When you go out to camp, you usually only bring a tent, but when you arrive at the campsite, you find that many people have set up a shelter in addition to a tent, that is, the sky.
I believe that some of the new camping friends have just known the name of Tianmu, but with the popularity of outdoor camping activities, more and more friends are more willing to try Tianmo as a camping equipment.
- Introduction to the canopy
The English name of the canopy is Tarp, which translates to tarpaulin and tarpaulin. That is to say, the reason why the canopy was originally designed is to shield the wind and rain from the sun. Then it gradually evolved into a variety of ways to play, build and so on.
Its structure is also very simple: there are multiple hanging points on the main sky curtain, which are responsible for connecting wind ropes, support rods, and ground nails, so as to support a space sufficient to accommodate humans for shelter. The popular shapes of the canopy on the market are: square, diamond or polygon. Next, we will learn more about the canopy through the components of the canopy.
Square canopies are more popular because they are relatively easy to build.
- The main body of the canopy
The main body of the canopy is generally composed of three layers: a waterproof coating, a main fabric, a sunscreen layer, and a hanging point on the main body.
PU waterproof layer
No matter what “150D”, “210T”, etc. are written on the waterproof layer in the description of the canopy, what we need to look at is more such values as “PU3000+” and “PU5000+”. It can be understood in this way that the previous value of the description is its composition, and the value we pay attention to later is the waterproof ability of the canopy presented by the previous composition.
main fabric
The fabrics of the canopy on the market often see one of the two types of polyester or oxford, but in fact, most of the main fabrics used in the canopy on the market are polyester. Why is this happening? In fact, because polyester is contained in Oxford cloth, it is not wrong for merchants to write Oxford cloth.
Generally, the main fabric of the sky curtain on the market is polyester, because the cost of nylon fabric is higher
sunscreen
The sunscreen layer of the canopy is mainly divided into two types: black glue and silver coating. Vinyl is more sunscreen, but it is also heavier and the light will be darker under the sky; the silver-coated layer has less sun protection than vinyl, but it is lighter and has better light under the sky. How to choose between the two completely depends on the degree of hot weather and the length of hot time in the place where you are, as well as the strength of your personal heat resistance. Like most of the southern coastal areas, the temperature is higher in summer, and vinyl canopies can be appropriately selected.
The vinyl under the sky will be darker, but it is cooler than the silver one, both have their advantages.
hanging point
The general canopy will have at least 6 hanging points, so as to better fix the canopy. Of course, there are also a lot of hanging points. For example, some brands pursue more personalized construction. The hanging points of the canopy can reach more than 15 hanging points. However, it is not that the more hanging points, the better. The hanging points on the sky should be as firm as possible, so as to better cope with various situations.
- Accessories for the canopy
The accessories of the canopy generally include three kinds of canopy poles, ground nails and wind ropes.
canopy pole
In general outdoor camping, everyone likes to directly support the sky, rather than fixing it on a tree, so the sky pole has become a major role. Generally, when buying a canopy, two canopy poles will be equipped, but if you need to DIY, or the original canopy pole is broken, you will have to buy it again.
The length of the canopy pole is different, and the effect of the construction is also quite different.
The suggestion for buying a canopy pole is to try to choose a pole with high hardness and light weight. If you like DIY, you can choose a canopy pole that can be spliced freely. In addition, you need to pay attention to the length of the canopy pole. The length of the pole will affect the height of the canopy.
ground pegs
When building a canopy, ground nails are an important component. Unless the entire canopy is tied to a tree when camping, more or less ground nails are needed. There are also many types of ground nails, such as: aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, steel, carbon fiber, etc., and the shapes are also various, so I will not discuss them here. However, it needs to be reminded that some ground nails will be distributed when purchasing a canopy. If you are a friend who often goes to camping outdoors, try to prepare as many ground nails as possible, because maybe the nails will bend…
This kind of ground nail is used to nail the canopy to the snow or the beach.
wind rope
In outdoor camping, the canopy is generally built on the ground, and the wind rope not only prevents the canopy from being completely nailed to the ground, but also acts as a traction. If the ground nails are used to fix the sky curtain on the ground, then the wind rope connecting the sky curtain and the ground nails plays the role of wind resistance and buffering.
The general wind rope is also equipped with a wind rope buckle to adjust the length of the wind rope.
Without the wind rope, the canopy will become the main force-bearing object when the wind is strong, and the appearance of the wind rope will make the canopy sway to a certain extent in the case of strong winds, but it greatly reduces the pressure of the canopy. Fortunately, it is difficult for most people to encounter particularly bad weather when using the canopy, so as long as the ground nails are well hit and the wind rope is properly pulled, the canopy is very stable.
- The construction of the canopy
Whether you are building by one person or multiple people outdoors, please remember to put down the ground nails and wind ropes before propping up the sky. This habit will help a lot in strong winds.
The first step is to try to find a flat and open place, and spread out the main body of the canopy;
The second step, adjust the wind rope buckle to 1/3 of the wind rope, set the ground nails at 45 degrees to the ground, lay the nail head in the opposite direction of the sky curtain, and fasten the wind rope;
The third step, support the canopy pole, remember not to be completely perpendicular to the ground, the bottom of the pole should be placed slightly into the canopy;
The fourth step, tighten the wind rope, adjust the inclination of the canopy pole, and finally make the top of the canopy stand up rather than collapse.
At this point, a canopy is completely built.
A well-built canopy should have no water accumulation on the top of the canopy, and the wind rope should be fully stretched, so that it can be protected from wind, rain and sun.
- Sky curtain purchase recommendation
The purchase here is purely for reference, and more importantly, make a choice according to your own budget and needs.
- Conclusion
Although the canopy mentioned in my article is not the whole canopy, I believe that I already have a certain understanding of the outdoor canopy. Although there are other types of canopies not mentioned in the article, such as the car-side canopy, the super-large dome canopy, etc., some knowledge points of purchasing canopies have been mentioned, which is actually enough for the purchase.
