i have had lots of experience putting on tight jeans in my life but nothing is more challenging than zipping up a caravan tent. and tonight at manayunk, we broke the zipper -- about 2 inches from the top 2-3 teeth are out. now we are going to have to get the zipper repaired or replaced. any suggestions?
btw, anyone from art fairs, please visit us at booth 100 in manayunk pa.
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Caravan makes various quality canopies and walls for their canopies. Call Caravan directly and order a set of 500 denier canvas walls. They are the same material as the top and have heavy duty zippers. They are about $265.00 a set. I do not have a center zipper in any of my walls. I ordered them that way.
1. A new Caravan.
2. A-clamps.
3. Duct tape.
4. A better tent.
I use the A-Clamps on the corners with broken zippers. Sometimes I use another sidewall to wrap around the corner for extra protection. I got two bags of assorted clamps at Lowes for $9.99 each. They come in handy for all sorts of things.
I've had the same issue with Caravan tents. They seem to make the sidewalls about an inch short, and the zippers are cheap plastic. I'm on my second set in 6 years, and only have 2 of the corner zippers that still work (out of two sets of sidewalls!). That is my only complaint with Caravan. Everything else has held up great. I'm trying to figure out another solution to the sidewall issue, maybe another brand.
As far as putting them on in the first place (like tight jeans!), here's how I've been doing it: I open up my tent but don't raise it up. Then I go around and pop the four corners, like I was folding it up again. That brings the corners in a couple inches. Then I put on the sides and zipper each about 2-3 foot down. Next, I go and pop up each corner again and then raise the tent. You may want to roll up the sides before raising it. That's worked well for me, but the zippers still wear out. About 10-15 shows seem to do the zippers in.