Bed End Flys

Submitted: Monday, Jun 02, 2008 at 22:35
ThreadID: 58312 Views:7541 Replies:5 FollowUps:3
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Hi everyone,

I am hoping someone in the western susburbs of Melbourne can point me in the right direction.

I would like to buy bed end flys for our Viscount campervan.

Does anybody know where I can purchase these from?

And can you also tell me how they attach to the hard wind up roof?

Thanks for any help,
Cheers
Tang
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Reply By: Willb - Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 00:44

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 00:44
Hi Tang, the bed end flys attach to the hard wind up roof using sail track which is easy to buy.
You attach by srewing it onto the roof.
here is a link that will give you an idea of what it looks like.

sail track

Most caravan parts suppliers carry it, just do a google for sail track.
Hope that helps,
Willb
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AnswerID: 307432

Reply By: Tang - Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 14:20

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 14:20
Hi Willb,

Thanks for your help - sail track - ahh - so thats what that piece is called!


I have done a search and now just need to find somewhere in Melbourne that stocks it!


Cheers,
Tania
AnswerID: 307516

Reply By: Anthony (Vic) - Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 19:38

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 19:38
In case you don’t find what your looking for out your way.

http://www.alpinecanvas.com.au/

These guys are located on the east side of town (out past Ringwood) and I have found them to be good value. Alpine Canvas fitted bags to our existing bed flys. They took a week to do the job and cost about $180 for two bags. I dropped off and picked up the bed flys.

http://www.mulders.com.au/

A point to note before your purchase sail track, be sure that you check that the diameter of the rope on the bag flys suit the diameter of the sail track you purchase. It sounds a bit obvious but the sail track comes in different sizes. I bought some sail track from Mulders in East Malvern. I couldn’t find it available anywhere else but stopped looking after I went to Mulders. Cost a bit more than $40 and had to buy a 6 metre length. They only use and sell one size sail track.

cheers Anthony
AnswerID: 307575

Reply By: Best Off Road - Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 21:00

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 21:00
Tang,

They are dead set useless. Don't waste your money.

They take ages to set up and do bugger all. They are nothing more than an "add on sale" for van salesmen.

Why do you want them? I ask this question seriously. The solution may not be with them.

We had them with our Jayco Camper. Used once and put out to pasture.

Jim.

AnswerID: 307597

Reply By: Tang - Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 21:45

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 21:45
Hi Jim,

I was always under the assumption that a fly stopped the canvas getting condensation and being wet when you touched it from the inside.

We have only had the campervan for a few weeks and we are taking it out for the Vic Queens Birthday weekend - where it is supposed to rain and be cold! We won't have any flys for the weekend, so i guess we will see how good the canvas is!

Thanks also to Anthony - if we decide to get the flys then we will give Alpine Canvas a call.

Cheers,
Tania

AnswerID: 307615

Follow Up By: PradOz - Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 22:56

Tuesday, Jun 03, 2008 at 22:56
everyone has an opinion hey!

i love my bed flys, so does many other people i know. saves all that water from the rain, dew etc getting on the bed end canvas roof. you will know how good they are when you get to pack up in the wet. ( I guess there will be an answer to that too)

why not spend about $20 on sail track, screw and silicone it on (have a look at a parked van up close if need be) and buy some secondhand flys and give them a go. better than all the mould and wrecking the bed roof. bedflys are available on ebay from time to time, standard ones on there now in melbourne from someone who probably upgraded to fly with mesh sides (which give some extra privacy)

One other benefit - the gap over the bed canvas keeps the van and beds cooler than without. similar concept really to why people fit a tarp over the top of their van and tents when camping. And the flys only take a few moments to pack up. standard ones simply slide off and fold up. bagged ones roll up and zip into the bag and stay on the van. good luck with your choice - your time and experience will tell....
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FollowupID: 573478

Follow Up By: Best Off Road - Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 06:33

Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 06:33
Tang,

On cold nights the condensation will form with or witout. Condensation is primarily water leaving your body from your breath and then turing to water when it hits a cold surface. Flys won't stop this.

They do keep the dew off the ends but unless you are leaving early each day, just let the sun come up and dry it off.

I agree with PradOz that packing up wet is no fun. Depends on how often it happens as to the benefit. You fold your ends in "envelope" style to keep the beds dry and then simply pull the ends out again (2 minutes) when you get home to dry the canvas.

All I am saying is the time involved in putting these things up is not warranted when balanced against the benefits IMHO. Others clearly love them and you will see a lot of Jaycos with flys.

I like a quick set up and pull down time, I'm not a patient man. If you've got plenty of time, the flys may work for you.

Jim.

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FollowupID: 573492

Follow Up By: Anthony (Vic) - Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 10:09

Wednesday, Jun 04, 2008 at 10:09
Jim,

You have a point, in that the bed flys are not that necessary as we first thought they would be. We bought our camper in 2004 with bed flys. We started off using them everytime we set up, for all the above reasons.

Now days, like on our on our 2 month trip around Oz, we didn't set them up at all, unless we thought that there might be a bit of rain overnight or following morning and we were going to be breaking camp that morning. The purpose being to keep the bed dry while packing up.

cheers Anthony
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FollowupID: 573518

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