If you want shade without a roof rack, this awning sets up fast and anchors to your rig with vacuum mounts. The 63 sq ft canopy gives you a comfortable spot to relax once you park. And it packs down into a carry bag when you're ready to move on.
The vacuum mounts turn smooth vehicle panels into solid anchor points, so you can place the awning where it actually works instead of where a rack forces you to. Vans, truck caps, campers, and trailers become flexible mounting zones as long as you have smooth surfaces to work with. If you need shade on one side during in the morning, then on the other side in the afternoon, you can remount the anchors quickly and adapt your layout without tools. It gives you control over your setup in places where fixed awnings can fall short.
The lightweight poles and fast-locking vacuum mounts turn setup into a simple routine you can repeat at every stop. Once the anchors are placed and the canopy is taut, you just clip the carabiners on both corners of the awning to those anchors. Then, lift the structure up, attach the support poles, and secure it down. This easy process makes a difference when you're moving between trailheads or settling into camp after a day on the road. The system is intuitive enough that one person can get shade up quickly without any issues.
The UV-treated ripstop fabric handles long days under direct sun, and the reflective underside keeps the space beneath it usable in hotter conditions while helping spread lantern light at night. And the aluminum poles are durable without adding unnecessary weight, which helps when you're setting up often or storing the awning between stops. The overall design handles frequent setups and the wear that comes from regular use.
When it's time to pack up, the awning fits into a slim carry bag that sits neatly alongside the rest of your gear. The compact profile works well in van cabinets, overland drawers, or a truck bed toolbox without crowding the essentials you reach for daily. It stays organized between stops and is light enough to grab when you need shade again. For rigs where space matters, the small footprint helps keep the interior layout functional and uncluttered.
The MoonWall (MN74FR - sold separately) gives your MoonShade added protection from low-angle sun and light wind. It attaches to the short side on the awning, creating a more sheltered space when you're setting up next to your vehicle. The panel drops straight down to give you a defined edge you can cook behind, change behind, or use as a wind break. It also folds compactly so you can keep it in the same carry bag as the awning.
If your mounting points sit closer together than standard setups allow, the 7' strut pole (MN84FR - sold separately) creates a stable bar so the awning can attach properly. For roofs with ribs, gutters, or uneven surfaces, the oval-style vacuum mounts (MN44FR - sold separately) help you get consistent contact where the round mounts may struggle. These accessories extend your mounting options and make it easier to create a solid setup on rigs with unique rooflines or tighter anchor spacing.
Alternate Instructions
Videos are provided as a guide only. Refer to manufacturer installation instructions and specs for complete information.
Hey, everyone, I'm Evangeline right here at etrailer, and today we're talking about shade and awnings. If you've ever been to a campsite and you've seen rigs with big awnings that are secured to their roof rack or to their platforms and they provide all the shade, making a great spot for their camping area, and you thought, "Wow, that's super cool. That's definitely the rig that I want," and then you look closer and you realize that maybe that specific setup is a bit out of your budget or your vehicle or you, you're not just quite ready for that big commitment when it comes to the setup. Well, the MoonShade Original Awning might be what you're interested in. This is going to be a very easy to set up awning, and you're not limited to your roof rack because this is secured with vacuum anchors or suction anchors or however you want to secure it, wherever you want to secure it. It has all kinds of different accessories that you can customize to get the best fit for you, and it's a great way to enter into that awning shade campsite rig without having to go too far into it.
Let's go talk about some of those features. Now, here at etrailer, I do have some kits that have everything you may need to use your MoonShade awning, but you do have the option of mix and matching different components depending on how you wanna get things set up. There are two sizes of the MoonShade awning. You have the MoonShade Original, which is nine feet by seven feet, and then you have the MoonShade XL, which is 9 feet by 12 feet. So for me personally, I drive a Subaru Outback or another smaller SUV.
The MoonShade Original I've found is best for my needs because it is smaller, it's lighter, it's more compact, fits nicely on that small SUV. The owner of this truck, he really likes the MoonShade XL. You can see how much shade it provides, and he has the larger vehicle for that easier setup. He also owns a larger van, and the XL is definitely a good fit for that. So depending on what you're driving, that might help you figure out which size you may want to start with.
Now, our main kits include these vacuum anchors, and this is the key part to the versatility of how you mount this awning. So you set the awning up and then you secure the anchors to a flat surface. With the vacuum cup anchors, you just depress this plunger, and then it really secures down to your vehicle or wherever you have it mounted, and then you have this eye bolt here, which you can either clip the carabiner ends to, or in our case here where we don't have quite wide enough of a space for the whole awning, we are using the strut pole add-on where this pole just compensates for that smaller space but still provides that support, and the versatility of where you put it is all because of their anchoring system. So our kits arrive with these 4 1/2 inch wide vacuum cup anchors. You can mix and match your different anchors here at etrailer if you need to.
The concept is though that you just put the anchor anywhere on your vehicle, and then you have this carabiner at the end of the awning that will clip into your eye bolt. So if you find that maybe you want a little bit more height or you wanna bring it down a little bit or maybe you wanna put it on the other side of the vehicle because maybe that's where the shade is best gotten, you can do so. With this setup, you have a really high quality shade, and you do have a dome design. That way, even if a quick little rainstorm kicks up, the water will just slide down the dome. Now, I do recommend trying to set up your awning as much as possible where that can help out with that process. We can see the water is just beading up on that fabric and not seeping through, and as someone who's worked with plenty of tents and awnings, some things that I really like to notice is the balance between a lightweight fabric but also durability. And the key part there is high quality sewing or construction. So all throughout the awning, you'll just see really durable fabric. You'll see really good stitching where it's doubled over, and then you'll also see that it's reinforced. Your awning is gonna have a lot of stress, not just from the tent poles providing that support but also from your guy lines from the legs, and when a windy day kicks up, all of this is working together to keep everything together, and that way you have the best experience at your campsite. With our kits, yes, we have the awning included, the legs, the vacuum cup anchors, but also included are gonna be your stakes and your guy lines. Please always have your awning or your tent staked down. Now, this might be familiar to you, but for those who just maybe want a refresher, what I like to do is I like to stake at a 45-degree angle. That way as wind comes in, this is providing that tension, keeping those legs down. This utilizes a very easy to use tensioner, where with just a lift of one side of the tensioner, you can either loosen your guy line or tighten it back up. If you have a special need for your different anchor points, you can find those options here on our site. When possible, I like going with the vacuum mounts simply 'cause you just put them up against a flat surface, press down and then depress the plunger, and it creates a very strong and sturdy vacuum and an easy way to see if it's secure enough. Plus, their vacuum mounts have different options for where you may want to put your eye bolt. So maybe you're in a strange angle that you need to secure to. By the way, this is their special oval-shaped mount. The eye bolt it comes with can be put on the sides, up, down, left, right, things like that. You get a little set screw or two screws of different sizes and then the tools to tighten it down as well. So you can see the versatility in just the vacuum mount, and that versatility is seen all throughout the MoonShade design as well. And just for fun, here's an example of how I sometimes use this awning, and this is a great example of what I think is maybe the biggest benefit of the MoonShade awning. It's not stuck to a specific spot on your vehicle. Shade, well, that moves, and being able to move your awning with it is awesome, and also you can put this on different vehicles and you can also put this on different surfaces. So here's a personal story. I love to go rock climbing. My friends have a very specific canyon that we like to go to. So we would go there, set up camp. I'd have this awning on my car 'cause it's just a great way to have a campsite and a place to chill, make breakfast, things like that, but I actually packed this up with me for our climbing day because we'll have to break at some point for lunch, and having a quick and easy shade or shelter is a great way to recharge for another afternoon of climbing, and it doesn't just have to be rock climbing. This is something you can set up at the beach, at a soccer game. Maybe you're tailgating. Being able to bring your shade with you is something you may not have ever realized you wanted until you have it. Underneath the Original, you'll have loops along this side where you can hang string lights if you want to, as well as this carabiner hook if you have a little lantern you may wanna hang during the night. As someone who goes on a lotta different adventures but I actually don't really have a specific rig for these adventures 'cause sometimes maybe I might carpool with a friend that has more seats so that everyone can go, something portable and easy to set up like the MoonShade is perfect. The MoonShade Original is definitely gonna be lightweight. It's compact, and once you know how to set it up, really easy to do so. One thing that I would recommend looking into is definitely the strut pole. If you're ever planning on setting it up off the back of the vehicle, having that strut pole just makes it easy for the whole awning to just fit wherever you may wanna put it. Hopefully this vehicle was helpful for you with not just seeing how the awning looks but also seeing your different size options. You can also look into different accessories for it, like these sidewalls, or if you're looking into maybe different attachments, one of my recommendations is the BioLite lantern. That will fit perfectly as a match there into the hook. And on that note, if you are looking into those different accessories and maybe you want some personal recommendations, please feel free to reach out to us here at etrailer. We love helping people get set up with the right fits for their adventure because this awning is just gonna be the start of your journey. You're gonna then be able to customize it the way that you want to and go on some really cool trips with it. Now, I talked about how I like to go rock climbing with this awning as my shade. If you're going on some fun adventures and you have a cool setup, please let us know, and if you have picture of your setup and where you're going, I'd love to see it. Tag that in with your review and maybe you can inspire other people along the way, and if you have any questions at any point, again, always feel free to reach out to us here at etrailer. Today, this was a look at the MoonShade Awning Original, and you saw it right here. My name is Evangeline. I hope you enjoyed this journey.
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