# Raft Shade Umbrella Set ups



## richp

Hi,

My $129 eBay bimini does OK in big stuff, as the picture suggests. I do take it down for really complex runs, but for the most part it stays up in stuff like this (Granite).

FWIW.

Rich Phillips


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## topbud

most people use the sportbrella https://sport-brella.com easy to rig when not rowing. found at same. I sleep under mine on the boat. In the day a big river hat.


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## fourtyfloater

I am looking at riverbuddy.net for a smaller shade that is easy to move out of way when fishing but easy to set up when wife needs shade. Made right here in western Colorado which is a bonus! Just spent $$$ on other raft items so might buy later this year and will post how it is. I might drive up to Paonia and look at one in person.


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## TriBri1

Overall the sportbrella works well, you can secure the wings to the fram and get better support and coverage than a standard umbrella. The shaft on the sportbrella is too small to tighten down well on the PRO umbrella holders. We were constantly holding it in place or searching for sticks to shove into the holder to keep it in place. Call PRO and find out the inner diameter of their holder and make a collar so the sportbrella will fit snug and you should be golden.


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## CBrown

TriBri1 said:


> Overall the sportbrella works well, you can secure the wings to the fram and get better support and coverage than a standard umbrella. The shaft on the sportbrella is too small to tighten down well on the PRO umbrella holders. We were constantly holding it in place or searching for sticks to shove into the holder to keep it in place. Call PRO and find out the inner diameter of their holder and make a collar so the sportbrella will fit snug and you should be golden.


 
I put a short piece of steel 1" pipe in the holder and clamped down on that. The Sportbrella shaft just slides right in. It works great.


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## TriBri1

CBrown said:


> I put a short piece of steel 1" pipe in the holder and clamped down on that. The Sportbrella shaft just slides right in. It works great.


Yeah we knew it was a simple fix, just more than we were able to figure out at Lees Ferry...


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## brendodendo

For my SportBrella, I used steel (gas / black) pipe and an NRS U bolt. Drilling the holes in the steel pipe was a chore, as I had to use a drill press and vice. It is mounted directly to the left of my flip seat and behind the cooler. Holds tight to the NRS frame. I made another for the top rail cooler frame I use for paddle rafting.


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## cataraftgirl

Here's a stand I made for a flag, but it will work for an umbrella as well. It's a short Lopro & pipe I took off an NRS side rail rack that I took apart. It already had holes in place. It can be moved to wherever you want on your raft, and the angle can be easily adjusted. Drill a hole through the umbrella pole & you're good to go. I added a short piece of PVC for strength with my flag pole.


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## Sembob

Cat that is an idea I am going to use. You just solved two problems for me.flag and umbrella. I like a lot how movable it is. 


Sent from my iPad using Mountain Buzz


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## catsailor

*shade*

You want a shade that is oriented to the same axis as your boat. Be it a power boat, raft or sailboat, there are Bimini's manufactured for every one. You can find it on craigs list for $100 used, Usually, someone with a nice powerboat replaces one, and sells the used. Or do an internet search. One company, "Colorado Sombraros." They are all about 8' wide, and will take 40 mph on the nose. You don't want to waste money on an umbrella on a single mast that will certainly fail.


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## richp

Hi,

Catsailor hits on something that was a main point for me going bimini instead of umbrella design.

Biminis are very wind-resistant, along with being pretty resilient in waves -- as my picture illustrated. And that's a real advantage, along with the fact they fold down in about 30 seconds by unfastening just two clips. And they go back up just that fast. When you need to row into a head wind, you're going to drop it anyway -- just as you would an umbrella. But for side and tail winds (huh?) you don't have to worry about it.

The real downside to all these is the way they obscure the view to some degree. As much as I love the shade, I don't like not being able to see the full vista of the river. And objectively, umbrella-style shade devices are a bit better in that regard.

FWIW.

Rich Phillips


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## GreenTongue

Just got my RS, was fairly easy to put together and mount. I can't wait to try it out!


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## catsailor

I have one on my ski-boat. It is good to 40 mph. The River Sombrero is awesome too, I have one on my Leopard. A Bimini has six points of attachment. It is shaped like an airfoil. I work by the water in a boat rental capacity, and have seen every model of parasol ever made destroyed by wind. On our beach, we get a big, sudden downdraft from a t-storm, and all the nice umbrellas people bought go in the garbage. The umbrella is a cantilevered assembly with at least a hundred parts. The wind can swoop up under it, and all that engineering gets a reverse stress on it , game over. A Bimini is a flat, aero construction of tubing and cloth, with multiple anchor points, specifically adapted to boats. It will last a hundred trips at least.


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## TriBri1

Although I too believe Biminis are far superior to umbrellas, the PO is for a rental boat with PRO. I don't see anyone investing in a Bimini to fit a rental boat.


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## richp

Hi,

TriBri1 has a sort of a point, but it's not hard to move a bimini from one boat to another. For what's being talked about here, maybe borrowing one and doing a temporary mount is worth considering.

I've seen people bolt the factory brackets to a block of wood and strap the block to the raft on top of the tubes or their side deck. To make it so I could move mine from boat to boat, I made some mounting brackets from PVC that fit over the frame tube and clamp tight with hose clamps. Then I made some matching PVC fittings that the bimini tubes could bolt into, or could mount a pipe that the bimini tubes slide down into and extend it a bit. (I wanted to raise my bimini, so I went with the extenders.) Those pieces drop down in the fittings that are clamped to the frame. 

(The picture of it fully installed actually shows an earlier version where I tried raising the bimini with longer PVC pieces. But I didn't like the leverage on the fittings from having the attachment point so high, so I reverted to lower fittings and an aluminum extension tube.)

In use, you install the base fittings, slide in the upper PVC pieces, drop your bimini legs in the tubes, clip the four front and back straps, and you're done. Removal is just as fast.

I keep telling myself I should break down an re-do these pieces in something more durable than PVC, but they've been in use for 8-10 years and are still going strong.

FWIW.

Rich Phillips


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## caverdan

Here is a cheap yet bomber set up I made and use regularly. The red and black umbrella is about ten years old and a little holey at this point. This rig has seen hundreds of river miles and works great in wind and on the grand canyon. I've loaned it out a few times for that trip. It might be ugly, but function before beauty.....and the cost was right.

You do need to use what is called a golf umbrella that will let strong winds blow through it without collapsing it. You can see the yellow webbing sticking out from the flaps on the black umbrella. These are the wind flaps that let the air through. I've seen these at Wally World and I found mine as Sam's, they seem to show up for sale there every spring. 

The tubing I used is 2 1/2" and I cut it to my height, or approx 6'. I glued the two end pieces into the "T", but I didn't glue the main pole so I can break it down to store and transport it easy. It is also handy to take it apart if the umbrella slides too far into it. You want a nice tight fit on the umbrella so this won't happen. My first one was 2 1/4" pipe, but it's just too tight for the umbrellas I'm using. 

The bungee cords at the top are it's key to success. When a big gust comes up, it holds it in place till you can collapse it down. Then you just store it in the tube till you need it next.


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## Fishnfowler

I just put some umbrellas on?


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## catsailor

*shade*

That's cool! I don't think anything but a custom bimini would look right on a dory. I race F-18 catamarans, a fantastic boat that is all about going as fast and hard as you can go. Everything about it is specially engineered. Thats why I appreciate the bimini. It is purposely designed for boating. It's nylon and aluminum, and shaped like a sail. And it goes down quick. Maybe this is specific to Utah, but I have experienced 60-70 mph downdrafts off thunderstorms with no warning. People say that if a wave or the wind takes out something on a boat, it was not meant to be there. Biminis evolved out of that arena and are the temperary shade structure used on power and sailboats worldwide. 

P.S., I operate a boat rental, sales and sail lessons operation on an alpine lake in Utah. I like good gear that is optimized for it's application!


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## ajacobo

how tall is your bimini, as in height above the tubes?


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## Schutzie

My Bimini. Follows the rule; KISS


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## BilloutWest

caverdan said:


> The bungee cords at the top are it's key to success. When a big gust comes up, it holds it in place till you can collapse it down. Then you just store it in the tube till you need it next.


Excellant. Well done and thank you.


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## QuietHunter

brendodendo said:


> For my SportBrella, I used steel (gas / black) pipe and an NRS U bolt. Drilling the holes in the steel pipe was a chore, as I had to use a drill press and vice. It is mounted directly to the left of my flip seat and behind the cooler. Holds tight to the NRS frame. I made another for the top rail cooler frame I use for paddle rafting.


Do you have a picture of this?


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## brendodendo

QuietHunter said:


> Do you have a picture of this?


No, but I'll get one and post it up here soon.


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## climber-420

CaverDan.......

dumb question, but how do you go about attaching the "T" to the raft?


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## delmarhotshot

*Attaching the "t"*

I looks like from the picture that you would cut the bottom part of the T off (almost in half) and then place it back on the bottom of the T once on the frame. You would then tie it all together with the hose clamps.


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