Hello Arc Haus! April 2018

I've been trying to decide if I'll keep the Toyota Sienna 

another season or purchase a larger RV.  

One issue is having a place where I can stand up and cook 

out of the wind and rain and sun. 

Another is a place to shower. 

I've been looking at Roadtreks and similar small van-type RVs, 

but holy hell, 

the prices are NUTS!

So I thought I'd try this tent called the Arc Haus.  

If you order it on Amazon.com, it comes with THREE zip-on doors.  

Two can be used to make it a stand-alone tent that I can just zip up

 if I want to go to town. 

The other "door" is actually a sleeve 

that fits around the back end of the van, where my kitchen is.  

It can go over or under the hatch, 

depending on the size of the van, and depending on how high 

you make the tent (that part is adjustable).

The tent arrived yesterday and I set it up.  

I found both things I loved 

and things that weren't so great 

and thought I'd share those on a blog.

The tent arrives in two bags. 

One holds the tent and one holds the extra sleeve 

that wraps around the back of the van.  

Opening the tent bag, I find the following:

Green bag with tent stakes and black straps

ArcHaus Tent and Tent Poles

At first I was confused about why they sent these, but later I was happy!

Included was a link to a set-up video, which is worth watching

Instructions for setting up tent is sewn inside the bag

Pretty simple to understand

Also included was a list of pieces

Setting this up the first time was no more awkward 

than setting up any new tent for the first time, 

and I didn't really know what I was doing.  

The first thing to lay out are these two side bars. 

One goes on one side of the van, and the other goes on the other side.  

I think after doing this, it's best to lay them out 

farther apart than you think they should be, 

and then draw them in to fit your van once the entire tent is set up. 

For one thing, that makes it easier to get the cover on the frame 

because the frame will be shorter.

Once you lay out the side bars, 

you snap on the straps which form the base of the frame. 

There is a place for this, designated by rubber washers.

After you put those straps on evenly, 

then you add the two LONG poles that form the two arches.

THEN, you attach the 5 cross poles, 

which come with the same snaps shown on the straps above.

All of the poles are shock corded.

Now it's time to put on the cover, 

and here is where it would be nice to have two people.

But I didn't, 

and holy hell it was awkward.

What I learned:  

Take the two doors completely OFF

before you put the cover on.

They're easily zipped on once the thing is set up.

When I tried putting the cover on alone with the doors attached,

I had to bend the frame in order to get the cover up there.

Doing that, I broke two of the clips straight away.

And now I understood why they included 

a package of the more heavy duty clips!

I removed the cheap clips,

inserted the new heavy ones,

and was good to go.

What I learned:

The new heavy clips fit INSIDE the ends of the pole.

Break each pole down, put in the clip,

then holding the pole close to the clip,

put the clip on the ground, and use your body weight,

to push those clips all the way in.

It's difficult.

Be careful not to break the pole or the clip.

If I had to do this again,

I'd grease the clips first with something slippery

so they'd slide in easier.

Even water might work.

The cheap clips broke. Luckily they included more heavy duty ones.

Once the frame was up again,

and the doors were removed from the cover,

I found it easiest to put the cover in through the CENTER,

then lay it out to each side.

What I learned:

Next time, I'll adjust the bottom straps so the whole thing

is lower, closer to the ground,

then adjust the straps to make it taller

once the cover is on.

The cover went on pretty easy, though.

Each corner of the cover has a tough sewn in place 

that you slip over the frame.

Then you wrap the bottom around the side poles,

and snap them in.

On the corners, 

you wrap a cord from the outside to the inside,

and there is a hook that holds it.

Then there is a heavy elastic shock cord 

that you pull to tighten the whole thing.

There's no way that cover is coming off!

This is how you adjust the WIDTH of the ArcHaus, by tightening these straps. Also, you can see the cord and hook that also holds the cover on the frame.

Below is the ArcHaus pulled up to my van

with the back hatch open.

What I learned: 

I will put some cord or elastic to hold the hatch down a bit

so it doesn't rub against the top of the ArcHause

and tear the fabric. The door is just a wee bit too tall 

when it's open all the way.

The ArcHaus COULD be put on 

with the door OVER the Haus,

but I wanted to be able to close the hatch at night

if it was cold.

In the hotter weather, 

it might work fine to put the open hatch 

over the top.

Then you'd be enclose just like you'd be in a tent.

Here is what the sides look without the door 

that snugs around the back.

As you can see, there's a space,

and maybe in good weather, 

you wouldn't need to put the back piece on,

though I think it would keep it from blowing in a wind.

Here is what it looks like with the tailgate piece zipped on.

It just zips right on, easily.

Hatch open

As you can see, it goes all the way around. 

It's an elasticized opening and even covers the bottom 

underneath the van.

Hatch closed

On the outside, are clips you can put through your tires or ??? 

to hold the tent tightly to your rig.  

The straps and clips seem quite sturdy.

Strap clipped around my tire.

There are also straps at the top side, which for me, 

strapped nicely to the rack on my van.

Strapped to the rack

I forgot to take a photo of the door, so here is one I found online.

Two of the doors I got look like this one.

You can zip them up tight, or open the screened windows to get airflow.

At night, if the weather is warm, 

I can leave the hatch open with these shut, 

just like I was camping in a tent.

And if I want to go somewhere, 

I don't have to pack up my table and stove and chair.

I can just put the extra door on, and leave the tent standing.

Plenty of room inside for my table, stove, chair, and other storage.

You can use a tarp, as in the photo above, for the floor.

Or if you have a lot of cash, 

you can actually buy a screened insert 

that has a floor, 

but for me, that's too much to carry around.

Looking out the screened window.

Once I had it up, 

I loved it!

Taking the ArcHause down was simple.

I just unclipped all the clips,

slipped it off the back end, 

then unzipped both doors.

I unhooked the cover from the frame,

slid it off and rolled it up.

Everything fit nicely into the sturdy carrying bag,

which has an extra zipper to expand the bag,

for easy repacking.

I managed to get everything into the carrying bag

without a lot of effort.

That was a plus, because as you know 

if you tent camp,

getting those things back into the bag

can be a real pain in the butt.

What I learned: It's easier to repack if you FOLD it rather than roll it.

FOLD each piece, including the doors, 

and they all stack in there nicely.

I put the poles in their bag on top.

For those of you who would rather fit the ArcHaus 

to the side door, it can be done.

And there is a special ArcHaus 

made just for taller rigs.

They even make one that fits on a trailer.

So that's it.

All in all I think I'll be very happy with this ArcHaus.

It remains to be seen how it will hold up

in the winds of Quartzsite,

but there are tie-downs

and I think it it's well-staked, it should be fine.

Negatives:

There are only a couple of negatives, 

and for me they weren't deal-breakers.

 1) The cheap clips that broke. Luckily, they included heavy duty clips and those appear to hold up fine.

2) Not so easy to set up with one person, but that could be just because I'd never done it before. I expect the next time to be a lot easier.

3) The tent is NOT water PROOF,

it is water resistant, 

which means in rain,

you'll probably get wet unless you put a tarp over the top.

I'm not sure if they make a rain fly for it.

I haven't gotten that far,

and I don't expect to use it in the rain.

Positives:

1) I can cook and sit out of the wind, rain, sun.

2) I don't have to leave my table, stove, and propane out when I go to town.

3) I can leave the hatch open in hot weather and not worry about bugs
4) I can SHOWER in this tent, which means one less thing to carry around. I can get rid of the pop up shower tent. 

5) Pretty inexpensive. I purchased this on Amazon.com for $289.

That's a heck of a lot cheaper than 

buying a Roadtrek,

and if I decide to move forward on a larger RV,

I can include this tent in the price of the Sienna.

I'll report back once I've actually used this.

I hope this helps some of you make a decision.

Happy vanning!

Annie