Quik Shade Summit 100 Pop Up Canopy
During a deployment one requires shelter from the heat and rain. Tents normally are too bright and translucent to use a lap top computer inside. Also in 105 degree Texas weather, they tend to be too hot. A pop up canopy can give you shade and can be cooler than a tent. They can also keep out the rain if you plan your purchase carefully. After studying available canopies I decided to purchase the Quik Shade Summit 100, for $159 at Academy Sports. It is a step up from the basic canopies. It has 300 denier cloth, and is twice as thick as the basic models. It has a vent in the roof for better air circulation to keep you cooler. It has a stronger frame also. It appears to be very sturdy. It is powder coated steel, so it can't be left outside indefinitely, but appeared to be a good compromise for three day deployments and family picnics. The commercial canopies have aluminum frames but these start at about $800.
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The frame is heavy. It was difficult to open. With three people we extended it with difficulty. However, I noted in the instructions that optionally you can spray the joints with silicone grease to aid assembly. When I was taking down the canopy I did this to the frame joints. It seemed to make the frame collapse easier. Just don't force anything. It is too noce a canopy to damage by being careless. |
The two vent covers have stays that extend. |
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| Place the three cloth pieces on the canopy before extending the canopy 100%. At 100% the material can't be stretched enough to mount them. Once the pieces are in place you can carefully finish extending the canopy. | |
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This shows the top roof piece on a support. |
This is the canopy peak from the inside. |
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This is one corner of the canopy. |
It hasn't rained in 9 months but it started 5 minutes after I finished putting up the canopy. |
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It rained pretty hard. |
The canopy did well against the rain and wind. |
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I saw water drops at the seams in the top roof piece. No rain blew through the vent openings. I am going to apply some seam sealer on the seams. |
This canopy comes with one half side. This is good to keep out the sun and rain but allows more air circulation. I will buy one full side on-line to augment this one. The snaps made it easy to install. |
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The vent seemed to work pretty nicely. I would hate not to have it. |
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| I bought a set of 5 pound weights for $19.95. They seemed to do the trick during the storm. |
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