Reparadise BC16x Awning

[RMNummi]

Just installed the Reparadise Awning for BC16x. Simply awesome. BC came with the Moon Awning and it was just ok. Better than nothing. Was spoiled after having a ZipDee on my 23. Mounted the Reparadise and tested it out at Mt. Sherman last week. Simply amazing. Unzip the cover, pulled it out, poles built in dropped into place, literally up and fixed in 2 minutes. Closest thing you can get to a ZipDee awning for BC. They make it for 16 and 20. Accessories include side walls and end wall. Now if they only made screen panels we would be in business.

[thedantons]

How does it perform in the rain? I am wondering about water around the door etc.

Thanks
Scott

[RMNummi]

It hasn’t rained yet. I’ll comment when it does. So far supremely pleased. Set up is as fast as the ZipDee on old 23D. It’s permanently mounted to the Keder Rail so, unzip the cover, unroll the awning, legs drop into place, extensions create rigid side arms, stake the piles and voila. Differences between the old Moon Shade are the rigid Reparadise side supports prevent “flapping” or the parachute effect present on the Moon Shade. Left it up in 20kt breeze, rock steady at a recent Colorado Airstream Club rally. All the other folks had stowed their ZipDee awnings…. Reparadise rock steady. I ordered the end wall and side wall as well but didn’t get a chance to try them out.

[Longview]

Watch the attachments to the BaseCamp. Our Reparadise on 20X detached from the unit on a blacktop road at highway speed. The aluminum gunnels on the Basecamp are simply not strong enough.

[FaFaFooey]

We installed the Reparadise awning back in 2021 and also love it. I have made some tweaks to the mounting to make it more secure though. On the 20X, there are some weird curves in the Keder rail down the side of the camper so the awning does not sit perfectly square to the side. This was causing the mounts and awning to have a slight bend to them. What I did was make some spacers from steel bushings that I got at the hardware store. The spacers go between the awning and mounting brackets; on the front mount, the spacer was on the top bolt and on the rear it was on the bottom. I also added rubber supports that go behind the bottom bolts on both mounts. The support is a rubber stopper that I also got from the hardware store. I cut it to size with a utility knife and used 3M VHB tape to attach it to the camper. Before I added these, I noticed that the Keder rail was flexing down when we had the awning out. The awning is rock solid now! Since installing it, we have put on over 10K miles across the country without a single issue. In the winter, I remove the awning but leave the mounts in place.

As far as leaking goes, it does not! There is a slight amount of rain that comes through the small gap between the awning and the camper but it is minimal, I barely even notice it. This awning is thick canvas and does not allow any water to get through. The only negative thing I can say about it, and I really struggle even mentioning it because it really doesn't matter, is that the color did fade fairly quickly. It is more of a khaki color with a hint of red now. I do think the color has stabilized as it has not faded any more this summer.

A top tip I can give is to get some better guy lines. The ones that come with it are thin and stretch. I replaced them with good quality 4mm reflective paracord lines and added stainless steel snap clips to remove from them awning when rolling it up.

[RMNummi]

Now you have created paranoia. I check the mounting bolts religiously. So far so good. I regularly abuse my poor Basecamp by going overland and long stretches of washboarded roads at both slow and high speed. The Reparadise awning is simply fantastic. Bought the wall and end tarps and purchased additional awning poles. Triples the size of the awning. I’ll see if I remember how to post pics on here.