[AdventureBuddies]

Bummer for those who missed the Costco price when I posted back then. For those still considering - thought I'd throw in my $0.02 since I've used it a few times. You can decide if it's worth $250 or not.

Pitches in 10 minutes and provides a lot of shade. Versitile. Better than a normal awning in the rain because the sides roll down.

Has a design flaw. Hard to explain unless you have it in front of you, but basically the furthest left and right ends of the pole that attaches to your rack recieve a small hook that's attached to the tent fabric via a few inches of nylon webbing. The point where the nylon webbing attaches to the tent fabric is woefully inadequate. If you are going to pitch this thing in wind, you must re-enforce this spot. Mine failed and ripped about 15in of fabric right at the coping on either side of where the webbing/hook attaches to the fabric.

I used it in pretty heavy wind/swirling rain and it was great for hanging out and cooking. Plenty of space for the table, four chairs/people, cooler, stove. If it's properly guyed out and staked down, it will keep you dry even in driving rain because the sides role down pretty close to the side of your truck. You can even open your back passenger door to get into the truck.

By the time my awning failed at the above mentioned point, the Costco deal was gone so I couldn't return it. I decided not to spend the money shipping back to Kelty on a warranty claim because I knew I'd just have to re-enforce the new one anyway. So I repaired the fabric and sewed an 18" of length 1" webbing along the edge of the fabric to fix the tear and give the hook webbing a more solid attachment point.

I have not yet tried attaching it to the maggiolina and having it 12 feet in the air.

I don't like that it takes 10 min to pitch and break down because it feels like you're breaking camp if you need to drive away. you could detach it from the roof rack and lay it down - haven't tried that yet.

The versatility for shade and rain is great. At $60 it was a no brainer. Even at $250 it's not bad because it's far more storm worthy and offers more shade and versatility than the easy awn type setup. And, it packs much smaller and lighter than those 10'x10' instant canopy things. When mine ripped the wind was gusting to 40mph and it would have been fine with that wind if I had already re-enforced that spot. I don't think other awnings can take that kind of wind.