What are your rules for the awning?

[cestlaviethree]

Do you leave your awning out when you leave?

Do you trust wind sensors?

Do you use tie downs?

We love the awning's shade and versatility even more in the summer, but we have seen 4 RVs have their awnings ripped off in the last 2 months.


Thanks CLV3

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[aviator41]

Ours has the electric awning and it's easy to extend or retract. there's really no reason to leave it out when we're not using it, so it gets retracted when we leave the RV or go to bed. Otherwise, if the weather starts to turn, we'll put it in when we go inside.

When we did our walk through we were reminded that the awning was not designed to handle wind loads OR water loads. so roll that sucker up!

[rockhillmanor]

Losing the awning is one thing but in really high winds storm where it rips it out of its tie downs, then the arms etc start banging up against the RV which really can be a costly repair.

I watched an awning that had been tied down get ripped out of the ground and the awning becoming a sail and the arms where just slamming the heck out of the entire side of a TT over and over again by the wind.

Interestingly his CG neighbor jumped out of his RV during the storm with a buck knife and cut the guys awning to stop the arms from wrecking the TT.

[austinjenna]

If we are going away, or for the night I bring it in. I have seen to many of them get ripped off and I have also run out in the middle of the night because of some pop up storm and start bringing it in. With the new electric awning it doesnt get much simpler to bring it in or out and I don't have to worry about it during the night either.

[paulcardoza]

Awnings our all the time with tie-downs. Cork-screw ground spikes deep into the ground. If severe weather is coming, the awnings are retracted. Otherwise, they remain out at all times.

[dwayneb236]

Use mine whenever we are camping but do pull it in if away for any extended period of time and the weather looks iffy. No tie downs.. yet.

[mgirardo]

Our Awning has survived a few strong wind storms over the last 2 summers. Last year we had a really strong storm roll through. NWS perdicted a severe thunder storm, but didn't mention anything about high winds. We had 80 mph gusts. The awning survived thanks to the tie downs we use. Ours has 7" springs that allow the awning to move gently when really windy and it keeps the anchors from being pulled out of the ground. The $15 springs did not survive, but the awning did. The 7" springs were stretched to about 2 feet long. Five campers received significant damage, 2 were completely destroyed.

This season, we had 2 storms roll through quickly with 40 - 50 mph gusts. We weren't at the camp site for either storm, they weren't predicted when we left. The awning was out and both the springs and awning survived.

If strong winds are in the forecast, we bring the awning in just to be safe. I know the tie downs will keep the awning safe, but I'd rather not tempt things. Our awning is electric, but does not have wind sensors. Our seasonal site is directly across from a farm, so no protection from trees. It is always windy here, even when there is no windy in the forecast. Some times it is a nice gentle breeze, sometimes its a profanity laced complaint inducing strong wind.

-Michael

[jnharley]

We rarely use our awning and could really live without it. Really, the only time we bring it out is when we need to clean it. IUt have been deployed may 3 times in 5 years. We are full timers and do not see the point of having one. They are easily damaged and if I want to sit outside, I do so without deploying the awning.

[TexBohunk]

My TT came with awning, but if it didn't I would NOT put one on. Don't use it o that often, but this is what I do. Only leave it out if I'm under it or at the TT, Wind gets above more than a breeze put it up, Storms or Rain coming put it up, Leave the camper at anytime or at night put it up.

[edatlanta]

tmm2good wrote:
NO
NO
NO

X2 times 3

[rockhillmanor]

NO
NO
NO


False sense of security:
Tilt the awning.
I full time and I have seen numerous 'tilted' awnings ripped off/broke because of wind and water puddling. Tilting them is not the be all end all of it not being damaged in a rain storm.

Nor is the tie downed awnings. They yank out of the ground in a heartbeat and then start slapping the side of the RV causing even more damage. .....Just an observance in my travels. :C

[doxiemom11]

We leave our awning out with no tie downs almost all the time. We tilt it for rain and lower to the lowest setting during any storms. Now if the wind is predicted to be steady at 25mph with higher gusts we put the awning in,and it would depend on where we are. If we are in an area /state known to have a lot of wind we would just leave it rolled up and not use it. When traveling and stopping for just a night we don't put it out either. Only 1 time in 5 years have we had an upburst suddenly and we were right there to get it in so there was no damage. If we were leaving for overnight or longer we would put it in. I also think there is a difference on what type of awning you have. The newer ones are very light weight and no comparison to the heavy canvas type awnings we have. The weight alone helps hold it down.

[suprz]

lots2seeinmyrv wrote:
When we leave...close the awning and shut off the water at the spigot.

X2

[cestlaviethree]

Thanks all!

I will say I was very skeptical of the tie down straps, but there is a fella in our campground who left his awning out during a 40mph gusting storm. Two RVs received damaged while his remained unharmed. meh luck I guess.

Either way I'll keep this awning tucked away.

Thanks again.

[Dutch_12078]

Our awning use is based on the area we're in and the expected weather conditions. We do tie it down when we'll be stationary for an extended period and the weather forecast is relatively clear. Especially when there are seasonal or permanent RV's in the park that have obviously had their awnings out for months or even years. If high winds or storms are a possibility, of course it gets retracted. "Rules"? We don't have any awning "rules". What we have is common sense...

[JFNM]

fla-gypsy wrote:
Gee whiz, most of you should just opt out of an awning. I leave mine out with some precautions. Tilted heavily to one end and lowered as much as possible.

I'm not hearing anyone say that we don't use our awnings. I use mine a LOT (full-timer). I just retract it when conditions are threatening or being left unattended.

Not all awnings are the same, some cannot be "tilted" or "lowered". Mine, for example, deploys straight out and the support legs are very high (out of head cracking level) without any means of adjustment.