Post by wisconsinjoe on Oct 26, 2021 7:15:21 GMT -8
On our first camper, a ‘63 Friendship Vacationaire, we needed to keep our homemade awning elevated above the door, whose top edge came very close to the roof. We first designed it with a grommet in the center to accept a center pole to push it higher. Of course that made it awkward to place patio furniture. But the worst was dealing with a rainstorm and the buckets of water it seemed to collect.
Back to the drawing board and sewing machine, wife Kathi added pockets at the corner to accept ¾” PVC poles that would create an arch by tying together in the center with velcro. The poles were made as two pieces that used a common connector glued to one pole. They were a little awkward because of their length but they fit in the back of the pickup with our other stuff (...they didn’t fit conveniently in the camper). On one trip I forgot to load them into the truck and I ended up driving all the way back home to retrieve them.
So now with our scratch built camper we decided to perfect the design. Kathi has a good sewing machine that can handle the heavy Sunbrella awning fabric that she bought from an obscure online source at a clearance price of about $120. She also got from Sailrite the ⅜” cord that is sewn onto the side that slides into the awning rail. She made flaps that hang down on the other three sides, but did not sew the corners to make it easier to fold and store.
20211018_181942 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
A future addition might be creating a screen porch by using velcro on the inside of those flaps to hold nylon screen material that can settle on the ground. A door can be fashioned by using such screen fabric with a long vertical magnetic seam for a self-closing door.
She added triangular pieces of heavy fabric at the four corners with a sewn slot designed to accept poles. We planned for ½” PVC but changed our minds and ended up using shock-corded aluminum poles that could be more easily broken down and stored in the camper (...never to be forgotten again). At the center she sewed a small patch onto which was sewn two strips of velcro, one to catch the first pole put into place and the other to cross between and capture both when the second was added.
20211017_130755 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
image (2) by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
20211017_142319 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
20211017_130725 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
20211017_142305 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
The trick is to make the pole about 6 inches longer than the measured diagonal, pocket to pocket. For us that was 12 feet. We bought a set of tent replacement poles where you can custom cut your length. We haven’t yet perfected the dance of installation that includes pulling the large awning through the rail, adding the crossing poles, fitting the vertical support poles, and tying off with stakes and rope, all without letting the awning hit the ground. However, it is not nearly as stressful as backing up the camper. Tip: bring a grandchild with you for that invaluable third hand.
On our first camper we used the fine solid aluminum poles from Marti. However, we noticed that they were not long enough to match our taller new camper. It took some shopping but we found some nice twist lock poles that reach over 8 feet, perfect for our application. The nice part about the arching design is that the awning is stretched corner to corner so only one rope/stake is needed at each pole. We like that the rope (with built in tensioner) is colored neon and is clearly visible day and night (with minimal light).
image (1) by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
For lighting we use a battery powered LED string light that is just long enough to loop along the three sides. I bought a couple sets of stainless steel hooks that squeeze clamp onto the fabric and easily hold the lights and the battery case. The case is powered by a small bank of AA batteries. We have been using it for 4 years now and the batteries still work. I probably should change them before they kill themselves by leaking. The light is very dim, but kind of perfect for when it gets dark.
20211018_184750 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
Aside from the awning fabric and attachment cord, everything else was purchased from the richest person in the world.
This awning works great. It keeps the fabric taut enough to avoid pooling rain water. The only problem we had was that the aluminum poles are not stiff enough to consistently hold their arch in a straight line. They tend to form a slight “S” that can cause the arch to invert in a strong wind. We intend to fix that by sewing on 4 clips (two for each pole) midway between the center and corners. And, the ceiling poles store conveniently in the same bag as the vertical poles.
image by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr
Back to the drawing board and sewing machine, wife Kathi added pockets at the corner to accept ¾” PVC poles that would create an arch by tying together in the center with velcro. The poles were made as two pieces that used a common connector glued to one pole. They were a little awkward because of their length but they fit in the back of the pickup with our other stuff (...they didn’t fit conveniently in the camper). On one trip I forgot to load them into the truck and I ended up driving all the way back home to retrieve them.
So now with our scratch built camper we decided to perfect the design. Kathi has a good sewing machine that can handle the heavy Sunbrella awning fabric that she bought from an obscure online source at a clearance price of about $120. She also got from Sailrite the ⅜” cord that is sewn onto the side that slides into the awning rail. She made flaps that hang down on the other three sides, but did not sew the corners to make it easier to fold and store.
20211018_181942 by Joe Mirenna, on FlickrA future addition might be creating a screen porch by using velcro on the inside of those flaps to hold nylon screen material that can settle on the ground. A door can be fashioned by using such screen fabric with a long vertical magnetic seam for a self-closing door.
She added triangular pieces of heavy fabric at the four corners with a sewn slot designed to accept poles. We planned for ½” PVC but changed our minds and ended up using shock-corded aluminum poles that could be more easily broken down and stored in the camper (...never to be forgotten again). At the center she sewed a small patch onto which was sewn two strips of velcro, one to catch the first pole put into place and the other to cross between and capture both when the second was added.
20211017_130755 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickrimage (2) by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr20211017_142319 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr20211017_130725 by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr20211017_142305 by Joe Mirenna, on FlickrThe trick is to make the pole about 6 inches longer than the measured diagonal, pocket to pocket. For us that was 12 feet. We bought a set of tent replacement poles where you can custom cut your length. We haven’t yet perfected the dance of installation that includes pulling the large awning through the rail, adding the crossing poles, fitting the vertical support poles, and tying off with stakes and rope, all without letting the awning hit the ground. However, it is not nearly as stressful as backing up the camper. Tip: bring a grandchild with you for that invaluable third hand.
On our first camper we used the fine solid aluminum poles from Marti. However, we noticed that they were not long enough to match our taller new camper. It took some shopping but we found some nice twist lock poles that reach over 8 feet, perfect for our application. The nice part about the arching design is that the awning is stretched corner to corner so only one rope/stake is needed at each pole. We like that the rope (with built in tensioner) is colored neon and is clearly visible day and night (with minimal light).
image (1) by Joe Mirenna, on FlickrFor lighting we use a battery powered LED string light that is just long enough to loop along the three sides. I bought a couple sets of stainless steel hooks that squeeze clamp onto the fabric and easily hold the lights and the battery case. The case is powered by a small bank of AA batteries. We have been using it for 4 years now and the batteries still work. I probably should change them before they kill themselves by leaking. The light is very dim, but kind of perfect for when it gets dark.
20211018_184750 by Joe Mirenna, on FlickrAside from the awning fabric and attachment cord, everything else was purchased from the richest person in the world.
This awning works great. It keeps the fabric taut enough to avoid pooling rain water. The only problem we had was that the aluminum poles are not stiff enough to consistently hold their arch in a straight line. They tend to form a slight “S” that can cause the arch to invert in a strong wind. We intend to fix that by sewing on 4 clips (two for each pole) midway between the center and corners. And, the ceiling poles store conveniently in the same bag as the vertical poles.
image by Joe Mirenna, on Flickr/Campers/67%20Shasta?preview=2019-02-03+18.01.00.jpg)
