Topless Mutze Roof Cover

[Martin]

My latest purchase, Topless Mutze for use with roof bars.

 

[calikev]

Re: Topless Mutze

:smile looks good Martin is it easy to put on :?:

 

[Martin]

Re: Topless Mutze

After I have done it a few times it should take around 5 mins, It is actually easier to put on than my Pucer as you can do it with the roof just fractionally open and then raise it ( same as the standard Mutze) . I also love the fact it fits inside my chairs in the tailgate along with the side panels.

 

[Chris]

Re: Topless Mutze

Looks good. I have roof bars as well. can you advise where from and how much?

 

[Californiaman]

Re: Topless Mutze

Smart. Matches the van nicely. I've got a silver one now and need to sell the Vanarak at some point.

With this topless one, is there a bit at the back that goes under the tail end of the roof to direct water flowing down the roof away from the bellows?

 

[Martin]

Re: Topless Mutze

Looks good. I have roof bars as well. can you advise where from and how much?

Hi Chris, these are from California Camping who are a club partner, standard price is around €529 Euro but VIP price is around €450

With this topless one, is there a bit at the back that goes under the tail end of the roof to direct water flowing down the roof away from the bellows?

I had always been curious about this aswell as it did not make any sense from the photo's on their website, so yes you are correct as at the back there is a flap that sticks to the underside of the roof via velcro which channels the water away from the bellows into the gutter. It has been well thought out and I assume that why this costs more than the standard version.

 

[Californiaman]

What a good idea. It'll be interesting to compare a "packed up" full Mutze with your topless one to see how much packed bulk it saves. I'm not sure mine would fit in with the chairs (not in its own bag anyway).

 

[Martin]

This was the big selling points for me as the Pucer took up so much room, here is a pic of it next to a chair, it is around 7cm in depth

 

[YorkshireHeathen]

Hi Martin,

I just wanted to check, is that the grey Anthracite colour? I guess it must be but it looks darker on their website and that got me wondering...

I'm thinking of getting the awning side panels in the same colour but Ulli advised the silver instead for heat reflection. Looks like the grey would look proper nice with the van and with the roll out awning being pretty reflective I wonder how much of a heat issue it would actually be having grey awning walls? I mean if it's sunny I'd probably have loads of ventilation anyway through the awning. Does anyone have experience of this or any ideas on whether I should be concerned about the heat issue under the circumstances? I might eventually get a grey roof cover too, but I thought that might be even more of a heat issue in the sun?

Decisions, decisions! She who must be obeyed wants the whole lot in grey but I don't want to end up cooked for the sake of fashion if we end up on holiday in southern Europe, for example. How much difference does a reflective roof cover or awning sides make anyway? Anyone know?

:?:

 

[Martin]

Hi Paul, yes this is the grey Anthracite colour and we also have the side panels in the silver/white material which we did use in France this year at every campsite in very hot weather and they do genuinely keep the area cool under the awning as they are made from a special heat reflective material .
I do agree that the grey Anthracite would of looked nicer but I did not want to take the chance of it absorbing the heat, I guess it would be nice to have a set of each colour for different weather types.
As for the actual Mutze roof cover our thinking was it will only every be put on in wet weather as we never use any cover at all when the sun is shining so absorbing heat would never be a problem, also I preferred the darker colour as the topless one needs to be folded up on the ground ideally when putting it away and I thought this colour would hide any dirty marks it picks up.

 

[Calimark]

Very nice Martin. I have the normal Mutze and it also fits snugly in one of the chairs in the tailgate.

 

[YorkshireHeathen]

Hi Paul, yes this is the grey Anthracite colour and we also have the side panels in the silver/white material which we did use in France this year at every campsite in very hot weather and they do genuinely keep the area cool under the awning as they are made from a special heat reflective material .
I do agree that the grey Anthracite would of looked nicer but I did not want to take the chance of it absorbing the heat, I guess it would be nice to have a set of each colour for different weather types.
As for the actual Mutze roof cover our thinking was it will only every be put on in wet weather as we never use any cover at all when the sun is shining so absorbing heat would never be a problem, also I preferred the darker colour as the topless one needs to be folded up on the ground ideally when putting it away and I thought this colour would hide any dirty marks it picks up.

I like your logic Martin...definitely at least getting the cover in grey.

Deliberations continue on the side panels as it will be used mostly in the UK in spite of my touring aspirations. I might end up as the club guineapig for the dark awning sides in hot weather experiment...next summer at the earliest I reckon!!

Paul

 

[Linda]

Looks great Martin.
Does the fabric differ greatly from the vanorak? It looks way more compact, also will be very interested to hear how the topless mutze functions in high wind- does it have elastic or anything around the hole bit?

 

[Martin]

Hi Linda, the fabric is quite a bit thinner than the vanorak, that is why we went for this, it also attaches the same way as the standard Mutze via 6 or 8 small bungee's connected to the awning channels on both sides of the van with optional ones at the front and rear.
Something I did not realise is you also have the option of connecting it to the roof bar tracks aswell via the four eyelets at the top of the Mutze ( they include all the fittings so you can do this ) I have not fitted these yet as it will mean taking my roof bars off.

 

[KernowLad]

Ooh I do like that. The Pucer was the only one that we could get with side bars (at the time).

How much and does it offer any insulation? Any mega rain/wind testing done with it too?!

 

[Martin]

Matt, it is around €529 but you do get a VIP discount, I have not tested it yet in wind or rain but it does seems very secure plus you have some extra attachment options if it is severe weather. I still have my Pucer but I found we kept taking it away with us and never using it and it took up valuable room so we went for the Mutze as it neatly packs away and you can have it with you all the time. I think we will still use the Pucer though for very cold weather ..