Honda Element Cabana


Drainage
The Honda cabana, though not quite weatherproof, does a decent job of keeping out light rain. But in a heavy or prolonged storm, water eventually finds its way to the bottom of the closed cabana and forms a pool, weighing down the liftgate and causing it to droop. As a quick expedient, I cut a very small X in the fabric at the lowest point. It has worked ever since; any water that gets in can drain, and the cut is too small to allow insects to enter.

Flapping
Another problem is that in windy conditions, the lower edge of the cabana can make quite a racket. Grommets solved that problem, allowing me to guy the corners with bungees. I made holes for the grommets by heating a center punch with a torch and poking it through the nylon fabric. That keeps the edges from fraying.



Locations of new grommets circled


I couldn't drive stakes in the parking lot, so for the purpose of illustration I ran bungees to heavy objects. You get the idea.


While we're on the subject, this is how I secure the forward OEM grommets (detail below).


Note how the bungee hook goes through both the grommet and the zipper pulls. This keeps the cabana from coming undone in windy conditions, but doesn't put undue stress on the zipper.




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