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Old 09-13-2016, 06:20 PM   #1
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Proper awning procedure

After two years I have finally worked up enough nerve to use my trailer's awning. So for a week before I left on my current trip I deployed the awning each morning and stowed it at sunset, just to practice. I can do it now.

But-- what should you do on a trip when it's time to go inside for the evening and you don't anticipate any wind during the night? I'm tempted to leave it out, since the less I mess with it the less wear and tear on the awning structure, and the less chance I'll screw something up. What do others do?
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Old 09-13-2016, 06:39 PM   #2
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If I don't expect wind I leave it out. Unless planning for a streamlined early morning departure. Awning is also great for hanging festive lights or spinny wind things.
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Old 09-13-2016, 06:47 PM   #3
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While at Osoyoos, mine is deployed 24/7/#days there unless a storm approaches. What you need to do now is practice partially deployment for those possible stormy days where you are only out maybe 6 feet.
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Old 09-13-2016, 06:51 PM   #4
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Yeah, I don't worry about retracting it unless there's a storm or high wind forecast or such. Main reason though is not that it can be damaged, but that it kind of makes the trailer shake -- I need my beauty sleep....

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Old 09-13-2016, 08:02 PM   #5
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Our awning gets deployed as part of camp setup every time, and stays up until we pack up to leave. Only if there is a very big wind come up do we ever take it in, which was probably 10 times in 6 years, almost all in Osoyoos various years.

It provided much welcomed shade, as well as rain protection. With our awning we almost always staked the legs out so they were vertical, rather than leave them attached to the trailer. I seemed more solid to me, and it is way easier to manoeuvre around the campsite without them blocking each end of the awning area.

For us it is just part of our style. We set up the picnic table under it if possible, and all our cooking stuff. Basically, it is like an open air room. Many a time we have had a 6-12 people under it waiting out a shower so we can resume our play.
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Old 09-13-2016, 08:54 PM   #6
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If we're camping along the coast or next to a large glacier fed lake I tend to stow the awning if we're away from camp for any length of time because of the possibility of sudden winds.

Camping in the interior I leave the awning deployed. If bad weather is a possibility I put it in what I call "storm mode", 2/3's open, with a steep enough downward angle to still be able to get the door open. A couple of weeks ago we were camping at Portage Valley with high winds and the rain blowing sideways and the awning, in "storm mode" did just fine. Scott

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Old 09-13-2016, 10:44 PM   #7
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On our scamp i stake the legs down and also put ratchet straps from the cross bar that I stake out to the ground a little ways out to hold the awning down in case of unexpected wind
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Old 09-14-2016, 07:34 AM   #8
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Well Mike,
Looks like you got some more practicing to perform with your recently discovered awning. Do not forget to secure the top with straps and make sure the lock is secured, mine came unfurled along I90 last year.
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:10 AM   #9
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I guess I've spent too much time in the southwest where it can go from calm to 30-40MPH winds overnight. After watching more than one awning damaged (including one that was completely blown off a class C RV) I always close my awning overnight and any time I leave the trailer. I might be overly cautious, but that is better than trying to put it away in the dark in 40MPH wind!
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:18 AM   #10
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I guess I've spent too much time in the southwest where it can go from calm to 30-40MPH winds overnight. After watching more than one awning damaged (including one that was completely blown off a class C RV) I always close my awning overnight and any time I leave the trailer. I might be overly cautious, but that is better than trying to put it away in the dark in 40MPH wind!
My experience is similar to Jon's in that I have also experienced sudden storms that often come up with only a few moments notice. I have seen a neighbors awning collapse in one of those storms in Old's, Alberta a couple of years ago. Almost always I will close up the awning when I leave the campground for the day or when I go to bed at night. Exceptions are only when the trailer is parked in a very protected spot (such as in some of the forest campgrounds) where the risk of high winds in the site are fairly low.
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:22 AM   #11
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I have found that I can take down the awning myself in 5 minutes or less. I would rather take it down at night or when leaving the campground rather than either have it ruined or have to take it down in a panic when a wind comes up. The more times I set it up and take it down, the easier it gets.
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:31 AM   #12
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I don't close the awning during the day or at night because I didn't want to get everything wet.
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:42 AM   #13
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John Martin reservoir in SE Colorado. Storms come up quickly especially about
dark after a 90 degree day. Awnings get ripped off your neighbors campers, half nekkid campers struggle in reverse Iwo Jima tent saving poses, tarps in trees, not pretty. Rock was compressed on our pad by the stabilizer jacks to the point that all four were about an inch off the rock after the storm passed. Our coach was rockin and our knees were knockin.
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:48 AM   #14
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half nekkid campers struggle in reverse Iwo Jima tent saving poses
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Old 09-14-2016, 08:49 AM   #15
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"Reverse Iwo Jima tent saving poses". Classic Dave! [emoji23]

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Old 09-14-2016, 09:30 AM   #16
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The very first Quartzsite gathering at 2:30 in the morning after a gorgeous day we got hit with 70mph winds. It is still referred to as the "Great Awning Scramble." Many of us in that original group know what we all look like in our underwear as we ran in a group from one trailer to the next salvaging awnings. All depends what part of the country you're in, but as Jon remarked on his SW experience, things change in 15 min in the SW and when it does you get clocked if not prepared. Most of us Desert Dwellers have learned to put the awning in at night and if you leave the trailer unattended for any length of time greater than 15 min
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Old 09-14-2016, 10:13 AM   #17
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Hi: All... Some folks at Niagara Wine Escape a few years ago went sight seeing. Wind came up and flipped their awning into a dead horse pose on the roof of their nice red trailer. We borrowed a ladder from the maintenance people at the Riverside CG. and brought it down again. Alf
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Old 09-14-2016, 11:31 AM   #18
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Hi: All... Some folks at Niagara Wine Escape a few years ago went sight seeing. Wind came up and flipped their awning into a dead horse pose on the roof of their nice red trailer. We borrowed a ladder from the maintenance people at the Riverside CG. and brought it down again. Alf
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"Dead horse pose on the roof of the trailer", sounds funny now but it sure wasn't funny when that happened to us at Haynes Point Provincial Park in Osoyoos about 6 years ago. We had our little Scamp 13, beautiful sunny day and before we knew it, a sudden wind storm came out of nowhere! The whole awning covered the roof with the legs sticking up...there was enough damage, that it couldn't be rolled back into the casing anymore. Ended up getting replaced.
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Old 09-14-2016, 01:58 PM   #19
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Cape Hatteras with old HiLo. Thunderstorm coming in at the beach. High tailed it back to trailer just as it hit. My wife and I tried to hold it down. Lifted us both off the ground. Awning ended up over the top of the trailer. Not pretty.
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Old 09-14-2016, 02:57 PM   #20
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We too have learned to take in the awning when not there; and at night as well. Last time we were at Yellowshone (in a tent trailer) we left the awning up while we sightsee'd (sightsaw) the park. One of those 15 minute weather changes came, sunny, charlie-brown-cloud, then wind and downpour. We had strapped the awning ends to the picnic table and were saved grief. Meanwhile the camp staff were going around with a golfcart gathering up twisted up aluminum, and fabric scraps. They made a huge recycle metal pile, and a fabric-filled dumpster.

Another time, at Lake Cachuma (Santa Barbara County, CA), a wind came up the valley mid-afternoon, and awnings, tents, etc. went everywhere. I closed several trailer front window covers(rockguards) that were getting twisted around.
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