As you can probably tell from the pictures, we designed and made most of our stuff because it allowed us to customize and because honestly it was cheaper. We did, however, purchase a few things because there was no way we could improve on the quality and design. ARB makes quality products that can’t be beat. (http://arbusa.com)
We purchased two awnings from them. The first larger awning is on the side of our Land Rover and the second, smaller awning, is on the back. They are incredibly easy to put up and stow away, they are free standing and so far incredibly rugged, we have been out in some pretty good storms. And, our favorite feature is ARB’s use of keder strips, which allows us to add our own ‘touches’ to the awnings.
Being from the north where the Mayflies can drive you crazy and the mosquitoes and horseflies can be big enough to carry you away, we had to have a screen room. We set to designing and sewing using the keder strips to attach it to the ARB awning and the Land Rover. We ended up with a completely enclosed area that is large enough for the two of us to hang-out in and cook, and it keeps the bugs out of our vehicle and tent.
Being true northerners, we couldn’t leave home without a woodstove. So again, we set to designing and sewing, and again used the keder strips to attach it to the ARB awning and the Land Rover. This ‘winter room’, as we call it, allows us to camp in at least three seasons.
All of these extra additions stuff into sacks and store in our ‘junk drawer’, the red box on the back door of the Land Rover (we’ll blog about that later).
Thank you ARB for such quality products! We will write another blog later highlighting some of the other items we also purchased from ARB.