Canopy Research

The one good thing to come out of the Raleigh show was that there were over 200 artists there and every canopy maker was well represented. All but one EZ-Up owner was continually pushing pooled water off their canopy with a broom, umbrella, stick, etc. and most were getting a good rain inside their tent like I was experiencing. The one EZ-Up owner who was having no trouble at all had a different material top than the rest of us had; it was a heavy vinyl. I didn't ask her where she got it. I have a friend, the one who sewed my black display walls, that would make me one but it would cost a few hundred dollars. I know that my EZ-Up will eventually crumble like many others have before so I didn't want to sink more money into my poor quality tent.

I saw a lot of Trim-Line canopies there and a couple of their owners were also pushing pooled wter off the top where it meets the side. So that didn't instill a lot of confidence.

My neighbors next to me had a Light Dome so I had a chance to study it and ask a lot of questions. The first thing I noticed was that they had a heavy duty vinyl material on the top so they never had water issues inside their tent. I also noticed that the x member frame supporting the top does not allow the rain to pool. And I noticed that, unlike the Trim-Line types that have a half barrel top, the Light Dome top does not have any flat spots to catch the wind gusts so it seemed a bit more stable in the high wind gusts that the others.

Light Dome's web site states that their tops are guaranteed not to leak or pocket water for the lifetime of the top.

Tody, I'm going to order a Light Dome...wish me luck.