Awnings and Wind

[Shrimp]

We ‘lost’ ours several years ago, it was pegged down but not well enough.
A very calm day and we came back to find the field had had a mini whirlwind thru it and our awning a tangled mess that other campers had tied up to prevent any more damage!
The wind had lifted tents that were pegged down.
Now the awning has a tie down ratchet strap each end and if it gets too excited it comes in, I have a string thru the centre latch and hold it down as Manic winds it in!

 

[Manic]

We noticed how steady the awning is when using the wind blocker on one side (we only have one end panel) due to the pole. We already have the middle rafter but thought we would try these and they seem to work really well.

Kampa Dometic Upright Rear Poles For New 2021 S & M Height Dometic Awnings | eBay

Easy and secure twist lock. - Twist lock.

www.ebay.co.uk

Fit shallow cups in casing against van to hold pole in place.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

As I said if the sudden gust was a thermal going through its unlikely to be on a weather forecast

…..unpredictable and literally comes out of nothing.

 

[Ditcha]

I use these 10mm thick aluminium plates to hold the 3 legs down, leave them in place slide the leg feet in and out but always put the awning away when leaving the Moho and at night.

 

[Scotch mist]

We got a new van without awning, so far, we would have put it out a couple of times, but found that we just take the chairs over to the nearest shady part.
Havent missed the awning and at the moment cant see us buying one, and generally for the reason of the sudden unexpected wind.
Beginning to wonder if they are overrated as a necessity

we did exactly the same thing for the same reasons

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[Manic]

We noticed how steady the awning is when using the wind blocker on one side (we only have one end panel) due to the pole. We already have the middle rafter but thought we would try these and they seem to work really well.

Kampa Dometic Upright Rear Poles For New 2021 S & M Height Dometic Awnings | eBay

Easy and secure twist lock. - Twist lock.

www.ebay.co.uk

Fit shallow cups in casing against van to hold pole in place.

Just noticed the ones I linked to are possibly shorter than the actual ones we bought, we bought the S-M-L version which opens to 295cm

 

[CazPaul]

I have seen a few with GH awnings, they seem much more robust than the usual Motorhome flimsy poorly made rubbish.

Maybe if Fiamma, Omnistor, Thule etc made them much more robust it would help. Instead of blaming the weather all the time let’s look at improving the build quality.

 

[drmartinwhite]

Sitting in 30 degree sunshine on a lovely site just outside Newark yesterday afternoon when, what we Scots would not even call a wee breeze came along. It was sudden, lasted only a few seconds, but enough time that suddenly the lovely Hymer van across from us had its awning over the roof where it then ripped right off landing right across the outdoor chairs where seconds before the lady occupant had been sitting.
Would not have believed how easy this happened and how lucky that no one was injured
Lesson - never underestimate the power of our

Probs a good idea to always strap down the awning.

 

[Guigsy]

We have this which goes down the middle and came with the van, is it a magic rafter?


View attachment 640738

That's the standard "Fiamma Rafter". The "Fiamma Magic Rafter" and pro version run at 90 degrees to that. They clamp onto the middle of each of the arms and span between them. It's supposed to decrease flap, provide better water run-off and improve stability.

 

[Ditcha]

I have seen a few with GH awnings, they seem much more robust than the usual Motorhome flimsy poorly made rubbish.

Maybe if Fiamma, Omnistor, Thule etc made them much more robust it would help. Instead of blaming the weather all the time let’s look at improving the build quality.

It's all down to weight GH awnings are a lot more heavier = substantial than the standard Moho awnings.

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[Ian Bosman]

Speaking as someone whose awning went over the top in Prague with a sudden gust preceding a devastating hail storm I must admit to being cautious. It is now fully pegged down and has a centre rafter as well as the "magic" rafter. It is tilted to allow rain to run off and I have fitted two short pieces of wood in the legs to stop them from slipping down. I did have the fiamma awning tie down straps with the plastic clips but one of them snapped so now I have all metal fixing ratchet straps. We will leave the awning out overnight but only if it is absolutely calm and in a sheltered position.

I tie mine down with four ratchet straps (2 per leg) connected to the frame of the rollout at the top of the legs and use the long ground anchor with a spring, sold for the purpose, which allows a bit of give in a wind. But if really looks it will be stormy get it down PDQ.

 

[tonyidle]

We have this which goes down the middle and came with the van, is it a magic rafter?


View attachment 640738It is. But what I was talking about is the Magic Rafter Pro which is totally different and runs the length of the awning and clamps onto both spring arms. Stupid Fiamma naming convention.

 

[Guigsy]

My Magic Rafter Pro literally arrived 10 minutes ago. I'll be using it at the end of the month. I'll post some pics and thoughts then.

 

[Rumour and Innuendo]

I have seen a few with GH awnings, they seem much more robust than the usual Motorhome flimsy poorly made rubbish.

Maybe if Fiamma, Omnistor, Thule etc made them much more robust it would help. Instead of blaming the weather all the time let’s look at improving the build quality.

With the construct of a motorhome, I think I would rather have the Awning break that have the side ripped out of the vehicle!

 

[Tonks]

I always use storm straps on my Fiamma canopy and always peg the legs down with decent pegs. I also now have a curved centre rafter, but only use it if rain is forecast - they're not recommended for use all the time as they can stretch the canopy.
My 'closest call' with my Fiamma was due to a sudden severe thunderstorm. It was, of course, the first and only time I'd ever left the van with the awning rolled out! So when I cycled back onto site and saw the partially collapsed awning, I feared the worst. The rain had been so tremendous that even though the canopy was set with one leg down to allow runoff, the weight and volume of water meant it couldn't run off quickly enough. Luckily, the arms had only 'dented' the canopy, not torn it as first appeared. The casing was twisted and wouldn't clip in properly at the back but it wound back in and was stable enough to travel home before being fixed. Luckily I'd had the awning well secured, so it didn't pull over or into the van. I bought the curved rafter after this incident, and also upgraded my storm straps! And I generally roll it in at night.
If I bought a new van and it didn't have a roll out awning already I'd probably get an awning rail and use a tarp canopy instead.

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[CazPaul]

I use these 10mm thick aluminium plates to hold the 3 legs down, leave them in place slide the leg feet in and out but always put the awning away when leaving the Moho and at night.

View attachment 640768

Did you make those or buy them? They look really good and effective.

 

[CazPaul]

View attachment 640778

Ah, I can see how that will strengthen everything up now, are they expensive?

 

[CazPaul]

I’m looking for a front tie down for our Fiamma, does something attach into the front of the awning, a bit of metal, which the strap then connects to?

 

[CazPaul]

It's all down to weight GH awnings are a lot more heavier = substantial than the standard Moho awnings.

I wonder how much heavier the GH ones are than the standard Motorhome ones?

 

[tonyidle]

Ah, I can see how that will strengthen everything up now, are they expensive?

It's a while since I bought mine - you'll need to research price. I thought at the time it was expensive but then Fiamma stuff usually is.

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[63720]

I use 5 peg footplates but fix the pins at 45° in different directions, that way a straight vertical pull won't move them all at once.

 

[poppycamper]

I’m looking for a front tie down for our Fiamma, does something attach into the front of the awning, a bit of metal, which the strap then connects to?

Yes the Fiamma kit comes with 2 small metal brackets that hook Into slot on outer cover and 2 webbing straps and large ground pegs and springs.

 

[Rumour and Innuendo]

Looking at some of the posts on here, is using a motorhome getting more like having a caravan to set up? There seems to be a lot of faff just in case the wind blows. We don't have an awning, like someone else has said, we just sit in the shade of the van or nearby trees/bushes.

 

[dazandandrea]

If buying new i dont think i would bother with a wind out. As said earlier a simple sunshade canopy should do .
We have the wind out one in use now with pegged feet and ratchet straps fitted to substantial storm pegs.
Will be experimenting later with one from Aldi later which wife picked up last year for a couple of quid.
At the moment we also have a bed sheet spread over the open rear doors to shade the inside. Works well

 

[cyberyacht]

Large sheets of fabric and the wind - I wonder if anyone has though of powering a boat that way

You have heard the expression "three sheets in the wind" have you? An out of control spinnaker is a fearsome beast. You can significantly reduce the risk if the awning is tensioned as tight as possible to stop the wind being able to get a grip of the fabric. As for heavy rainfall, just make sure there is sufficient slope on the front edge.

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[Ditcha]

I wonder how much heavier the GH ones are than the standard Motorhome ones?

Carpmart has one and it comes with about a ton of scaffolding he might be able to shed some light on weight cant find any info.

 

[Carpmart]

Carpmart has one and it comes with about a ton of scaffolding he might be able to shed some light on weight cant find any info.

CazPaul

Yep I’ve a 6m width 3M projection GH awning with the full bottom brackets, rafter brackets and full Race/Safari room. The fabric part of the awning to make the whole room, probably weighs around 20kg. The heavy duty legs for the canopy around 3-4kg each x4 so 12-15kg in total and the rest of the ‘scaffolding’ around a further 15kg. I’ve have no idea of the weight of the awning cassette itself, but I would guess it’s quite heavy as it’s a substantial piece of infrastructure… HTH’s?

 

[GAVLAD]

Have never left an awning out overnight or indeed if away from the van. In Croatia and around 11pm a storm blew up and the picture shows what can happen. The unit shown went home on a low loader to Germany. Everyone who had an awning out, no matter how well held down was ruined by the next morning. Have never seen so many awnings left by the rubbish bins and also damaged vans due to the awnings left out. This what can happen in a storm ?

Is that one of those tree houses?

Seriously though, they’ve had a lucky escape, especially if they were sleeping in the over cab bed as it could have been catastrophic for them

 

[dazandandrea]

Sunshade from Aldi, cost a couple of quid in the sale ladt year.
Created a lovely bit of afternoon shade with a lovely breeze between it and the van. Needs some tweeking but will do at a pinch.

 

[GAVLAD]

We’ve tried all sorts over the years.
Drive away awning - pain in the ar!e when it came to re-parking and lining up the roof flap to connect. So much so, our side sliding door ripped the awning when it wasn’t lined up right. So got shut.

Air awning.
Really good but bulky and heavy to transport (it is a 4.5m xxl though)
Stayed up in extreme wind & rain once but centre front blew inwards that we couldn’t open the van door to push it out.

Cassette awning
We have a 5m Omnistor wind out canopy.
Excellent for shade.
Material is stained from maybe putting it away damp (tried all sorts to try clean it)
I’ve left it out overnight but it kept me awake and worrying that it might blow over the roof so try not to do it anymore.

We have a Thule windscreen that threads across the front and it’s brilliant.
I use storm straps and the leg base plates but this year, I’m off to Costa Brava and it’s known fir sudden gusts so got two 15m ratchet straps and 2ft long steel pegs to go over the canopy and secure down.

Once stayed at CAMC Edinburg club site and a new PVC had left the canopy out and a gust took that over the roof. I had my step ladders with me so helped him unfasten the cassette box from the vans roof. It had ripped the roof metal where the bracket was and made a right mess. I felt so sorry for the guy.

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