Tarp Awning for Van

Everyone should have a BOV (Bug Out Vehicle) of some sort for the times when you must leave your home temporarily should a large disaster event occur. Your vehicle may be the only thing you have for a temporary shelter and this is one way to get the most livability out of it, in my case a mini van, but will work on pickups and even cars.

To make the best use of your BOV you will need to expand the useful living area, that's done by adding a large awning. The awning will provide shelter from the rain or scorching sun so you can sit and relax outside the BOV and prepare your meals.

Here's what I made for myself:

The tarp is a typical cheap 8x12 size. Harbor Freight had the tarps on sale for $4 so I bought a couple.

This photo shows there are no grommets in the center of the length of the tarp so I had to add two. Very easy to do with the kit shown below.

Because the tarp grommet locations weren't placed in the middle of the sides I needed to add a couple new ones for the peak ridge pole to fit into. I purchased a grommet/repair kit from WalMart for another $4.

To make the tarp set-up easy and a simple one person job, I added to my vans roof three of these Stainless Steel hoops using Stainless Steel screws and of course silicone caulk. These items can be purchased at most hardware stores and all boating stores. (my van is 11 years old so drilling holes in the roof was of little concern)

Set-up is easy. On one corner I use a carabiner.

The other end has a small rope. This rope is pulled snuggly and keeps the tarp flat to the roof. 

This is a fixed length rope that attaches to the third Stainless hoop. This rope is in line with the ridge pole and allows the firm tensioning of the ridge pole and tarp peak without distorting the tarp.

The ridge pole is just a cheap painters telescopic pole I already had.

Turned out just fine and inexpensive!