The RV Gear We’ve Been Using Since 2015

By: Caly J. Behymer

There are some pieces of RV gear that come and go. You buy them, use them for a while and eventually decide they really weren’t as useful as you thought they would be. Then there are the things you keep buying every time you change RVs because you already know life on the road is better with them.

For us, Magne Shade definitely falls into that second category.

We bought our first set of Magne Shades way back in 2015 for our first diesel pusher, a Pace Arrow. This was long before RV Destinations Magazine existed and long before Magne Shade ever advertised with us. We were simply RV owners trying to solve a problem that anyone with a Class A motorhome will understand immediately: that enormous front windshield can turn the entire front of the coach into what I used to call a greenhouse.

That giant piece of glass is wonderful when you’re driving through beautiful scenery, but when you’re parked in direct summer sun, it can make keeping the coach cool a real challenge. We could have the air conditioners running and still feel the heat pouring in through the front of the RV. Interior shades helped with glare and privacy, but by the time the sun hit those shades, the heat was already inside.

The Magne Shades made a noticeable difference because they sit on the outside of the windshield and help block the heat before it ever gets through the glass. Suddenly our air conditioners weren’t fighting quite such a losing battle, and the front of the coach became much more comfortable during the hottest part of the day.

That first set matched our Pace Arrow, and when we later moved into our Winnebago Journey, we ordered another set to coordinate with that coach. Eventually, we changed things up again and had a custom RV Destinations design made for the Journey. When we bought our current Tiffin Allegro Bus in 2024, ordering a new set of Magne Shades was simply part of setting up the new coach.

At this point, we’re on our fourth set.

That probably says more about how much we like them than anything else I could write.

We also don’t just use the front windshield shade. We have Magne Shades for the windows around the entire front of the RV, which helps create a much more comfortable cockpit area and adds daytime privacy without completely blocking the view from inside. We can still see out while people walking past the coach have a much harder time seeing in, which is especially nice when you’re parked in a busy campground.

Another thing I appreciate is the magnetic installation system. The shades attach from the outside using magnets, so there’s no climbing up a ladder every time we set up camp. Once you get the hang of using the installation pole, putting them up becomes part of the normal setup routine.

Our current windshield shade is customized with the RV Destinations branding, so it does double duty for us now. It helps keep the coach cooler and makes the front of the bus pretty hard to miss in a campground. Considering how often people recognize the coach from the shade before they ever recognize us, I’d say it has become a pretty effective traveling billboard too.

Magne Shade also offers quite a few products beyond the windshield and side-window shades we use. They have products for different types of motorhomes, tire shades, awning shades and other RV accessories. We haven’t personally used all of those, so I can’t give you firsthand experience with them, but after using their windshield and window shades for more than a decade, I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to look at the rest of their lineup.

And yes, today Magne Shade advertises with RV Destinations. They’ve been a partner of ours for years, and we’re proud of that relationship. But they were part of our RV life long before there was ever a magazine, an advertising agreement or a reason for us to say anything nice about them publicly.

We bought our first set because we needed them. We bought the second because the first worked. We changed the design because we wanted something that represented RVD, and when we bought another coach, we ordered them all over again.

Four sets, three diesel pushers and more than a decade later, they’re still one of those pieces of RV gear we wouldn’t want to travel without.