Thule OutLand Awning - Roof Rack Mount - Bolt On or Clamp On - 8' Long x 8' 2" Wide

Video Transcript for A Closer Look at the Thule OutLand Awning

Hi, I'm Matt with etrailer. If you're looking for an awning to mount to the side of your vehicle, especially a large one to gives you more shade so you can enjoy your time with your friends, and on top of that, you want something that's gonna look good on your vehicle too, then the Thule OutLand awning is gonna be a great option for you. So let's check it out. So, where I think this one's really gonna stand out is if you have a lot of adventures that you're gonna be taking with a lot of people too. You want something that's gonna be good for either tailgating or camping situations, this is it because it's gonna give us a lot of shade, especially for those more social events. And this almost becomes, like, a base of operations where you're gonna have your food and your vehicle, any of your gear that you need to get to.

You want it all in one location, especially with that cooler too. Keeping that cooler in the shade's gonna make sure that ice doesn't melt faster, so your drinks stay cool so you can enjoy yourselves outside. Now, I think this one's gonna be a little bit better for any of our larger vehicles, like our truck today is gonna have a longer bed to it, or if you have any type of trailer because it is gonna be a fairly large awning. Something I wanna talk about before we get into all the detail is just the size of it, 'cause I've already hinted at it a few times, but I really want to showcase it now. So, this is gonna be 8 feet in length and it's gonna be 8 feet and 2 inches in the width.

So that kind of gives us an idea of what that is, but what does that actually mean So, me standing right here, I still have plenty of space here. I could probably fit maybe four or five more people pretty comfortably. I'd probably stick to four people, though, if you wanted to cook something over here or enjoy your meals. So that's actually a decent amount of space. But keep in mind, that sun's gonna be hitting that awning and moving our shade over here.

And throughout the day, that's gonna be constantly changing, and at some point you might not have a lot of shade. But that's the nice thing about this being mounted to the side of our vehicle, because what we can do is just roll this back up and then just move our vehicle, if we have the space allotted to us around, and then just set the awning back up because it doesn't take very long. Now, let me talk about some of the touch points we're gonna have on here. So, there's gonna be multiple points. At the bottom, right now, I don't have this staked down.

When you're using it, I do highly recommend to stake it down. There's gonna be two holes that you can use that hold it in place. And we're gonna have two adjustment points on these legs to make it pretty high. So, on vehicles like what we have today, it's really important to have that because, with a truck, if we have this too low to the ground it's gonna be at an angle and we won't be getting the shade that we actually need. Another benefit to this one moving too is, if I lower this down, this is gonna be great because when it's raining outside, this is gonna allow water to run off to the side instead of pooling up in the center. 'Cause if it's pooling up in the center, it's gonna eventually stretch out that canvas. And another thing with that canvas is, let's say it did stretch out eventually, we're gonna have this ratcheting device here in the side so we can make sure this stays extra tight so we get the best out of it. Now, talking to that canvas, this is gonna be a pretty thick one, so it's gonna make sure that we don't have any of that sun bleeding through and getting on us, so we can stay nice and cool. Another benefit to this is it's a simple design. You have some of this green streaking across here. I like that 'cause it doesn't stand out too much. Something to keep in mind, though, is when you're rolling this up, sometimes I've noticed this does get a little bit hot on the very top, so when rolling it up, try to keep your hands underneath it so it doesn't burn them. And all of that's gonna go right into our aluminum casing. And that's what I really like about this, because, one, it's gonna give your awning extra protection, and two, when you compare this to other types that mount on top of your roof, a lot of those other awnings have those more canvas bags. I'm not a very big fan of that 'cause, with this one we have today, it gives it more of this sleek design. And I wanted to talk about how this is gonna mount to our roof. So, you need to make sure you do have a roof rack up top. I already have my key inside of here, so that's nice to know that we do have that extra security so no one can come by and take your nice awning. And you notice how this is kind of put together. So, today I'm using our T-channel up top. And I have this actually working with a different brand, so that's nice that it won't only work with the Thule crossbars, but it'll also work with other brands as well. It just works best with Thule crossbars. Now, at the moment, I'm using that T-channel, so that's a really easy installation. You just have these T-bolts that goes through, connects to some nuts, and slides in the place. You could use a clamp on. That's just gonna have four bolts instead with a plate that goes underneath that holds it like that. And then really how the awning mounts to that mount is two bolts that come through, have some washers and nuts that hold it in place, and that's all it really is. Press these buttons. That's gonna release this opening here. Once you get these open, I'm just gonna push it up the rest of the way. I'm gonna grab these arms and pull them out. I'm gonna leave them at a bit of an angle so it almost makes, like, a triangle shape here. You're gonna see why here in a second. We'll get that one out too. Put that out. We're just gonna grab the roll. And I like to either put my hands like this or like this, so I can just roll it down and use the other part of my hand as support. And that's why I left those arms at a bit of an angle, so it'd be a little bit easier to support this. Now, I'm just gonna pull these arms out just a little bit, give me a little more support. I'm not gonna pull them out completely yet. And from here, unravel it the rest of the way. And you can actually take out the legs just like that, on either end, let it fall to the ground, and come over to one side, place your foot down and lift up. And once it's lifted up, it might kinda angle a bit for you. So, what I'm gonna do is pull up on this handle to support it more so it's a bit easier for me. Just like that. Once it's supported, I'm gonna come to one end. I'm gonna use one of these arms to help hold this in place for me. If you have a friend, it's gonna be a lot easier, but if you're by yourself, you can do it this way too. It's gonna have a tab at the very end of it. There's gonna be a hole here and that's gonna go into it, and you just pull it till you get some tension there. And it really helps you out with the setting up process of this. Then I'm just gonna do it on the other side. You have a decent amount of tension now. It can hold itself up. But I want it higher since my vehicle's higher. So I'm gonna come over here, again, put my foot down, push that tab down, push it up even higher. I can even go higher, but it's kinda creating too much of an angle, so I'll just do it little by little sometimes so it's not creating too much stress back here. And once we get to that last part, that's where that second section, that second extension, is gonna come into hand. It'll lock into place. It'll lock in in right here. Same for this side too. Once that's done, you're typically gonna have a little bit of slack. I don't have too much on this side, but that's why we're gonna come back over here, ratchet this into place. And one more time. That's pretty good there. But this side, definitely, we have a lot of slack here and I want that tighter. So I'll tighten that up real quick. And there we have it. Just make sure you come back through and you put your anchor points down on these legs so it's better supported. So, overall, I think this is gonna be a solid choice 'cause, one, it's really easy to use, two, it's gonna give you a really nice look on top of your roof, and three, it is fairly large. Now, if you need a different option, another one I would recommend is just a smaller one if you have a smaller vehicle. But if you have a larger vehicle like we have today, you get that real estate, you might as well use it. And when it comes to different types of awnings, there's a lot here on our website. Not all of them are mounted to your roof. 'Cause this, for me, would probably be my top recommendation for the roof, but if you need something more mounted to the ground and something further away from your vehicle, you have a lot of options here too. But if you guys do decide to go with this, let us know how it's working for you and what type of adventures you've taken it out for. But again, I'm Matt, and thanks for watching.