I noticed this portable awning the other day

[Fisher23]

I noticed this portable awning the other day .. for folks without a rack it attaches with some magnates.

MoonShade | Portable vehicle awning | Moon Fabrications

MoonShade is a portable vehicle awning that offers reliable coverage, day or night, to your outdoor site. It sets up easily and attaches to almost any sturdy structure.

moonfab.com

 

[cruiserpilot]

C’mon man, spellcheck! LOL!

 

[vipergrhd]

Must be Overland certified.

 

[TonyP]

At what point do you just put a Coleman stand-alone awning on your roof?

 

[cruiserpilot]

FYI I bought one. The willows are so high and tough up north they literally stripped the Thule roof
racks right off my 60. Pain in the butt But having an awning I can roll up and stick inside is damned
handy, cause cooking in a snow squall is not as fun without something overhead.

 

[samtoddlee]

FYI I bought one. The willows are so high and tough up north they literally stripped the Thule roof
racks right off my 60. Pain in the butt But having an awning I can roll up and stick inside is damned
handy, cause cooking in a snow squall is not as fun without something overhead.

hey bud how goes it with the Moon Shade now that you've had it for a while???

 

[cruiserpilot]

hey bud how goes it with the Moon Shade now that you've had it for a while???

Answered your pm. BTW, I did take it out and TBH wasn't too thrilled with the suction things.
But have to try it yet. Will update when I do.

 

[samtoddlee]

Answered your pm. BTW, I did take it out and TBH wasn't too thrilled with the suction things.
But have to try it yet. Will update when I do.

I’ve got a bowfin rack with movable metal rings as anchor points so would use those if I get the awning.

 

[kirvesmies]

cause cooking in a snow squall is not as fun without something overhead.

that there is gospel
awaiting your review on this @cruiserpilot

 

[ChaoticSquare]

Answered your pm. BTW, I did take it out and TBH wasn't too thrilled with the suction things.
But have to try it yet. Will update when I do.

Any update on this? I still carry around a standalone for our desert trips and it just takes up so much room in the vehicle. Nice to have and be able to move, but I want to ditch it for something smaller.

 

[cruiserpilot]

No, building fences and 7 days replacing rear quarter panel on the 60 took up all my last vacation time.

 

[samtoddlee]

Got one this Christmas and it seems pretty good right out the gate. Go Dawgs!

 

[ChaoticSquare]

That does look nice. How was the set up? Curious how it does in the wind.

 

[samtoddlee]

Setup 3 minutes. It’s light so wind will be an issue buy guys and stakes look okay. I just use heavy steel ones. Good test coming up February trip.

 

[RTaylor]

Got one this Christmas and it seems pretty good right out the gate. Go Dawgs!

HBTFD

 

[Land Shark]

Any further insight on these? Been eyeing these for a bit. Thanks

 

[Dr Gil]

Any further insight on these? Been eyeing these for a bit. Thanks

I got one a few months ago. Haven't had a chance to try it yet in the Colorado winter. But in the meantime time I had a chance to do some mods to it. I've set it up in the garage and very impressed with it.

I feel like all the parts are well made and good quality. I've asked several times for Monshade to make a 9' telescoping pole but have yet to do it. So I made my own 9 foot telescoping pole so I can use it on the 9' side or 7' side. I also bought 1 moon wall. We'll see if in real life usage I need another wall or not.

I added on rope loops to the vertical support poles so I can use screw type tent stakes to hold down the support poles.

Using the 9' telescoping pole also allows me to add on this 1/2 tent to the 9' side. I have a sleeping platform in my 80, so this 1/2 tent gives me some room to move around but still stay out of the elements. This is a pic of the 1/2 attached to a pop awning. This is what gave me the idea to connect it to the Moonshade awning. Visualize Samtoddlee's picture, Post #2 with this 1/2 tent attached to the other side of the awning. That is my modular set up.

 

[1stchair]

I considered the moon shade awning for a hot minute, then stumbled on and wound up purchasing the Kelty Backroads instead.

The Kelty is similar in some regards (arched design, temporary attachment) and differs in other ways (fabric goes to the ground without separate upright poles, attachment to vehicle is via straps).

Note that’s not mine, just an image off of Amazon.

I have a 4Runner, Sequoia and FJ60 (plus a Ben-Hur trailer converted to base camp use) that might be called on for duty depending on the nature of an excursion, so the temporary sort of awning is far better than a fixed mount unit for me.

Downsides to the Kelty are also upsides in some situations, mainly that it has more side coverage and isn’t as “open” to the elements. This is a downside when you only want overhead coverage but a benefit when you want protection from wind, rain, snow or weirdos watching you change your clothes. The sides roll up somewhat, and there’s a big door of sorts, so it can be pretty open but not as much as a strictly overhead awning. Go look at pics online if you want to see how it can be setup.

At around half the cost ($185 vs $395), and with the increased side coverage it hit the mark for me. I’ve used it to cover my camp kitchen, picnic table, mountain bikes and other gear while away from camp, as general sunshade, as a changing room and even for overflow sleeping space (I’d happily sleep under it unless the bugs are pretty bad).

It also occurred to me that it doesn’t always have to attach to a car. I’ve rigged it to a tree or other structure, too just to cover some gear off to the side and out of the elements.

Here’s a pic of the “door” side when I had it setup over the glamp kitchen last year. It’s not as open as the moon shade or other awning, but again, that’s good or bad depending on the use case.

The door bottom is a trip hazard, as are guy wires on others, so maybe that’s a wash(?)

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Bang Bang]

I considered the moon shade awning for a hot minute, then stumbled on and wound up purchasing the Kelty Backroads instead.

The Kelty is similar in some regards (arched design, temporary attachment) and differs in other ways (fabric goes to the ground without separate upright poles, attachment to vehicle is via straps).

Note that’s not mine, just an image off of Amazon.

I have a 4Runner, Sequoia and FJ60 (plus a Ben-Hur trailer converted to base camp use) that might be called on for duty depending on the nature of an excursion, so the temporary sort of awning is far better than a fixed mount unit for me.

Downsides to the Kelty are also upsides in some situations, mainly that it has more side coverage and isn’t as “open” to the elements. This is a downside when you only want overhead coverage but a benefit when you want protection from wind, rain, snow or weirdos watching you change your clothes. The sides roll up somewhat, and there’s a big door of sorts, so it can be pretty open but not as much as a strictly overhead awning. Go look at pics online if you want to see how it can be setup.

At around half the cost ($185 vs $395), and with the increased side coverage it hit the mark for me. I’ve used it to cover my camp kitchen, picnic table, mountain bikes and other gear while away from camp, as general sunshade, as a changing room and even for overflow sleeping space (I’d happily sleep under it unless the bugs are pretty bad).

It also occurred to me that it doesn’t always have to attach to a car. I’ve rigged it to a tree or other structure, too just to cover some gear off to the side and out of the elements.

Here’s a pic of the “door” side when I had it setup over the glamp kitchen last year. It’s not as open as the moon shade or other awning, but again, that’s good or bad depending on the use case.

View attachment 3267533

The door bottom is a trip hazard, as are guy wires on others, so maybe that’s a wash(?)

Let me know if you have any questions.

I bought one of these a couple months back and have yet to use it. But I will have an opportunity in 2 weeks on a weekend trip. I bought it primarily as a changing room to go over or on the side of my KickAss shower enclosure to use as a changing room / place to keep dry clothes on my square drop. But, like you, I also see the possibilities for using it as a place to cover gear when I don't want to deploy the ARB room. After seeing your pic and reading your uses I think I got the right one. I'll likely deploy it this weekend in the driveway as a test.

 

[Bang Bang]

So I was able to get the Kelty deployed today. Easy enough to do by yourself with only 3 tent poles (this reminds me of one reason why I disliked tent camping ). And it gives me plenty of room as a change room with the KickAss shower room inside the Kelty area. Because of this, I think I’m gonna get rid of the Chinese knock off 270* awning on the back of the squaredrop and put a smaller ARB / Ironman canopy with an enclosure (I already have the ARB 2500x2500 with room enclosure on the passenger side of the camper) or I’ll go with a 180* awning off the back. Decisions, decisions.