My hummer has a gobi rack that I've attached a tarp to when camping.  Thing is I am playing with different options regarding poles, guylines, and clips.  I haven't found a setup that I like yet.

Anybody have some tips and ideas to share?

Check out Foxwing and ARB awnings.  If you want cheaper, check out a Kelty Noah tarp and some poles for the non-vehicle supported side.

Have you heard of expedition portal?  a google using that site name and tarp should turn up a month or 10 of reading.



For something like my wrangler I have a simple lightweight tarp and I am halfway trying to figure out a decent way to set up some tent poles to support the lightweight tarp without needing stakes and guylines and what not.  The arb batwing does this, but they actually cost money.  There are other versions as well.  I am just using remanants of an old cheap nylon tent and playing around right now.  A tent pole flexed and tied to the jeeps rollbar is what I will wind up with probably.  And since this is small it is something where the vehicle would move as the sun moved, I drive around with the driver's door open slowly backing up sometimes, I consider these little tarps to be sturdy enough for such things if you are away of your surroundings.  IF you are not aware of your surroundings, you soon might be.  currently no creased doors and front fenders from poor backing up skills.



For something bigger I cheat and just bring the pop up 10x10 canopy.  I can set it up myself but it takes longer.  Used for when I am actually going to be someplace for a bit.



In one thread on this site I think someone was using a kayak paddle or something as a spring stick to keep tension in the guy lines, helped during light winds and what not.



I really like not having stakes and guy lines everywhere, seems like someone just has to trip on stuff and hurt themselves or get to redo the lines and tarp.



I readily admit I am mostly fiddling with what I have and have not spent real money on a quality setup.



For a larger vehicle I like an actual self supporting roll out awning similar to what a camper has.  For something like the jeep, would want something smaller and lighter.

Good advice so far (expo has tons of pictures of various setups) and I'll just add that after trying out a lot of cheaper options including making my own I plan to just buy an ARB awning and walls to attach to my rack.  I've spent more money trying various setups than I would had I just bought one of the premade options.

Hard drive magnets. I keep them in my vehicle kit, serve numerous purposes to include holding a tarp to a metal vehicle body.

Yes, I am a member on ExpeditionPortal.  I have a system that's pretty simple and it is lightweight, but I am unhappy with the attachment to the rack.  I used Amazon-available heavy tent poles and paracord, tent stakes for the side away from the truck and that works great.  The truck side really shifts of is susceptible to wind more than I care for.

I'd check the weight on the ARB if I were you...those rollout box type awnings are pretty heavy.  I'm not being cheap, in fact my stuff is all top of the line.  I just don't want 20+ lbs on the top of my rack just for what a tarp can do....the simplest ARB, the 1250 is 21 lbs.  That's the equivalent of 3 gallons of gas.

I likkee, tell me more on where to get without buying new hard drives and takee apartee....

I honestly don't care about adding twenty pounds to my rack for a bit of shade and a dry place to sit plus the convenience of having everything in one package.  The ability to add walls, either screened or a tent, is another bonus.  You can set the awning up to be easily removable for when you don't need it; plenty of examples on expo where folks used wingnuts or screw knobs.  I like the fact that everything is stored together but you could always remove the poles if you wanted to move some weight lower; they are pressed together but could be pulled apart and clips added.  The other problem is my camper shell is fiberglass so magnets won't work without adding some metal plates.  Across the back I use a modified awning (one of those failed experiements) that has velco strips on one end that I connect to the rear Yakima bar then use a couple of tent poles and some guy lines.  I think it originally came from Dick's.    

On my old VW camper I did indeed use magnets to hold a tarp; you can buy rare earth magnets off Amazon.  I also used the magnets to hold a mosquito net over the side door.  Two popular options among VW owners are a lightweight dome style setup that Wal-Mart sells (I've got one of these too; they are about $40 but I don't see them on their website right now) and the Bus Depot Ezy-Awning   .  The domed tarps are nice in that they shed water better and give you more height but they also catch the wind a lot more.  

I also have one of the Kelty Car Ports.  It takes a little longer to set up but works ok; I don't really like it though.  One thing that I really don't like about it is that the window cover is inside of the window so it sucks as a rain cover.

I don't know if you want to go in this direction or not; PVC poles and bungee cord maybe?

I notch a 2by 4  to fit in the holes on my truck bed so they are at the length to reach the cab when inserted. A tarp stretched over them and me and my dog have shade when we go fishing and are off the ground if we sleep in the bed.

I have an ARB 2500 I got used on craigslist on my Land Cruiser. Works great.

Swap your computer to SSD drives.

I'm looking at the Smittybilt awning. From everything I've read it's almost identical to the ARB and a lot cheaper.

I have seen some smittybuilt bumpers in person.  



Smittybuilt seems to be getting a reputation for copying designs from others and producing it cheaper.



This mostly came up on a jeep forum discussion I was reading a year or so ago when debating what to order for my jeep when I get around to it.



I would look for some reviews on the smittybuilt stuff or want to see it in person is about where I stand.



On the bumper I saw, it looked like what it copied.



For how the dude was using it, he drives on the street mostly and his offroading will not use the "stinger" part of the front bumper other than running into a tree not running into the ground on a steep downhill or uphill, it should live a long life.



But overall look of bumper up close was just meh.  It needed touching up due to soso original finish as well.



I am close to ordering the quadratech arb bumper for 500 and change, plus shipping I am sure.



If smittybuilt made a copy for 250 bucks I really doubt I would buy it.  



But I do understand I am discussing bumpers vs. shades.

I have a Smittybilt winch that I bought because I figured that I'd only use it once or twice, but have ended up using the hell out of it. It has been 100% and surprised the hell out of me. An awning is just some extruded aluminum, poles and nylon tarp. You'd have the try to screw that up. As far as fit and finish goes on bumpers, I have Road Armor front and rear and they needed all kinds of fitting and I ended up having them Line-X, because the finish was so jacked up.

Just thought of this off the top of my head.







 
 

 

Back when I used to race RC cars I need a way to keep the sun off my table/work area.

I made a frame out of PVC and used a cheap tarp.  I think the idea could be easily expanded to encompass a larger area.

Our K-9 folks use these to shade their trucks on missions:

http://www.green-tek.com/energy_reflective_shade_cloth.html