I just got one of these and have used it for two weeks this summer. Overall I really like it. I have a couple of extra poles that I use to help it out. I've set it up both on the vehicle and also as stand alone configuration. I was "lucky" to be able to use it during monsoon season so it saw many storms with high winds, rain and hail.
Attached to the vehicle thoughts.
It is not too hard to set up. You could do it by yourself with few problems. An extra set of hands makes short work of it. With two people working normally I could get it all set up in ten minutes or less. It is was able to handle high wind thunderstorms and it shed water fairly well with not a lot of pooling. The tarp is water proof, but you will get plenty of mist/side splash due to the high sides. You will get condensation on the underside in cool, high humidity conditions in cool morning conditions. It really shines in this configuration.
Stand-alone set up thoughts.
I would hate to set it up in this configuration by myself. Two people can make short work of it, but it is much more of a PITA. This is not a complaint, just acknowledging the reality of setting up a tarp with poles like this. It doesn't handle high winds nearly as well as it does attached to the vehicle. There were several storms that I had to drop the poles (kept the guy lines still attached) and weigh the tarp down during these big storms. These are the type of storm where you retreat to the tent/car with lightning hitting within a mile and dead trees crashing down. I will say the first time this happened I was pretty bummed. However, since I kept the guy lines attached it only took a couple of minutes to set the tarp back up once the storm let up. The bonus was everything was perfectly dry underneath. Probably drier than if I could have kept it set up.
I really like this tarp. I would recommend it, just keep in mind its limitations so you aren't disappointed. Is it as easy as mounted tarp? No, but I can set this up away from the vehicle, which serves me as well. There is plenty of room for a table and 3 or 4 people during rain storms. It is tall, so you don't rub your head on it if you are over 6'. Even if I eventually get a vehicle mounted tarp, I'll still carry this for setting up shade/rain protection away from the vehicle. It doesn't take up much room and doesn't weigh a ton.
