What if you purchased a car, that in later reviews of it, several owners complained that one or more of the wheels would fall off, if you drove too fast? It would be a great surprise for sure and require an immediate call to the dealer to refute or substantiate those troubling statements. Assured as you have been all your life by American car design, you are dismayed to say the least that any one of them would market a vehicle, whose wheels would probably fall off at high speeds, or equally learn from them, that yes, given today’s limited attention climate, the possibility that the wheels may fall off your car is the new normal and everybody just accepts the risk as a common life experience.
Today’s cars have a pretty good warranty. And although I’ve never heard of a situation that one or more wheels are commonly known to come off a particular brand of cars, I have heard of situations that, after wheel mounting at a service shop, the lugs had loosened and the wheel wobbled off when the car was moving. I’ve even known of tractor wheels almost coming off as a result of inattentive workmanship, but neither were of a particular brand known for the problem. They were merely random flukes of chance.
My wife enjoys being outdoors on summer mornings to drink her coffee. She would sit in a folding camp chair near the porch until the bugs or sun would drive her inside. Spraying around the house and yard against bugs helped that situation for the most part, and sunshade umbrellas helped against the hot sun until they would break in a gust of wind or ripped somehow--as did the next one, and the one that followed that. Screenporches too were mostly crap. Birds got stuck in them. Something would run into a leg and bend it. Building something substantial seemed the only way to resolve the issue, but I am too much of a procrastinator to get that done.
Now that I’m retired, I recognized that the wife wasn’t enjoying life under the sun as much as I was. I thought that it was high time that she got a real sunshade shelter of some kind that she could retreat to any time of day or night. Her little faded camp chair seemed to be too uncomfortable, so to get things started early this spring, when the snow still covered the ground, we purchased a wooden picnic table like she had always wanted, where she could comfortably sit and read, and then started discussing buying a real good sunshade shelter to cover it in all kinds of post-winter weather.
We bought an inexpensive wooden picnic table from U-Line that we had to assemble. It was shipped on a pallet. We had our seven year old grandson staying with us during Spring Break week that month so I had him help me put it together one comparatively nice pre-spring day, an event that occupied him for its duration, and which he seemed to enjoy. I showed him how to use real tools like wrenches, hammers, screw guns, and the like. He was challenged just enough to keep his attention. He said it was fun.
After researching tents and shelters, within our price range, we purchased a large six-sided wall tent manufactured by a well-known Minnesota company that also makes well-regarded ice fishing shelters. The shelters are nylon-covered, shock-corded structures that are terrifically easy to erect in seconds in as much as there are no loose parts to pre-assemble. These have no floor, but we planned to cover the ground under it using a turf-like product just to keep it comfortable and the bugs at bay. Each shelter comes in a large over-sized zippered bag, literally ready to spring to life.
Removing it from the bag, and setting the bag aside, you assure the tent’s roof is facing up. Then you merely secure the bottom seam of any wall with one of your feet, and with your hand, grasp the top of the wall. Then with the other hand, you grab a heavy-duty steel eyelet protruding from its middle, and pull the wall toward you where it ‘pops’ outward into a self-standing convex shape. You repeat that, one wall after another, as fast as you want, until all the walls are standing and the roof is collapsed in the center. Slipping under the roof, you simply lift it up in the center--until it pops up over your head. Easy peasy. A wonderful invention. A truly almost-instant shelter. We love it.
However, back to the wheels-falling-off-the-car allegory.
We've owned a tent like this one for about a month now and despite that, have no complaints. It's just as any other owner has reviewed it, so it’s no exception or lemon above all the others. It took me a little longer to set it up than what the three different sets of instructions indicated, but once I learned how, it’s a genuine snap.
One set of instructions was on the outside of the crushed shipping box--which the delivery driver said was noted-- as I carefully opened it to check for damages. (There were none.) There were printed instructions shipped with it that conflicted with the box instructions a little, so it was fortunate that the on-line video version[s] clarified them even more. The wife decided the first location wasn’t the best, so an uphill relocation of floor and structure were added to the initial construction time of fifteen good minutes--or was it twenty? Practice makes perfect they say.
Admiring our happy choice of sunshade shelters, we perused the reviews again hoping to learn more about what others had experienced who had camped in them or had owned them for a good amount of time. One of the things that sort of stood out against any of the others was its inherent problem of the roof collapsing during a downpour of rain or in the wind. I had to read that again.”... problem of the roof collapsing during a downpour of rain or in the wind.”
I quickly read through the ‘Cons’ column of reviews and I swear I didnt see them before, but almost everyone wrote that their roof collapsed during heavy rain or a thunderstorm. WHAT????? The roof collapses?? I quickly emailed the company and they just as quickly emailed me back:
“Of the thousands of these that we have sold we very few issues with them. The collapsing roof problem is one of the least common that we hear of. Collapsing roof is also one of the more frustrating problems and is why we receive the poor reviews from time to time on these. This shelter is ... extremely dependent on tension. One of the common causes of roof collapse is lack of tension. This is caused by improper set up.
More specifically staking the shelter out wider than its orig "natural" footprint, and or anchoring with the external tie outs too tight and "pulling" out on the walls. Both of these situations will decrease the tension on the roof and cause it to collapse in the slightest breeze.
Other causes would be when the shelter is left up in substantial downpours where the rain and wind are both driving. These shelters are not meant to be permanent structures and should always be taken down when significant wind, storms are predicted. After all they set up in and come down in less than a minute. We would be happy to discuss this further if I have missed anything or you have additional questions.”
If you substitute ‘collapsing roof’ with ‘wheels falling off’ and imagine this being written by a car manufacturing engineer or VP, it’s just as hilarious. Or troubling.
Realizing the company wasn’t going to offer condolences or remedy the situation now or in the future, I went back to the Review column on-line and read what others did about the problem, then followed their advice. I couldn’t be happier because so is the wife. This is the email I wrote the Customer Service rep today:
“I've owned a Pavilion for about a month now and have no complaints. It's everything 'positive' and the only one thing negative that any owner has said about it. I've waterproofed it once and know it's due again. This time, I'll know it'll take several more cans of Kiwi Camp Dry than I purchased the first trip to Fleet in Roseau. Experience is a great teacher.
Having said that, one of those experiences was the inevitable roof collapse under winds and heavy rain--which was quickly resolved by pushing the center hub back up. I understand how the shock corded/hub in the roof works now, as well as each of the wall panels, via an email from the company on May 14, 2018.
The lines from the center of each panel are staked about four feet out from the wall all the way around and, the way I see it, are designed to keep strong winds from pushing the centers inward and collapsing them, but not so the roof unless a person has a sky hook available. The premise that the tent isn't meant to be used in other than perfect weather is a misnomer in my opinion. The idea that you have to take it down every time weather threatens is rather inconvenient in the real world, especially when it is chock full of tables, chairs, ice coolers and bags of groceries, for example. Neither is mentioned in the sales brochure or on-line.
However, there is a man and a woman featured in the background of one of the company's set-up videos, who are shown nearly divorcing as they try to set up their exterior-framed i.e. 'Coleman' tent. Nearby, they notice that the Pavilion is erected effortlessly in 30 seconds. She points that out. (He grabs a beer from their cooler.) The video should've also included a Truth-in-Packaging warning and asterisk, and depicted in this scene: When a sudden rainshower pelts the roof and a brief wind blows against the walls of the couple's finally-erected tent, the neighbor's tent roof collapses, suddenly. People inside it yell in surprise. The Coleman couple laugh their butts off as they sit on their lawnchairs under the Coleman's open doorway awning, as everybody 'over there' runs to their cars.
One of the reviews of the many I've read, suggested remedying the roof collapse using a telescoping pole, so it got me thinking. Returning to the Fleet Store and comments of, "What? Need MORE water repellent??" I purchased a 4'-8' "Mr. LongArm" heavy duty telescoping brush handle. On one end is a rubber grip and on the other a threaded end piece that accepts a brush or sponge with a screw-on head. Tightening the collar on the handle, the extension held tight against my efforts to collapse it.
Then walking around the store, I looked for something that would fit around the hub in the center of the roof--and found an unlikely counterpart to my experimental roof support>> a screw-on toilet plunger head. The rubber plunger is big enough to fit loosely around the hub. Our first experiment using it, taught us that although it was firm against the roof's center hub, we'd find the pole laying on the floor the next morning. A concrete block and C-clamp affair worked to prevent the pole from falling over, but wasn't very handy. The wife hated it though she understood our dilemma.
A friend suggested I use a heavy cob of oak, for an additional support that would sit on the six foot wooden picnic table we have inside the tent, so in the event the roof rises above the extension pole as the roof flexes, (and it does) the pole doesn't fall over and allow the roof to collapse. Another friend, bored a 1.375" diameter hole, 4-inches deep, in the oak cob enabling the handle grip to tightly fit in the hole, and yet be easily removed for take-down.
We've tested it a few evenings in Minnesota downpours and it's worked perfectly so far. Give it a try. The oak cob, with the bark left on, gives the interior a nice woodsy look. We cleaned ours vigorously with a wire brush, blew it off with compressed air and then varnished it. The wife likes it, but she loves the Pavilion and uses it daily.”
Hooyah.
Today’s cars have a pretty good warranty. And although I’ve never heard of a situation that one or more wheels are commonly known to come off a particular brand of cars, I have heard of situations that, after wheel mounting at a service shop, the lugs had loosened and the wheel wobbled off when the car was moving. I’ve even known of tractor wheels almost coming off as a result of inattentive workmanship, but neither were of a particular brand known for the problem. They were merely random flukes of chance.
My wife enjoys being outdoors on summer mornings to drink her coffee. She would sit in a folding camp chair near the porch until the bugs or sun would drive her inside. Spraying around the house and yard against bugs helped that situation for the most part, and sunshade umbrellas helped against the hot sun until they would break in a gust of wind or ripped somehow--as did the next one, and the one that followed that. Screenporches too were mostly crap. Birds got stuck in them. Something would run into a leg and bend it. Building something substantial seemed the only way to resolve the issue, but I am too much of a procrastinator to get that done.
Now that I’m retired, I recognized that the wife wasn’t enjoying life under the sun as much as I was. I thought that it was high time that she got a real sunshade shelter of some kind that she could retreat to any time of day or night. Her little faded camp chair seemed to be too uncomfortable, so to get things started early this spring, when the snow still covered the ground, we purchased a wooden picnic table like she had always wanted, where she could comfortably sit and read, and then started discussing buying a real good sunshade shelter to cover it in all kinds of post-winter weather.
We bought an inexpensive wooden picnic table from U-Line that we had to assemble. It was shipped on a pallet. We had our seven year old grandson staying with us during Spring Break week that month so I had him help me put it together one comparatively nice pre-spring day, an event that occupied him for its duration, and which he seemed to enjoy. I showed him how to use real tools like wrenches, hammers, screw guns, and the like. He was challenged just enough to keep his attention. He said it was fun.
After researching tents and shelters, within our price range, we purchased a large six-sided wall tent manufactured by a well-known Minnesota company that also makes well-regarded ice fishing shelters. The shelters are nylon-covered, shock-corded structures that are terrifically easy to erect in seconds in as much as there are no loose parts to pre-assemble. These have no floor, but we planned to cover the ground under it using a turf-like product just to keep it comfortable and the bugs at bay. Each shelter comes in a large over-sized zippered bag, literally ready to spring to life.
Removing it from the bag, and setting the bag aside, you assure the tent’s roof is facing up. Then you merely secure the bottom seam of any wall with one of your feet, and with your hand, grasp the top of the wall. Then with the other hand, you grab a heavy-duty steel eyelet protruding from its middle, and pull the wall toward you where it ‘pops’ outward into a self-standing convex shape. You repeat that, one wall after another, as fast as you want, until all the walls are standing and the roof is collapsed in the center. Slipping under the roof, you simply lift it up in the center--until it pops up over your head. Easy peasy. A wonderful invention. A truly almost-instant shelter. We love it.
However, back to the wheels-falling-off-the-car allegory.
We've owned a tent like this one for about a month now and despite that, have no complaints. It's just as any other owner has reviewed it, so it’s no exception or lemon above all the others. It took me a little longer to set it up than what the three different sets of instructions indicated, but once I learned how, it’s a genuine snap.
One set of instructions was on the outside of the crushed shipping box--which the delivery driver said was noted-- as I carefully opened it to check for damages. (There were none.) There were printed instructions shipped with it that conflicted with the box instructions a little, so it was fortunate that the on-line video version[s] clarified them even more. The wife decided the first location wasn’t the best, so an uphill relocation of floor and structure were added to the initial construction time of fifteen good minutes--or was it twenty? Practice makes perfect they say.
Admiring our happy choice of sunshade shelters, we perused the reviews again hoping to learn more about what others had experienced who had camped in them or had owned them for a good amount of time. One of the things that sort of stood out against any of the others was its inherent problem of the roof collapsing during a downpour of rain or in the wind. I had to read that again.”... problem of the roof collapsing during a downpour of rain or in the wind.”
I quickly read through the ‘Cons’ column of reviews and I swear I didnt see them before, but almost everyone wrote that their roof collapsed during heavy rain or a thunderstorm. WHAT????? The roof collapses?? I quickly emailed the company and they just as quickly emailed me back:
“Of the thousands of these that we have sold we very few issues with them. The collapsing roof problem is one of the least common that we hear of. Collapsing roof is also one of the more frustrating problems and is why we receive the poor reviews from time to time on these. This shelter is ... extremely dependent on tension. One of the common causes of roof collapse is lack of tension. This is caused by improper set up.
More specifically staking the shelter out wider than its orig "natural" footprint, and or anchoring with the external tie outs too tight and "pulling" out on the walls. Both of these situations will decrease the tension on the roof and cause it to collapse in the slightest breeze.
Other causes would be when the shelter is left up in substantial downpours where the rain and wind are both driving. These shelters are not meant to be permanent structures and should always be taken down when significant wind, storms are predicted. After all they set up in and come down in less than a minute. We would be happy to discuss this further if I have missed anything or you have additional questions.”
If you substitute ‘collapsing roof’ with ‘wheels falling off’ and imagine this being written by a car manufacturing engineer or VP, it’s just as hilarious. Or troubling.
Realizing the company wasn’t going to offer condolences or remedy the situation now or in the future, I went back to the Review column on-line and read what others did about the problem, then followed their advice. I couldn’t be happier because so is the wife. This is the email I wrote the Customer Service rep today:
“I've owned a Pavilion for about a month now and have no complaints. It's everything 'positive' and the only one thing negative that any owner has said about it. I've waterproofed it once and know it's due again. This time, I'll know it'll take several more cans of Kiwi Camp Dry than I purchased the first trip to Fleet in Roseau. Experience is a great teacher.
Having said that, one of those experiences was the inevitable roof collapse under winds and heavy rain--which was quickly resolved by pushing the center hub back up. I understand how the shock corded/hub in the roof works now, as well as each of the wall panels, via an email from the company on May 14, 2018.
The lines from the center of each panel are staked about four feet out from the wall all the way around and, the way I see it, are designed to keep strong winds from pushing the centers inward and collapsing them, but not so the roof unless a person has a sky hook available. The premise that the tent isn't meant to be used in other than perfect weather is a misnomer in my opinion. The idea that you have to take it down every time weather threatens is rather inconvenient in the real world, especially when it is chock full of tables, chairs, ice coolers and bags of groceries, for example. Neither is mentioned in the sales brochure or on-line.
However, there is a man and a woman featured in the background of one of the company's set-up videos, who are shown nearly divorcing as they try to set up their exterior-framed i.e. 'Coleman' tent. Nearby, they notice that the Pavilion is erected effortlessly in 30 seconds. She points that out. (He grabs a beer from their cooler.) The video should've also included a Truth-in-Packaging warning and asterisk, and depicted in this scene: When a sudden rainshower pelts the roof and a brief wind blows against the walls of the couple's finally-erected tent, the neighbor's tent roof collapses, suddenly. People inside it yell in surprise. The Coleman couple laugh their butts off as they sit on their lawnchairs under the Coleman's open doorway awning, as everybody 'over there' runs to their cars.
One of the reviews of the many I've read, suggested remedying the roof collapse using a telescoping pole, so it got me thinking. Returning to the Fleet Store and comments of, "What? Need MORE water repellent??" I purchased a 4'-8' "Mr. LongArm" heavy duty telescoping brush handle. On one end is a rubber grip and on the other a threaded end piece that accepts a brush or sponge with a screw-on head. Tightening the collar on the handle, the extension held tight against my efforts to collapse it.
Then walking around the store, I looked for something that would fit around the hub in the center of the roof--and found an unlikely counterpart to my experimental roof support>> a screw-on toilet plunger head. The rubber plunger is big enough to fit loosely around the hub. Our first experiment using it, taught us that although it was firm against the roof's center hub, we'd find the pole laying on the floor the next morning. A concrete block and C-clamp affair worked to prevent the pole from falling over, but wasn't very handy. The wife hated it though she understood our dilemma.
A friend suggested I use a heavy cob of oak, for an additional support that would sit on the six foot wooden picnic table we have inside the tent, so in the event the roof rises above the extension pole as the roof flexes, (and it does) the pole doesn't fall over and allow the roof to collapse. Another friend, bored a 1.375" diameter hole, 4-inches deep, in the oak cob enabling the handle grip to tightly fit in the hole, and yet be easily removed for take-down.
We've tested it a few evenings in Minnesota downpours and it's worked perfectly so far. Give it a try. The oak cob, with the bark left on, gives the interior a nice woodsy look. We cleaned ours vigorously with a wire brush, blew it off with compressed air and then varnished it. The wife likes it, but she loves the Pavilion and uses it daily.”
Hooyah.
Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI must say I am impressed!! But is it bear proof???
ReplyDeleteWe're working on that as an exterior accessory item for particularly bear prone areas. Currently we're trying to perfect shock-corded one-inch diameter high tensile strength steel rod walls, into a similar pop-up design with a electrically charged flat hinged roof.
DeleteCan I have the leftover oakscrapings from the cob?
ReplyDeleteWe'll see. Maybe some of them.
Delete