3D Camouflage Sun Shade Netting — Camp, 4x4 & Hide

Bare camp, blazing sun, nowhere to hide.

Midday on an open block and there is no tree worth parking under. The awning throws a strip of shade about a metre wide, everyone crowds into it, and by two o'clock half the camp is sitting in the ute with the engine running just for the aircon. Same story on a rural block when you want a hide up before first light and there is nothing out there to break your outline.

This is 3D camouflage netting. The supplier lists the fabric as 200D polyester, cut into leaf shapes so it breaks up a hard edge instead of reading as one flat rectangle. The panels are rectangular, the edge is folded and sewn against fraying, and there are sewn corners and side ropes to tie it off with. Throw it over an awning rail, a couple of star pickets, a fence line or the roof rack, tension it, and you get broken shade and a broken outline out of the one bit of kit.

It comes in ten sizes, from 2 x 2 m up to 4 x 5 m, with long runs to 3 x 10 m for the side of a van. Seven colours: desert, jungle and marine camouflage, woodland digital, black, white and pure green. Match the colour to the country you are in, or take black or white if you only want the shade and do not care about hiding.

What It Does

• Widens a thin awning: run it off the caravan or camper awning rail out to two poles and you turn a one-metre strip of shade into a chunk of camp you can actually sit in.
• Screens a work area: rig it over the bench, the welder or the smoko table on a farm or yard job and you take the glare and the direct sun off the crew without building anything permanent.
• Fence-line privacy: cable-tie it to a boundary fence or a temporary panel run and it screens a yard, a dog run or a shed without going up like a solid wall the wind can grab.
• Keeps the ute cooler: drape it over the vehicle or the roof rack at a long stop and the cab is not a furnace when you come back to it.
• Sit in a hide unseen: for hunting or wildlife photography the leaf cut breaks up the shape of a person and a camera far better than a plain tarp, which reads as a straight line from a long way off.

Key Features

• 200D polyester: the fabric the supplier states. No weight in grams per square metre is published, so we are not quoting one.
• 3D leaf cut pattern: shaped cut-outs rather than a printed flat sheet, which is what actually breaks the outline.
• Sewn folded edge: the perimeter is turned and stitched against fraying, which is where cheap netting lets go first.
• Corner ties and side ropes: sewn corners with rope ties to tension it off your own posts, rail or fence. The supplier does not state how many ties each size carries.
• Ten sizes: 2 x 2 m, 3 x 3 m, 3 x 4 m, 3 x 5 m, 3 x 6 m, 3 x 7 m, 3 x 8 m, 3 x 10 m, 4 x 4 m and 4 x 5 m.
• Seven colours: desert, jungle and marine camouflage, woodland digital, black, white and pure green.
• Rolls up small: it is fabric, not a frame, so it packs down and lives in a ute tub or a camper locker between trips.
• Uses what you already have: awning rail, roof rack, star pickets, fence posts, trees, rope. Nothing proprietary to buy.

Limits

Straight up, so nobody is disappointed when it lands.

• It is not waterproof: it is an open mesh net and the supplier states no waterproof or water-resistant rating. It is not a rain cover. Treat it as shade and concealment only, and put a proper tarp over your swag if rain is coming.
• No UV figure is published: there is no UPF rating, no UV block percentage and no shade factor from the supplier, so we are not quoting one. Covering something shades it — how much sun it stops has not been measured. Keep wearing a hat and a shirt.
• Sizes are nominal: the supplier publishes no measurement tolerance, and buyers have reported a piece arriving short of the size on the label. Measure your span, then allow yourself some slack rather than ordering the exact number.
• It may arrive in panels: buyers have reported wider sizes turning up as narrower strips laced together with cord rather than one continuous sheet. Check yours on arrival and re-tie the joins before you hang it.
• It will not stop wind: it is netting. It breaks the look of a camp, not the breeze. In strong wind take it down rather than let it flog itself and your tie points to bits.
• Not a structural cover: it carries no load. Do not stand on it, do not use it as a load restraint, and do not rely on it to hold anything up.
• No fire rating: none is stated by the supplier. Keep it well clear of the fire, the cooker and the exhaust.
• Not military issue: it is a commercial camouflage net. It carries no defence approval or certification and we make no claim that it does.

Q & A

Will it keep the rain off?
No. It is an open mesh net, water comes straight through, and the supplier gives no waterproof rating. It is a sun and concealment product, not a rain cover.

What UPF or UV rating does it have?
None is specified by supplier. We will not put a number on a page we cannot back up. Rigged overhead it puts you in shade; it is not sun-safe clothing and it is not a substitute for one.

Does it come as one piece?
Not specified by supplier. Netting of this type is commonly made in narrow widths and laced together, and buyers have reported receiving wider sizes joined that way. If yours arrives as joined panels, check the ties before you hang it.

Is the size exact?
Treat it as nominal. No tolerance is published, and at least one buyer has reported a piece running short on length. Order with a bit of slack over the span you need.

What size do I need for a caravan awning?
Measure the span you want covered and add enough to reach your tie points. The long 3 x 6 m to 3 x 10 m pieces suit running the length of a van; the square 3 x 3 m, 4 x 4 m and 4 x 5 m suit covering an area off two or four poles.

Does it come with poles, rope or pegs?
Not specified by supplier. Plan on rigging it with your own rope, pegs and poles off the sewn corners and side ropes.

Which colour suits Australian bush?
Desert generally sits closer to dry inland country, jungle and pure green closer to wetter coastal scrub. That is a judgement call on the country you are in, not a specification. If you only want shade, black or white does the same job.

Can I leave it up on a fence all year?
The supplier gives no data on how the fabric holds up to long-term sun exposure, so we cannot promise it. If it lives outside permanently, expect it to fade and check the tie points now and then.

How long is delivery?
Free delivery to Australia and New Zealand, unconditionally, with no minimum spend. Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you order, and up to 3 weeks to be safe. That clock starts at your order date, not the day it ships. Regional and remote, allow longer again. We will not promise faster than we can do it.

Specs