advisable to use the tie downs to pull
> the tarp down tightly to form a parabola curving slightly toward the van at
> the bottom... otherwise put it away as it will not weather strong winds
> without damage to it or the van.
>
> Others' comments/suggestions?

>
>
>
> on 4/27/06 0:45, Jake de Villiers at crescentbeachguitar@GMAIL.COM wrote:
>
>> Now that you've brought it up Tom, how is the Shady Boy in the wind?
>> Wolfgang offered me a deal on one( he lives just a few blocks away) but I
>> have some reservations about it's robustness. I'd love to hear areview.
>>>>> Did anybody come up with a good idea on keeping the water from
>>>>> dripping off of the back of the case. It drips along the sliding door
>>>>> and down on the floor when the door is open.