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Post by Teachndad on May 15, 2019 15:18:03 GMT -8
Hi Friends,
Going to a rally this weekend and rain is forcast for the evening and night right after the open house.
I am trying to decide to keep it up and see I can stay dry under my Sunbrella awning or take it down and huddle in the trailer for the evening. I have never been rained on in all the years we have been camping in So Cal.
I know about shortening the poles to make a ramp for the water to go down as well as putting up a 4th pole in the center with a tennis ball on top to peak the awning? Is it worth keeping up and worth putting away a wet awning in the morning?
Thoughts?
Thanks,
Rod
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nccamper
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Post by nccamper on May 16, 2019 4:17:07 GMT -8
We went to a rally last weekend and I envied the people with an awning. It rained like crazy for 24 hours.
But when it came time to pack up I stopped envying the people packing up a wet awning. My concern is mildew. Is it worth the effort of cleaning/drying it when you're home? For one night, I'd say no. For an entire weekend of rain, I'd say yes.
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mel
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Post by mel on May 16, 2019 8:22:21 GMT -8
I leave mine up when it rains, I just angel a pole so the water runs off. But it wasn't on the last day so It was able to dry off completely before packing it up. If I knew there wasn't going to be time for it to dry then I would take it off.
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Post by Teachndad on May 18, 2019 11:08:15 GMT -8
Hi Friends,
Well, the weather has been friendly with no rain but with wind that caused some folks to take down their awnings.
I put up my awning for open house today because the winds had calmed down a lot. Weather report shows rain later this afternoon.
So the awning is going into the bag before it rains at the end of open house for all the reasons you guys listed.
Cheers and thank you,
Rod
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mobiltec
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Post by mobiltec on May 30, 2019 16:34:33 GMT -8
Hi Friends, Well, the weather has been friendly with no rain but with wind that caused some folks to take down their awnings. I put up my awning for open house today because the winds had calmed down a lot. Weather report shows rain later this afternoon. So the awning is going into the bag before it rains at the end of open house for all the reasons you guys listed. Cheers and thank you, Rod We are going to need photos of the rally Rod....  |
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Post by bigbill on May 30, 2019 17:03:28 GMT -8
As far as awnings in wind and rain it depends on the quality of your equipment. We always left them up but we had premium poles with quality ropes and for stakes I always used 1/2 round rod 18 inches long minimum with a single 5/16" chain loop welded on at the top for stakes. If it was wet we took it home and set it up till it dried. Now that we are older we bypass the use of an awning completely rain or shine.
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Post by Teachndad on Jun 1, 2019 7:10:32 GMT -8
Hi Friends, Larry, the photos for the rally are now in a thread down in the Pacific Coast Rally section.  I would like to add some more information on the awning experience in the rain. The awning was left up as it started raining over an hour before the weather report indicated. "Oh well, I thought, tooo late to stow it."The good news was that the awning was made of Sunbrella material and kept the rain off, however it was pearling on the underside at the seams. It wasn't enough for the drops to drop off the seams. We had sun the next day and calm air with a gentle breeze. By the time it was 10:00 a.m. the awning had dried out and could be folded and stowed. However, interestingly enough, when I went to take down my poles and turned them on their side to separate the pieces, water was INSIDE the poles. I believe the tip of the pole which goes through the grommets in the awning, filled with water as the water drained down the top of the awning and entered around the base of the pole tip. You can see what they look like by clicking on the Cabela's link below. The result was a cascade of water when I disconnected each pole. The poles are connected by a tensioned steel cable within. I disconnected the sections, turned them upside down to dry out. I am not really happy about the water intrusion as the poles are all steel... Time will tell. Before the rain started, I picked up a front awning cover for the front road guard from Marti's Awnings at the rally and I noticed she was selling some poles that looked to be aluminum with a molded aluminum tip that was molded to the pole top itself. I see this might be better because (I assume) the rain water can't enter the pole. Maybe I am wrong, though.  My poles where bought through Cabela's over 10 years ago to be used with my pop up and we never had experienced any rain in all those years when camping. Cheers, Rod |
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