Awning alternative?

I think I want to get one of the Dometic Cabana Awnings... just waiting on a sale.

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/dometic-cabana-awning-for-pop-ups-11/42487

I use a 20ft.x 30ft. tarp. Covers the entire trailer plus allows us to cook , eat and store everything out of the weather.
I found some old tent poles at the local land fill that I use as supports for headroom. Does take a bit of time to set up. In the rain I can cover the trailer, then raise or lower it without getting wet.
Tent trainer is 10 yrs. old and still looks new as it never been exposed to a lot of sunshine or rain.

Love the ideas here folks!! My awning roller was just bent in a storm yesterday. I was doing a bit of research on awnings and getting discouraged with the prices of new awnings. But the ideas here of the portable canopy's, or the tarp over the doors really got me interested in different solutions if I can't find a fix for my bent roller. BTW does anyone know about a fix for a bent roller??

My awning has been in some sort of repair status for the past two years. It is finally laying on top of my popup roof now lashed down for travel mode with with stretch ropes. I too can't afford the high dollar replacement.

I was wanting to do what BONDEBOND in Searcy AR did using the hand operated sewer. He has made all kinds of fabric repair to his popup doing this.



In my case the awning itself is fine only the carry zipper bag got destroyed by the UVs of the sun over the years... Finally fell to the ground haha...

I know I can probably carry my POPUP down to a BOAT PLACE and get what I needed replaced but the price is probably going to be about the same as getting an new one...

I will most likely start looking for a portable awning setup of some sort to use pretty soon as well...

Roy Ken

I made and awning for a friend with a tarp, duct tape, old extension cord, metal conduit or you can buy expandable tent poles, and some rope.

Buy a tarp with a dimension very close to the length of the channel that the old bag awning would slide into. Cut the seamed edge off and then tape the extension cord along the edge of the cut off seam. Fold that over the extension cord and seal it down, make sure you keep it as tight as you can. Once you get to your site, just before you crank up the PUP, slide the extension cord into the track for the old bag awning. Run the PUP the rest of the way up. Take 2 or 3 tent poles and put 2 in the corners and one in the middle. Use sturdy rope with a loop on end and taught line hitch on the other. (you can learn to tie that on YouTube if you don’t know how) stake the lines in…voila! Awning.

you can see it here. homemade PUP awning

You might also consider the Kelty Car Port. I figured out how to attach it to my Aliner and it works well. Not cheap but perhaps cheaper than a new awning.

Wow, those are all great ideas! I'm going to have to run them by DH to see which one he wants to go with (since HE will likely be the one in charge of it). :) THANK YOU, EVERYONE!!!!

Kmart sells a canopy that has peaks on the sides rather than straight. It may be high enough to clear the door, I have seen them used that way. The issue with the canopy is that it is slant legged rather than straight.

There's an outfit called Kookaburra that makes a triangular waterproof awning... it's a little more pricey than your standard portable, but it ought to do the trick, and you only need one pole!

Website

We added height to our portable awning. I took 3 gallon galvanized pails and filled them with cement and added a bolt (threads up) in the center of the cement. The awning legs are placed over the bolt and secured with a wing nut. The pails provide the extra height and the cement helps to keep the awning stable in wind.

I've seen this done with lengths of 4X4 posts as well.