Packashack Camper Shack

The Packashack Camper Shack is like a tent extension for your van, designed to act as a changing room for after sport but also useful for anything where you want to get out of the weather.

It’s probably one of the smallest awnings available at the moment when packed, which is good if you’re tight on space. The rear panel has a large zipped door and the Shack has a sewn in groundsheet.

The Camper Shack relies on a tailgate to support it rather than poles and has plenty of peg points to secure it in higher wind speeds though the nature of the Shack will mean some billowing. To keep it secured to the van an elasticated drawcord is used and backed up with both a tensioning strap to attach to the rear wheels and two additional strap which fix with suckers. Given the length of elastic drawcord that was needed to be pulled to get a good fit to our van I’d have preferred something a little less stretchy to minimise the amount of ‘spare’ cord that needed managing although it does allow flexibility in the number of vehicles it’ll fit.

In use the Shack has been great for short term use where a quick bit of extra shelter has been needed, for longer term use I think I’d stick with our Event Shelter. Although we tend to get changed in the van, the extra space has come in useful and the Shack has proved to be waterproof in some pretty heavy downpours. Longevity wise I was a little concerned about the sewn in groundsheet given the abrasive nature of mtb shoes, personally I’d have preferred no groundsheet as the sides, back and tailgate provide enough shelter to keep the ground dry enough to get changed in without it. It’d also make the Shack quicker to pitch and for when you want cover to get changed this would be a bonus reducing the amount of time you spend in the rain putting it up and taking it down again.

One of the great things though, is that given the handmade nature of the Camper Shack all my personal preferences could have been customised into a Shack to suit my needs. Personally I’d ditch the groundsheet and opt for more guying points which would better suit my needs and create exactly what I want in a ‘van shelter’. If you need a quick to pitch race shelter it’s well worth considering.

Overall: A quick to pitch tent extension for vans. Handy of you need extra space, waterproof, but susceptible to strong winds.

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Dave Anderson

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