Gizmo's

My first set of Gizmos I used 3 snaps to fasten the Gizoms to the underside of the roof the popup. I also hooked most of the cords to central ring under the bunk.

Because on our Hybrid I can't get under the roof edge ..... I use eyelets on the tarp and hooks mounted to the body.

 

I leave mine on, I don't see a need to take them off.

 

I leave mine on also and has been fine.

 

I left mine on as well. Closing up in the wind required extra tucking, but had no issues.

 

We’re new too, we leave ours on as well. They seem fine.

 

There's no real downside to leaving them on, aside from wear and tear. But even wear and tear is not entirely clear; there's also wear and tear installing, removing, and folding them. Additionally, they provide protection to the canvass, so that wear and tear on the Gizmos will bear a less expensive replacement cost than the vinyl/canvass they're protecting. Furthermore, they keep the pup cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, and a little darker in the morning when the dawn light might awaken you before you really want to be up and about. They reduce condensation inside the PUP too.

So for all the benefits, keeping them in place seems to be the way to go.

 

we take ours off and stow in the PUP because, depending on the season, they're either (1) reflective side down [early spring/late autumn], (2) reflective side up [blazing summer sun] or (3) not needed at all.

Happy Trails

PS: ours are homemade... less than $40.00 for both bunks...going on 3rd season and they're holding up just fine

 

PUGs are great but do get dirty when camping (thus keeping the tenting itself clean) so I'd always remove them at the end of a camping trip and give them a good cleaning at home. To make this task easier I affixed the roof end of each PUG to a length of vinyl J-channel that would slip over the roof seal for use. When striking camp I would simply remove each J-channel with the PUG still attached, roll it up, and slip each one into the camper where I could later easily access them for cleaning. No folding, no creasing, no deterioration at all.

 

That J channel is a great idea. That would have worked for my hybrid as well. Would have been easy to just slip over the rain gutter edge...oh well too late, just got done installing pug ears for securing the top egde.

 

What material you used to make yours? I am thinking of the same - using reflectix or something like that. Thanks.

 

I made my own as well, but I don't think reflectix is a great option because it's too stiff to lay well and not tough enough if you put grommets in the edges.

 

Thanks for the advice, what material did you use? Thanks again.

 

VIVOSUN 6 Mil Mylar Film Roll 4 FT X 50 FT Diamond Film Foil
From amazon.com
That's what I used for my 3 covers. It's been pretty durable but does get creased. I take the covers off and roll them all up together onto a piece of 1.5" pvc. I hang the roll up in my hybrids front pass through storage area on some hooks I installed.

 

we used a couple of these...





https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01H4VAKY...olid=2GJGWR27Q6E9G&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

they're substantially "heavy duty" enough

granted, on the big bunk, it leaves about 4 or 5 inches uncovered [they fully cover the small bunk] but, they've done an excellent job , regardless... especially in the early Spring/late Autumn.

Happy Trails

 

We never could afford the high dollar GIZMOs... Picked up 9x12 tarps from WALMART and strap them in place using stretch rope. Not the best looking install thing in the world but work great keeping it cool or warm inside depending on the season you are camping in... I get a good three years out of the cheap WALMART 9x12 tarps...




Roy's image's

Easy to put up using stretch rope...

Added note.... Another good feature I got was I can leave my windows open on the inside with the tarps being on the outside... No rain gets inside... also some of the tarp and one side that may be more reflective then the other side... But I can get different colors and change the look of mf my POPUP haha.. We camp alot in the Smoky Mtns at ELKMONT CAMP inside the grounds. I see alot of campers there putting up a large 30' x 30' canopy over the the whole camper and site area. ELKMONT gets two or three short rains alot it seems so the whole site canopy is good thought there haha... I have played with putting a bigger tarp over my POPUP and extend out over the awning then go to close to the ground in the back side. This give us a place to get when it rains. Also protect my wood pile in the back from the short rains too haha...

Roy Ken

 

Thank you both @Steveo4090 and @Mark CASTELLANI! @roybraddy thanks to you as well! Agreed, I think the PUGs are expensive since there are options to achieve (at least most of its benefits) by using something that will cost less - just my opinion.

 

I opted for the material I used just because I wanted to customize the size of the cover to the bunk. I overlapped the material a few inches in the center and used aluminum tape to hold down one edge. Then I flipped it over and applied gorilla glue inside the seam and then taped the remaining edge down. I had a couple long heavy boards that I used to sandwich the seam with until the glue dried. I did the same thing for all the edges as well. I made the edges @1-1/2" wide. After they dried I installed a strip of glue on velcro across the top. I put parchment paper between the velcro and top board to keep it from sticking. Then I installed grommets to the edges so I could attach bungee cording that I got on amazon. I believe I used 3/32" thick cording. It's light enough to give and not pull really hard on the cover but still holds it down in the wind.

 

I tried Reflectix before eventually getting a set of PUGs for our Santa Fe and had no issues with it laying flat on the bunk end tops or fitting it with grommets. The problem though was that over time the Reflectix would wear when it was windy outside and leave grey silverish rub marks on the vinyl that proved really difficult to remove.