Caddis  Aluminum Rapid Shelter - 10 x 10

The shelter is a great addition to car camping. Unlike the less expensive ones, the Caddis has a rugged fabric--not plastic--top. It holds up to the Arizona desert sun and monsoons. Although it's best set up with by two people, I've done it solo by "dancing" it outward. It works by going side by side and stretching a little more each time. I skipped the Caddis side walls and bought 8x10 heavy duty tarps, and use non-climbing caribiner (sp?) clips and bungees to secure. It must be roped and staked. I found that out the hard way in a 40 mph monsoon. However, Caddis was able to supply a replacement part quickly and inexpensively. They also sent me longer stakes at no charge. When my case ripped after 2 years of use, they replaced that free as well. The shelter has withstood monsoons with winds over 50 mph when properly staked and roped. I do lower it during those storms. I use two tarps on the sun or storm sides and we have always been quite dry and secure underneath in a storm or a hot desert day. For real decadance, add a Coleman battery fan. In the sunny photo, that is the Grand Canyon in the background. This is taken at one of the rare places on the North Rim where you can primitive camp literally on the rim. In the cloudy one, it's the Mogollon Rim where the Sonoran Desert meets the Colorado Plateau, Northern Arizona.

Another review may have nailed it by saying that this canopy requires 4 people to set up, one on each corner. My canopy buckled one leg on a day of high wind. The canopy did not blow over and does not leak, those are the positives. My REI canopy(much lighter weight)simply blew over (pulling its stakes), without breaking. This canopy was staked in solidly. I "splinted" the buckled leg, and it continued to work fine until I collapsed the unit for travel with 2 people. We weren't able to collapse the unit evenly(due to the splinted leg)and a cross member broke. We attempted to set it up again and broke 2 more cross-members, expanding the unit as evenly as possible. The splinted leg could have been the offender, but I think that construction through the cross-members can be beefed up----this is a truck or car carry item only....only a nut would care about light weight in this application.

Thank You Thank You. Just when I was about to give up on finding a good canopy, my friend let me use his.After using it I had to have one. I do markets every weekend and have been through several other brands. None of them even come close to this thing. My only thing that was not what I wanted was the color, but I can live with that in order to have something this solid and easy to put up.

Okay, I have to admit that most of the time I use mine at soccer games with my daughter. Tha ARS is the only shelter at the soccer field that truly keep the water off !! My husband purchased this for me after he saw how hard I was struggeling with a cheap-heavy one that we had before. The funny thing, is this one was not a whole lot more money, but it is a WHOLE LOT NICER ! Sure I wish it was a bit smaller when folded up, but it is not any larger than any of the other ones that I have seen. If you are tired of struggeling with the heavy junk shelters that are hard to put up after the first use than get one of these.

I bought this for use by our Quaker meeting to use for barbecues, attendance at annual peace fairs and other events. Using my annual 20% member sale discount (w/free shipping), it was well worth spending the extra $$ for the 10' height (I don't bump my head on the internal roof supports while standing) and feet that can be held down with stakes. The 2 optional side walls that velcro on prevent small & light items from blowing away. Takes more than 2 people to set up easily but with one on each corner, it goes up fast.

I do like the Rapid Shelter. It's lightweight, sturdy and has a high clearance, especially in the center.Unfortunately, it is not as portable (or reasonably priced) as the EZ-Ups (which is just as sturdy) found at [...] and all. Does not fit in my trunk or my backseat. My seats don't fold down so it's not an option. I had to put it in the van on top of two rows because it's too large to fit under the seats. As much as I like it. It's pricey and not portable. They need to figure out how to compact it by another 50% and make it the size of the EZ-ups when folded.

This is the only of these shelters that I have found that is truly waterproof (most are water resistant but leak with a hard rain), which is great. Although there are easier shelters to set up, 2 people can certainly handle this fine. Before buying this my only hesitation was around several reviews commenting on the aluminum frame bending and/or breaking, however I hoped that these were one-off product defects. I had my shelter for about a year and it worked great during that time, however a month ago after a rain caused water to build up in the canopy, the frame broke/snapped in about 4 different places on the beams. I was very disappointed as this is supposed to be a high quality product, and unfortunately the reviews I read about the frame were true. I wish I could say that I recommended this product, but if your intent is to use it as a rain shelter, I honestly cannot recommend it. It will work great as a sun-shade, but there are probably cheaper and easier set ups available if that is your only intent. I'd like to see a waterproof shelter with a frame that can withstand water build up, even if it meant it was heavier and harder to set up.

The quality of craftsmanship seems very nice. The fabric canopy portion of the product is very well made (thick/durable) fabric. My only complaint is that it is 63" long and somewhat bulky. It fits in my Jeep no problem, but would be tight in a car. I also purchased the Swiss Gear Smartshade 10'x10' Screens from [@]. These were not designed for this canopy, but fit pretty nicely. I had to add velcro to the frame for attachment, but other than that, a perfect fit. This is a really nice addition for car camping with bugs. I will add picture soon.

It's lightweight for its size and quite tall and roomy when raised. The hardwear locks and fasteners are excellent and easy to use. It's not too difficult for two people to setup, but it's not as easy as other models. The aluminmum feels a bit flexier, but once's it's up, it seems fine. The packed size is rather large. It wouldn't fit in the trunk unless we folded down the rear seat and would barely fit in the back seat with no passengers. If we had a wagon/minivan/SUV/pickup truck, it would be fine, but it doesn't work well for a sedan.

Used this for the first time at a music festival in Florida. It handled heavy rain and wind like a champ. It was easy to set up and take down, and yes two competent people can put this up. Its not that difficult!! On the down side it does take up some serious room in my Toyota Fj Cruiser. I highly doubt it will fit in a medium or small sized car.