awnings

[crandallbradley]

I am negotiating for a mountaineer and I thought I would ask the full timers about their awnings. I plan to live in my unit and I am not sure I want one, my unit will be out in the open with wind,sun and rain. I am afraid it will not last. What do you think.

[mobilrvn]

Because you'll be out in the sun and rain, you'll need an awning for comfort. Would look at slideout toppers, too--keeps us about 5 to 10 degrees cooler than without. You can protect against a certain amount of wind. Since we never know what kind of camping surface we'll have, we use buckets of water to weigh down the awning--no holes to dig or screws to place. Always need a bucket or two for washing, etc. Empty the buckets on some need plants and you have storage and nearly no weigh to carry to the next camping spot. The original awning is the cheapest price you'll pay for an awning. We got 11 yrs. out of our last one and it was still in fair shape when we traded it in.

[stiles watson]

Truth is nothing lasts. Everything is temporary. Question is will you enjoy the benefits of it while it is servicable. I think you just might.

[Kathi]

Wow! Stiles you have a face too...Now I know who has been praying for Paul all this time...Thank you for your prayers. You are a great asset to this great planet of ours. Kathi

[Driftwoodgal]

Mobilrvn,

What a great idea, we were at a camp ground two weeks ago that had a concrete pad so we couldn't put out tie downs for the awning. What size buckets do you use, and how do you attach them?

[sreigle]

Maybe I'm wrong but I thought the patio awning is standard. Maybe not.

The nice thing about the awning is you can extend it when you want the shade and retract it the rest of the time. When we extend ours we tend to keep it out so use deflappers and strap it down. That's still a risk, though.

Another thing to think about is how long you plan to keep the rig. If you will sell or trade it in the next fifteen years or so I would think an awning would be a big plus in selling the rig.

The awning can also shade the side of the rig and the refrigerator on those hot days if the sun beats down on that side.

[Montana Sky]

I spend most of my time in the high desert areas of Washington where temps can get well into the 100's during July and August. The awning has really been a great asset on my coach, it is nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the day without being in the direct sunlight. Just my thoughts...

[crandallbradley]

On the mh that I have now I do not have an awning I just use a table with an umbrella. I think that I would be able to replace these at a cheeper cost over the longrun then the awnings.I hope to live in my new unit until I die. The things I have read about awnings tend to scare me away.

[sreigle]

You should do what makes you most comfortable. An awning is just nice to have. It's not really a necessity. It sounds like you found another way to sit outside with shade. Good luck. You are right to ask the questions.

[Dave e Victoria]

I would vote for an awning. We have always had one and it is useful rain or shine. Even in heavy wind situations we have been able to tie it down without damage. Having said that, I would avoid the automatic retraction awnings like the plaque. We have one on the Cambridge and really wish for the old fashioned manual one. The automatics have three problems. 1) they are flimsey. 2) they have only one extended position and cannot be dropped down to match the sun ange or to dump rain. 3) If a sharp, fast moving gust comes up, it is questionable whether they will react fast enough to avoid damage.

[crandallbradley]

Thank you for your replys and please keep them coming.

[smc]

We just spent the winter in Yuma and had our awning out the whole time. Had deflappers and it was anchored down well. Also had a "wind screen" attached. We survived some pretty windy conditions, none the worse for wear. The only problem we had was the tie down straps rotted in the sun, went through 2 sets. In Alberta we only use the awning occaisionally as we get some pretty high winds there. If you have one, you can always use it, if you don't have one, there will probably be situations when you wish you did have it!

[CanDo]

How do you tie down or anchor your awning? We've never unhooked the "legs" of the awning from the rig. We, too, love our awning, but usually end up putting it away at night to avoid wind problems. There are several deflappers available at CW; which do you recommend? We don't post too often, but read almost everything every other day or so. The wealth of knowledge you all have and share is amazing! Thanks!

[Parrothead]

Chris and Dave
We lived for a couple of years in an area that had high winds every afternoon. We tried all the different things to keep the awning from blowing away. The deflappers we think work best are the ones that have a velco strap. Not the wide gray plastic ones. We put 4 or 5 on each side. Then we put straps on the roller and anchored them in the ground. One place we stayed was all pavement so we adopted the method the rest of the park was using. Concrete building blocks - the kind you use for a deck. We got the ones with the wood block on the top and then added a large screw eye. Most everyone just left the blocks out but since we were going to be there for a while, we purchased large square planters and put the blocks in them and then dirt and then planted flowers. It looked really nice and did the job.
Happy trails.......................

[sreigle]

I agree, use the deflappers with the velcro straps. I use 5 on each side.

There are several tiedown methods. I rarely remove the legs from the FW although you can do that. The tiedowns I use I got at Camping World and have been very happy with their performance and longevity.
http://www.campingworld.com/browse/s...=2359&src=SRQB
I like the spiral stakes that come with this one. I think they hold much better than the tent stakes you pound into the ground at an angle.

The straps go over the barrel on each end and are plenty long to adjust to about any height you want.

This winter while in the Rio Grande Valley we bought a windscreen also. The windscreen is anchored in nine places at the bottom. Plus, it has grommets along the sides so I ball-bungee it to the Hold-Awn straps at each grommet. If I recall there are 3 or 4 of those per side.

[rvfirefighter]

I also use the velcro strap deflappers, as a hold-down strap I use a ratchet type strap, wrap the strap around the awning barrel to pull tension on the awning. I also use the screw type ground stakes.
Even though this works very well, it is always best to put up at night if it might get windy, I always have to get up at 2:00 A.M. to put up the awning.

[richfaa]

We are awning fans also. The Velcro tie downs work best for us. All of the methods for holding down the awning mentioned work to a certain degree.However if a good wind comes up and gets under the awning it is going to go bye-bye. We put the awning up when we are going to be away from the CG. Bit of a inconvenience but we have never lost a awning. Did forget to tilt it once and it collected about a gazillion gallons of water (very cold water) and I ended up getting a very cold shower when I ran out to tilt it. I received our clubs " bent antenna" award for that trick. The bent antenna award is given to the camper that does a very stupid thing on a campout.

[315RLS]

quote:Originally posted by crandallbradley

I am negotiating for a mountaineer and I thought I would ask the full timers about their awnings. I plan to live in my unit and I am not sure I want one, my unit will be out in the open with wind,sun and rain. I am afraid it will not last. What do you think.

We wouldn't be without one. I'm not sure I'd bother with slideout awnings although I'm sure others would have opinions pro and con for them. The patio awning with a mat that runs the length and width of it is like a 2nd living space for us, especially traveling with our dogs we're able to setup xpens and keep them out but out of the sun or rain. Even have an awning on our TV for the same reason.

[Mac]

Do whatever suits you, but I've never owned a Class C or a 5er without and awning. I don't always use it but it sure is nice to have when I do.

mac

[melnjoy]

My vote says, definitely "get the awning". You may not want to use it all the time, but when you do, you will be glad of having it. If you take proper care of it when it is out, it will last you years. They are great to have on hot sunny days!

Joy