Awning question

Campfire Time wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
Depends on where I am and what weather is expected

x2

x3

We always put anchors in the ground with ratchet ties and leave it. Like someone else said I do keep an eye on the forecast as well. If the forecast is questionable I will take it in. I would say on the average it stays out 98% of the time.
In all my years of travelling I have seen more awnings damaged from rain than anything else. I always tilt ours.

I don't use mine often. If I do use it as soon as I'm done I roll it up. No use letting the wind rip it off.

We always close up our 20' awning on our 5ver. We also always retract it when we go to bed, no matter what. If you leave it out the awning gods will destroy it for you.

fla-gypsy wrote:
Depends on where I am and what weather is expected

x2

Learn something new every day! On the folks MH, they always left the awning out unless the wind was extreme so that it would shade the interior and not get so hot inside and to keep the area in front of the door dry when raining. Now that we've purchased our own TT I'll have to remember to take in the awning when we leave camp and at night!

Hi I always keep I an eye out on the weather....that being said If I am gone from the campground I always put the awning away. Why?? Go price the replacement and you will have enough reason to protect it. And yes I have gotten woke up in the middle of the night and been out there bringing the awning in. But most of the time I keep it tilted and watch it if its raining so if I need to bring it in I can. I lost mine a few years ago driving in high winds and thank god insurance helped cover the replacement but I saw the price without and that in itself is enough to scare you into protecting it.

We do not ever leave ours out unattended even at night. We were at Cherry Hill Campground in the D.C. area when a sudden storm came up. Even though campers were instructed to not leave their awnings out while away, many people did and came back to find their awnings damaged from the storm. Dozens were damaged. Not worth it to us. Really, as fulltimers, we rarely put out our awning.

Never ever leave it out unattended. I learned that the first awning we had on a tt. We got it home and loaded that day. to the camp ground we went. Beautiful weather. Fell asleep. Three AM, wife and I wake at the same time and trailer is rocking. We realized the awning was still out. so at 3 AM Im out there in a thunder storm and pouring rain in my underwear, trying to get the thing rolled up. Fortunately, we only bent one of the arms! I was lifted off the ground several times try to get it rolled up. Last words from the dealership when we left with that day, Dont leave the awning out in storms , rain or unattended. I was lucky to learn with minimal damage. Oh and I got my finger pinched in the arms also when the wind would blow it around. I stress, never leave it unattended!

We generally leave ours out. I like the table and chairs to stay dry and gives us something to run under if we return in the rain. It is an electric awning so it has auto dump if it rains. If I know I'd is going to rain I can manually lower one end for drainage.