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Old 04-21-2018, 05:45 PM   #1
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Clam or no Clam

Hi all,
We are headed out in about a week to make a big loop from St. Louis, MO to the west coast, up to Vancouver, across Canada , down the East coast and back home. We will be in Canada during May through mid-July. Opinions on whether a Clam shelter is advisable with no see-um netting. The biting insects love me , so this is important info to me! Thanks in advance.
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Old 04-21-2018, 05:49 PM   #2
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We have a clam. They are very nice, especially after you get adept at setting it up and taking it down. Setup time can be as little as 1 minute, and takedown about 2 minutes. Very cool. That, of course, doesn't include staking it down, if you want to.

They are quite nice, so nice, we don't miss the old awning we removed from our Casita.
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Old 04-21-2018, 05:51 PM   #3
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We have a clam. They are very nice, especially after you get adept at setting it up and taking it down. Setup time can be as little as 1 minute, and takedown about 2 minutes. Very cool. That, of course, doesn't include staking it down, if you want to.

They are quite nice, so nice, we don't miss the old awning we removed from our Casita.
Thanks. We lost our awning on the Casita we owned to a Thunderstorm. Tried to order the Escape without one but they said we had to have it! I'm sure we will enjoy it now that we know to use common sense care with it.
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Old 04-21-2018, 06:17 PM   #4
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Thanks. We lost our awning on the Casita we owned to a Thunderstorm. Tried to order the Escape without one but they said we had to have it! I'm sure we will enjoy it now that we know to use common sense care with it.
I am looking forward to the automated nature of the new Escape awning, but the Casita one got hung on branches too many times and was getting long in the tooth, plus there were a few leaks at the attachment points, so we pulled it off. I'm glad we did. The clam more than made up for the awning, and makes a nice "porch".
We will probably be bringing our clam with us when we pick up our new 21' in June ! Cannot wait !
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Old 04-21-2018, 06:24 PM   #5
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We have a Clam and love it, bring it all over when we're camping.

If the shoe fits...

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Old 04-21-2018, 06:50 PM   #6
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We too like our clam, we opted for the smaller one, 6x6, perfect for a couple and our dogs and easier to stow.
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Old 04-21-2018, 06:50 PM   #7
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I've only used mine a few times, and those for bugs, worked as advertised. If I were going to be out in bug season I'd take it along, no need once it cools down enough.

I have the small one, 2 people with a small table just fit. If you are thinking about the bigger one, might take a look at it's size when folded up. The small one is somewhat bulky, I imagine the big one is considerably more so. Just something to check on.

I've not used the optional side rain covers although I have 3 of them, I've just taken it down and put it in the back of the truck.
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Old 04-21-2018, 07:11 PM   #8
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Just got my Clam and used it for a tent trip with grandsons last weekend. It did well in the wind. It's much better than the REI screen room I've used for several years. Going to Utah next week and hoping it will withstand the wind there. I think it will be like an additional room. The rain panels go on really easy. I'm hoping they help for shade too.
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Old 04-21-2018, 07:24 PM   #9
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The rain panels are good in the rain, otherwise they prevent any air movement.
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Old 04-21-2018, 07:57 PM   #10
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While I like the Clam, my problem is a 5' bed in the truck. Maybe the next one will have a long enough bed to hold one. Right now I have an EasyUp that fits. I have both solid & net sides for it.
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Old 04-21-2018, 08:05 PM   #11
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While I like the Clam, my problem is a 5' bed in the truck. Maybe the next one will have a long enough bed to hold one. Right now I have an EasyUp that fits. I have both solid & net sides for it.
I lay mine on the floor of the 16' scamp. Fits just fine, when I get to my site I just take it out with not to much trouble, place it on the picnic bench till I am ready to set it up. Carl
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Old 04-21-2018, 08:11 PM   #12
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We have one and I find it too big and cumbersone to carry around if you aren’t camping somewhere for more than a night or two.
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Old 04-21-2018, 08:24 PM   #13
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We have one of the small ones and use it occasionally. If you put the 3 rain covers on and set it up close to the trailer with the open side toward the trailer and if you have the outside shower then it makes a dandy shower room.
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Old 04-21-2018, 08:30 PM   #14
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I too have the large Clam. Very well built shelter that works great. I almost never carry it because it is too cumbersome.
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Old 04-21-2018, 09:46 PM   #15
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We have one and I find it too big and cumbersone to carry around if you aren’t camping somewhere for more than a night or two.
Do you have the small one? I think that some people find even that one too big.

I was thinking about just getting pieces of roll screen since we have the old awning where screens could be dropped down. I suppose they could be used with the new awnings also if the automatic retract feature is not enabled.
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Old 04-21-2018, 10:21 PM   #16
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I wanted a clam until I saw this Coleman Mountain View 12 x 12 (ft) screen dome shelter, last summer.
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Old 04-21-2018, 10:31 PM   #17
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Do you have the small one? I think that some people find even that one too big.
Cathy, I have the large one maybe the smaller one woukd be more manageable for travel. It does go up and down very quickly
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Old 04-22-2018, 09:41 AM   #18
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Thanks everyone for the input. I think I will order the mid-size clam for our trip. We are scheduled to stay 3-5 days at a time at 26 spots over the summer and the ease of set up and take down is appealing. I am especially attractive to biting insects (last winter in Florida I counted 22 bites on one arm from no see-ums!) and hopefully this will allow us to sit out in the evenings.
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Old 04-22-2018, 09:49 AM   #19
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Clams are unbelievably fast and easy for one person to set up and take down, even with the wind blowing. The 6 panel is large enough to set up over the top of a standard campground picnic table plus a couple camping chairs if you are entertaining a group. We know a camping couple with a 6-panel, and they use it with optional solid screens in place to do their morning and evening stretching and yoga in relative privacy. The down side, for the 6-panel anyway, is they are heavy (31 lb) and bulky (6' long and about a foot in diameter when collapsed), but it comes with a nice carry bag. As with any tent-like structure, you need to make sure they are completely dry from rain and dew before long-term storage.
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Old 04-22-2018, 11:13 AM   #20
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Originally Posted by phalaney View Post
Thanks everyone for the input. I think I will order the mid-size clam for our trip. We are scheduled to stay 3-5 days at a time at 26 spots over the summer and the ease of set up and take down is appealing. I am especially attractive to biting insects (last winter in Florida I counted 22 bites on one arm from no see-ums!) and hopefully this will allow us to sit out in the evenings.
I don't have, and have not used a clam, but I have lots of experience with no see ums. Normal mossie net doesn't even slow the little buggers down, and I have never seen netting fine enough except on higher end backpacking tents. I replaced all our camper screens with proper no see um proof netting - it is far finer than normal screen.

If no see ums are your issue, you need to find out if the screen used in the clam is fine enough. Odds are not good if my experience is any indication.
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