Let There Be Shade!

Wednesday, 26 June
Sea Mist RV Park — NAS Oceana, Dam Neck Annex — Virginia Beach, Virginia
Temps: Lo 74F / Hi 94F [feels like 109F] (23C / 34C [43C])

Another hot day here at Sea Mist.  A little cooler than yesterday, but with a much higher “feels like” temp thanks to the 59%, humidity.  We still have that nice breeze blowing to keep us comfortable in the morning, but once the temp rises, the breeze also warms up, and it does little to keep us cool.

Today we managed to sit outside until 1:30p before we had to throw in the towel.  At that time, the thermometer was reading 91F (33C).  How did we manage to stay out that long?  With the help of some man-made shade!  Specifically, our new ShadePro awning curtain.  Actually, the website refers to it as a Vista Shade for Electric Awnings.

We have a screen shelter, but it’s mostly to keep the bugs at bay.  Besides, we can only use it if we’re not on concrete.  Here we are on a double-wide concrete pad, and even if we were allowed to put it up on the grass between us and the neighboring site, we’d be far too close to them — and to their sewer hook-up.  That we have an east/west oriented site means that the screen shelter would not do us much good anyway.

Affectionately known as the half-lime, this is the screen shelter we purchased in
Waveland, Mississippi after an unexpectedly strong storm blew through the area and
decimated our previous shelter.  It works great on a soft surface; not so much on concrete.

I started looking at awning curtains soon after arriving at Sea Mist.  Found a couple of options that would work for us.  Then I noticed that our driver-side neighbors had exactly what I was looking for.  After talking to them about the curtain, I was sold — especially since it was specifically made for 12V RV awnings.  The bonus — a 10% off sale and free shipping; and — though stilll pricey — a heck of a lot less expensive than the ones I’d been looking at.  By the end of the day, measurements taken, we had a 19 feet wide x 9 feet tall (~ 5.8 x 2.7 m) curtain on order.

With the auto-retract feature off, the awning curtain is installed and ready for us to use.

The best way to describe the fabric is that it’s like our black MCD shades — think a breathable vinyl mesh.  The website claims that 85% of the light is cut off.  Can’t say anything about the % claim, but we’ve been able to sit outside far longer with the curtain deployed than we would have been able to without it.  I’ve also been able to read without having to wear a hat to cut down the light glare — be it on screen or a paper book.  Don’t even need sunglasses, although Mui caught me with them on in the photo below because I had just returned from a walk.  Mui likes the anti-glare feature since it makes using the outdoor TV more feasible during the daytime.

The curtain is see-through, but still affords privacy.  I actually like that it is not solid.  Not just because it would block out all the light and breeze, but also because from a security perspective, it’s always good to not be surprised by a visitor — regardless of intentions.  I can see out more than people can see in; that’s a good thing, too.

Compare this to the third photo from the top, which shows that it’s not as easy
to see in as it is to see out.  (That photo was taken from the neighboring site.)

The curtain comes in two parts.  The body is 6 feet (~ 1.8 m) tall; that’s standard.  If you need a bigger drop, the insert, which is stationary and rolls up with the awning, makes up the difference.  The two pieces are zipped together to give you the total length you need.   No stepladder needed to reach the zipper when installing the body — important for a shorty like me.

I will say that threading the insert through the narrow groove on the roller was a bit of a bear.  It’s a two man — or one man, one woman — job; and you need a stepladder to do the job right.  Having a picnic table handy as a scaffolding of sorts is good for the person pulling the insert along as the other feeds it into the groove.  Once the insert is in place, the rest of the installation is a piece of cake — just zip the two pieces together, and stake the curtain to the ground.

Top left: the insert is fed into a groove on the back side of the roller tube;
a strip of velcro on either end secures it in place.

Bottom left: a closer look at the zipper used to attach the body to the insert.

Right: the curtain comes with guy ropes and four stakes; we opted to use bungy cords
for faster removal of the body in the event of sudden high winds or an emergency.

KEY tip here is that you must disable the auto-retract when you want to use the curtain.  You don’t want the awning to start retracting should the wind exceed the speed to which you’ve set the controls.  In our case, deactivating auto-retract is just a matter of flipping the power switch from the middle to the down position rather than the up position.

We never leave the patio awning deployed overnight or if we are away from home.  That means the curtain has to be taken down every night, or whenever we go off somewhere.  Not a problem — remove the bungy cords; unzip the body; fold it and and store it in the bag that was included with the purchase; and retract the awning.  I think it took us all of 3-4 minutes to do that this afternoon.  One person could do it; but it is easier to fold if two people work together — especially with a wide curtain.

Zipping off the body from the insert is easy.

With the body removed (top left) the insert rolls into the awning fabric (bottom left),
and is stored inside the casing along with the awning.

The ordering process for a standard-size curtain was simple, and the shipping of the product was quick.  We received our order Monday afternoon, and threaded the insert into the roller tube that evening.

Granted we’ve only been using the awning curtain for two days, so perhaps I should have waited to write about it after using it longer.  But I just love having it, and I couldn’t contain my excitement.  Besides, it’s not like I’ve got anything else to write about at the moment.  Be assured I will come back and let everyone know if any downsides to it crop up.

Without this shade curtain, our time on the patio on these increasingly hot days would have been severely curtailed.  I’m glad we have invested in one.

And for those wondering … no, I am not getting paid a dime by ShadePro for this enthusiastic review — although I should probably call them and ask for a discount for the free advertising ;-)