Only problem with the cheap Tarps/Groundsheets is that they can be very noisy in even a slight breeze, sound a bit like a crisp packet being screwed up.
I would spend a little more and get a better quality one.
Ha ha, the infamous crips packet awning of farmer phil's 2014.... but it survived the hurricane that hit us. Although I seem to remember the noise being equated to a thousand crisp packets. Robmac, if you don't know the story and it was just by chance you mentioned crisp packets, ask Tom or Vern to tell the tale.
Have just skim read all the posts but I had the same basic equipment as you to make an awning but also have a roof rack plus a huge (far too big really) thin cheap tarp and was able to rig something up at farmer phil's fest for a week using same equipment, anchored to roof rack, around wing mirrors etc using bungees. I used walking poles upside down with the spike through the tarp eyelets and secured the poles to the ground using peg through the handle and bungees wrapped around the pole and pegged down. Plus the extending washing poles as props along edges. It worked ok and did the job and survived ok, though tarp was damaged, it lost most of the eyelets and it ripped around the eyelets in places, but there were several "design flaws" to my plan.
Things that didn't work well for me were...
- noisy rustly tarpaulin (although I slept underneath it just fine)
- thin plastic tarpaulin not strong enough, needs to be heavy duty
- eyelets were a weak point - need to think about reinforcing them and maybe doubling along the edge of the tarp to strengthen it. You can buy snap together eyelets which have worked well for me in the past, consider adding more eyelets to reduce gaps and to reduce the pull on the existing eyelets. The eyelets which failed first were ones which were tied down using rope as I'd run out of bungees.
- I didn't consider how I would pack it up neatly after use - I took it in the packaging it came in all neat and tidy and folded and had to take home a huge bundle. I would practice packing up and have separate bags for bungees, pegs, tarp etc.
Things that worked well were...
- Bungees are invaluable - have at least a dozen, and various different lengths - as they prevent ripping of tarp by stretching when it's windy. Beware the ones from the discount shops which aren't great quality and don't last long. Best place for decent bungees at a decent price is an army surplus store.
- if you can find an old inner tube from a tyre and cut it up into rings, they make really good strong elastic bands which you can use in eyelets etc to add some extra shock absorbtion to reduce pull on the fabric or eyelet.
- I was glad I got a white tarpaulin as it really was much cooler and shadier on warm days.
- Having the roof rack gave me loads of easy anchors to attach the tarp to. But as an alternative, try the suction dent pullers as they could be a good alternative.
- Having lots of spare tent pegs (you can get them in poundshops) so that you can double up pegs per pole for extra strength
- Having a mallet and a tent peg puller - it makes it all sooooo much quicker and easier
-
solar lights by each pole and guyline to stop me tripping over it at night
