Wind out canopies - are they worth having?

Not an obvious title relating to your question but see my recent thread on Motorhomer site...
Our first van had an awning which was rarely used due to our mix of wild and Britstop use. Our current van does not have one and payload is very much a consideration but during the recent very hot weather, I missed having one.
This is my solution, easy to put up and stow away, very cheap, very light and perfect for calm days on any side of the van...
Thread '2010 Ducato roof mounts/fixings' https://motorhomer.com/threads/2010-ducato-roof-mounts-fixings.45092/
Maybe this would work for you too?
K ;)
 
Just seen one take off , came down on opposite side of van braking a window ,
 
molly 2 said:
Just seen one take off , came down on opposite side of van braking a window ,
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Probably a hire vehicle with users having no experience. Just curious but where was this. It is calm where we are on the French med and nearly all the motorhomes on the aire have the canopies rolled out. But then there is no shade and daytime no cloud just blue sunny skies.
 
We don't have one on ours and don't really miss it, we found that they rarely threw shade in the right place, the shade usually only started half way up the side of the van.
We use an Aldi sun shade and string one side up high to the van.
We have also thought about putting an awning rail on the van and using on of these removeable ones, what is peoples thoughts on these.
www.ebay.co.uk

Universal Camptech Sussex Caravan Sun Shade Canopy - Large 3m x 2.4m with Poles 5060658302616 | eBay

Sussex Sunshade 300 for UK Caravans. The perfect solution to quick and easy shade without the expense and hassle of a full awning. Includes: 3 steel poles, pegs, guyropes. Spec: 300cm long x 240cm deep.
www.ebay.co.uk
 
A perfect example of the shade only starting half way up the van :ROFLMAO:

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I had one a few years ago wound it out and the handle would not come out pushed twisted pulled it would not budge left it a while and picked up the handle and it disengaged when I wound it in I was expecting the same trouble but no disconnected easy. Never used one since about 5 motorhomes later.
 
Moped said:
Probably a hire vehicle with users having no experience. Just curious but where was this. It is calm where we are on the French med and nearly all the motorhomes on the aire have the canopies rolled out. But then there is no shade and daytime no cloud just blue sunny skies.
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Not a hire van a motorhomer member
 
We use ours regularly or even just the guiderail on it, when we attach the blow up awning. Aside from the usefulness mentioned here it also provides a good shelter when getting in and out of the MH when raining (somewhere to put the brolly up) and also keeps the fridge vents in shade on hot days. We have a set of lightweight Lilypad Leisure blue screens on board which afford some privacy if required as well as shade.

With regards to a freak wind catching it, I bought some foot plates years ago now, which go around the feet of the legs and allow up to 5 pegs to be put in on each one. I also use storm straps every time we put the awning out, regardless of how nice the weather appears to be, due to freak wind occurrences.
 
GMJ said:
We use ours regularly or even just the guiderail on it, when we attach the blow up awning. Aside from the usefulness mentioned here it also provides a good shelter when getting in and out of the MH when raining (somewhere to put the brolly up) and also keeps the fridge vents in shade on hot days. We have a set of lightweight Lilypad Leisure blue screens on board which afford some privacy if required as well as shade.

With regards to a freak wind catching it, I bought some foot plates years ago now, which go around the feet of the legs and allow up to 5 pegs to be put in on each one. I also use storm straps every time we put the awning out, regardless of how nice the weather appears to be, due to freak wind occurrences.
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Our " incident " earlier this year was on tarmac so no pegs or storm strap could be used, ordinarily i`d have used the cleats on the side of the motorhome but the weather was that hot and humid i couldn`t be bothered and maybe it`s a good job i didn`t given the ferocity of the gust o_O

Thankfully i was only sat a foot or so away from the upwind leg so i reacted instantly, i did hear a bit of a creak in the awning just before it happened so maybe that put me on alert because as i said there wasn`t a breath of wind to the point of it was actually uncomfortable even in the shade 🥵
 
Tarmac/concrete pitches are a PITA when it comes to wind out canopies. Luckily its very rare for us to be on that kind of surface and want the canopy out but from memory I used a right old jumble of 'heavy' stuff to keep the legs planted...but I wouldn't trust it tbh.
 
On tarmac I have suction clamps I put on the side of the van for the legs to attached too and then I strap down the top of the legs to stage weights x 4 making sure the straps are pulling the legs back into the clamps.

I doesn’t move even in a strongish wind.
 
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I'm with the "waste of space" group on this. Terrifies the dog when we wind it out. Rarely casts shade where we want it but does add that frisson of excitement lest it catches a gust of wind 🤣
 
I have owned the current MH for two years and have wound out the canopy once in that time. I spend 4-5 months abroad every winter, predominantly wild camping and using aires, moving on every few days. I have considered taking the thing off to save a bit of weight.
 
Boris7 said:
On tarmac I have suction clamps I put on the side of the van for the legs to attached too and then I strap down the top of the legs to stage weights x 4 making sure the straps are pulling the legs back into the clamps.

I doesn’t move even in a strongish wind.
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Do you have a link to these suction claps Boris?
 
Thanks for that

How do you attach the feet of the canopy to them?
 
On the cheaper ones the foot on the leg simply drops in the top of the ring / lever then either use a ziptie to hold it in firmly or run a strap from the awning head to the moon ring and tighten it.

On the vevor glass lifters i use a ratchet strap from the awning head.

The best method I’ve found is to leave the legs vertical and on their lowest setting, run the feet through stage weights and strap the awning down to the stage weights, then run straps out to something solid or ground anchors.

Once in place tighten the 4 ratchet straps, the awning won‘t move.

But remember I’m normally in a race paddock so grabbing stage weights off the truck is easy and using a truck or trailer instead of a peg isn't an issue.
 
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