I have the silver shady boy w/ optional vertical poles-make sure you get those also-  Although I live in the Desert, I have never had the rain in the gap problem, & don't consider that an issue unless you live/camp in places like the soggy PNW.
Also mark your poles in some sort of order to make assembly quicker.  The pole sections are not all the same & must be assembled correctly.   Also drill holes in the pole bottoms so that you can anchor them to the ground for windy conditions.

YMMV,

Mr. BZ-also known as Shady Boy Slim-not

On Dec 16, 2011, at 5:22 PM, Art wrote:

> Thanks all for your input.  Love this group! I'm going to go with the silver
> Shady Boy, also because there was a huge difference in shipping that
> increased the price gap even more.  I'm sure I can figure out something to
> deal with the gap between the body and the shade to deal with rain.
> 
> Art
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: turbowesty
> Sent: Friday, December 16, 2011 5:15 PM
> To: Art
> Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: 86 Westy Camper Awning
> 
> Silver shady boy, love it.
> 
> Regards, Peter Kraiker
> NextChapter.KraikerPhoto.com
> 
> On 2011-12-15, at 4:55 PM, Art <awa0330@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
>> Shady Boy