How we pick
The full account, including the parts that make this site less impressive than its competitors.
Why we do not claim testing
Because we have not done any, and the claim is the easiest thing in the world to make and the hardest for a reader to check. When we surveyed what ranks for these searches, we found sites claiming hands-on testing with no methodology page, sites implying desk research was fieldwork, and at least one claiming testing in its footer while describing products it had plainly never seen.
Being the site that says plainly what it did and did not do is both the correct position and, as it turns out, the differentiating one.
What a pick is based on
- Published manufacturer specifications. Weight, packed size, canopy area, capacity, seat height, UPF rating, materials. Read from the maker's own product page, with the source linked on every product card.
- Physical reasoning. Why a buried sandbag holds where a peg does not; why a wide low-pressure tire floats where a narrow one plows; why an enclosed tent traps heat. These are mechanisms, not opinions, and we explain them rather than asserting conclusions.
- The buyer this site is for. Someone who has to carry it. Weight, packed size and how it holds down lead every table, because those are the properties that decide whether gear gets used.
- What the maker does not publish. Treated as information in its own right. A product you cannot evaluate before buying is genuinely worse than one you can.
What we verify, and how
| Claim | How it is verified | If it cannot be |
|---|---|---|
| Product is currently sold | Read from the maker's live catalog | Not listed |
| Weight, size, capacity | The maker's published figure, linked | Recorded as 'not published' |
| UPF rating | The maker's published figure | Recorded as 'not published' |
| Wind performance | Published test figures where they exist | Described by mechanism, never a number |
| Price | Live retailer data only | 'Check price' — never a remembered figure |
| Ratings and reviews | We do not publish any | n/a |
Our verification standard, item by item.
Where products come from
We maintain one registry of products, and every page draws from it. A product enters the registry when it is confirmed as currently sold and its specifications can be read from the manufacturer's own listing. Products that fail either test do not appear, which is why some obvious names are missing from pages where you might expect them.
On some pages this means a shorter list than competitors publish. On balloon-tire wagons it meant explaining why we would not list eight near-identical marketplace products whose specifications contradict each other.
How rankings are ordered
Top pick first, then by how well each product suits a distinct kind of buyer rather than by a single score. There are no numeric scores on this site. A score implies a measurement, and we have not measured anything — inventing one to fill a column would be exactly the fabrication this site exists not to do.
Prices
Prices render only from live retailer data, with the date they were checked, and they expire on their own: if the data stops updating, every number disappears and the page falls back to "check price". The failure mode is silence, not a stale claim.
At the moment we have no live price feed connected, so no price appears anywhere on the site. That is why you will not find a single figure in any of our buying guides — including the one about what wagons cost, which explains what drives the price instead.
Corrections
If a specification here is wrong, or a manufacturer publishes a figure we have recorded as unpublished, tell us and we will fix it and date the change. Email contact@duneandshade.com. Our handling of errors is set out in the editorial policy.
Commercial independence
Dune & Shade earns a commission on Amazon purchases made through our links. Several products we recommend are not on Amazon and earn us nothing; we recommend them where they are the better answer and say so on the page. Nobody has paid for placement, and no manufacturer has reviewed a page before publication. See the disclosure page.
What would change this
If this site ever does test products, that will be stated explicitly, with the method, the sample size and the conditions — and it will not be retrofitted onto pages written without it. Until then, every page says what it is.