JB Owners Question

[brentbba]

Was out in the Anza Borrego desert this past weekend and encountered about the 2nd worst freight train howling wind storm I've ever been in. Worst one I saw a Springbar blow over!

First and foremost - the JB Evasion was fantastic in those winds! Only issue I had was the long strap off the rear used to pull the tent down flapping all over the place. Worst was when the strap flipped on top of the tent and banging the fiberglass roof! Finally got out and noticed two small Velcro straps up above the rear door that looked like they could be used to keep the strap up and out of the way??? I put the strap in both of those and it worked for about a half hour before the winds blew the strap loose again.

Anyone have any suggestions for securing that strap in heavy winds...outside of saying I should point the truck front into the wind!

 

[fishjump]

bungee cord

 

[brentbba]

bungee cord

LOL! Simple, yet that might just work!

 

[Dozer Dan]

I don't know if I have a newer or older version of the evasion than you but I don't have the long strap at the back, I only have a short strap at the rear right hand side corner so it doesn't flap about in the wind.

 

[brentbba]

Mine is only a year old. Short strap like you describe in the front corner and a long strap from corner to corner in the back.

 

[concretejungle]

haha that has happened to me several times, i literally just unzipped the top of the rear door just enough to pull that strap inside and then zip it closed. Worked for me.

Also had a friend show me a trick, he put heat shrink tube on all the zipper handles... mine used to clang around all night in the wind, now they are quiet

 

[brentbba]

Hmmm...rear door zips from the bottom so don't think that'll work.

New zipper handles have a rubber grab now. No rattling all night!

 

[concretejungle]

mine zip up vertically on the sides. Yours don't? Unzip the top corner and pull the straps in.

 

[80t0ylc]

I had the same problem with my CVT Mt. Baker hard clam shell (equivalent purpose) strap, so when it finally sun rotted & broke, I installed a longer strap and now I just tie it to the roof rack. Problem solved. I like the bungee cord solution, too.

 

[brentbba]

mine zip up vertically on the sides. Yours don't? Unzip the top corner and pull the straps in.

I'll look but IIRC they zip from bottom to top, no option to unzip a top corner.

 

[concretejungle]

i'm positive mine do since that's what i've done in the past. I will be camping on the beach next weekend and that's when it flaps the most, so i'll take a photo.

 

[concretejungle]

View attachment DSC03754.jpg

This is a photo i found from the last beach trip. Here the pull down is flapping around, but you can see my rear door zips up to the top and all the way around. So i'll just unzip the top corner pull the handle in and zip it back.

 

[brentbba]

Pic of my model from the JB site. Both side doors and rear zip from bottom to top.

 

[concretejungle]

I thought i would write a quick reply regarding my JB and the last camping trip i just took at the outer banks of NC. We knew a big storm was coming, but we had already scheduled the trip almost 3 months out, ferry reservations, food/menu shared, ect.. so we went for it. They were calling for heavy rain and winds Friday afternoon into Friday night. I knew the wind direction was forecast to come directly off the water, so i angled my truck so that it would block the wind from my awning and awning room.

The rain started about 3:00 on Friday and just steadily picked up along with the winds. By the time i went to bed, it was absolutely pouring down rain and the wind was blowing pretty steady, probably about 25-30 mph. Getting into the tent was not a fun experience since my door was aimed directly into the blowing rain. Finally i just said screw it and jumped in. The 30-45 seconds it took me to get into the tent and get all those damn zippers figured out had me cursing that door configuration. Anyways, got the mattress pretty wet getting in. From there the winds picked up and before i knew it i had 50 mph winds blowing rain directly against the side of the tent. Water was starting to drip down around the zippers. Water was also starting to drip down the stitched seams of the tent. I could handle that, but what really disappointed me was that stupid velcro bottom of the door. The wind was blowing so hard that the velcro would not stay closed. Needless to say by the morning i had about a gallon of water sitting in the bottom of the tent. The velcro at the bottom of the doors has always been something i thought was silly. I never have understood it and now, i really don't understand it.

Now, i will say if I were smarter i would have taken the awning down and pointed the tent into the wind and i feel very confident that i would have stayed dry. But, i didn't. The next day after it cleared up, i took everything out of the tent and put it on top of my buddies sequoia so it could dry out. I then took my coffee cup and literally scooped cup after cup of water out of the bottom of the tent. I got everything dried up before the next night, so that was nice.

The good is that the tent handled the heavy winds like a champ! I was really impressed. My friend who had a ground tent ended up having two of his poles collapse. I felt like i could of handled 60+ mph winds in it! The bad is that the stitched seams leak with heavy or long periods of rain and the doors are just stupid. All the zippers, the velcro, the mosquito screen is too large to keep biting gnats out.

If you know a wind storm is coming and know the wind direction, point into the wind and you should be fine.

 

[brentbba]

I hear and feel your pain on the velcro strip at the base of the doors! Not easy at all to seal well!

Sounds like you otherwise 'weathered' the storm! I think I'll take my desert freight train winds over what you describe!!!