Carport: STORAGE?

[Undecided]

Hiya Folks,

Proud owner of a "Costco Carport" which as I found out yesterday, also fits a 10x10 Kodiak Canvas tent right under it with plenty of room. My question for you guys is regarding storage. There are a lot of parts and it is very cumbersome, so do you have any suggestions on storage for travel? Do you know of any Rubbermaid type bins that can hole the 76 inch poles? Any tips on transport and storage that you could provide to me would be greatly appreciated.

[Drawingablank]

For poles we find wrapping them in bundles with pallet wrap helps keep them together for both transport and storage.
http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?p=842206#p842206

[Homiesinheaven]

if you just bought it why cant you keep it in the box it came in?

[Undecided]

Because when I opened it I messed the box up a bit. I could still technically use it for just this year, but I want a more permanent plan.

[Undecided]

For poles we find wrapping them in bundles with pallet wrap helps keep them together for both transport and storage.
http://eplaya.burningman.com/viewtopic.php?p=842206#p842206

Great info. Thanks. Not sure why I did not see that in the thread or search.

[Bob]

Get a cheap canvas painter's dropcloth, roll up the poles in it, fold the ends over, tie w/ bungies and/or cord. Use dropcloth as an extra shade tarp, ground cloth, car cover, or just throw it over your coolers. Get a grommet kit and put a few along the edge if you want to nail the dropcloth to the ground or tie it to something.

Make the bundle look like a dead body if you want to entertain the people at Gate.

[catinthefunnyhat]

Make the bundle look like a dead body if you want to entertain the people at Gate.

Even better if you're crossing an international border!

[Undecided]

Thankfully I am just coming from Sacramento. The grommets on the painters tarp sounds like a pretty good plan too.

[some seeing eye]

For the long poles, you might look at ski, surf board and sailboard bags. Cheaper used. Wouldn't be hard to sew - any sail shop or canvas fabricator could. The cover and joints, regular duffels. In fact, making bags for them and other shade structure parts could be an excellent burnerTM business. Like maybe DomeBagsTM?

[Ugly Dougly]

Because when I opened it I messed the box up a bit. I could still technically use it for just this year, but I want a more permanent plan.

Yeah, that's the first thing that falls apart.

[Undecided]

For the long poles, you might look at ski, surf board and sailboard bags. Cheaper used. Wouldn't be hard to sew - any sail shop or canvas fabricator could. The cover and joints, regular duffels. In fact, making bags for them and other shade structure parts could be an excellent burnerTM business. Like maybe DomeBagsTM?

Thats an idea, Like a snowboard bag with a shoulder harness. Have you tried it?

[Undecided]

Because when I opened it I messed the box up a bit. I could still technically use it for just this year, but I want a more permanent plan.

Yeah, that's the first thing that falls apart.

Wrecked it getting it open, but that is the price you pay to make sure your tent will fit under it before you get there

[Homiesinheaven]

i've used the same box for 3 years and reinforced the corners with duct tape. i like Bob's canvas tarp idea and breaking it up into 3 or more separate bundles. that shit gets to be so heavy!

[CornMan]

Pulling it out of the box and setting it up at home or a camping trip is a good idea. You can take care of the packaging that might otherwise end up as moop. It's good to get some practice setting it up and packing it back up. I use bungee balls to connect 5 poles together so that they do not roll around so bad. I cross two tie downs and tie the stack of tarps like they do newspapers before the paperboy folds them.

[Lonesomebri]

I stuff the ends of my carport poles in a 5 gallon pail, tie the bundle up with rope and canvas. The poles are so big and heavy with carports that they sometime wear right thru bags on the ends. The 5 gallon buckets keep the poles tight, the ends from poking thru anything, and then after the carport is assembled I can use the bucket to shit in.

[BBadger]

The poles are easy, but the canopy is a pain to fold up and bundle properly. I need to find a better alternative covering.

[AntiM]

We have a billboard vinyl floor which gets wrapped around the poles and then strapped tight. We call it a burrito. Roof and walls go into a flight bag. Joints, feet, ropes and bungees go into an action packer bin.

You can see the poles on the vinyl, ready to roll. The bottom bundle on the side of the trailer is the other carport, already rolled.

P1030525 - Copy.JPG

[Homiesinheaven]

ah. the two posts above reminded me of how we deal with the canopy. we rent a van so your mileage may vary but we fold carpet, tarps, canopies, anything flat, and cover the roof of the van. then we put our bikes up there with our stinky grey water jugs to weigh it down and we tie everything. makes good use of surface area instead of bulking it up inside the van.