Awnings - leave them out?

[1derfultigger]

Just a few days to go and starting to think about the little details.

It's July and it's afternoon thunderstorm season. Last year, while visiting Washington, D.C. and staying at a campground in Maryland, we lost our awning to a thunderstorm while we were away siteseeing. Now, about 800 dollars out of pocket later, I'm paranoid about leaving it out when we're away. Do most people leave their awnings out and secured all the time while at FW? Is there a reason this is fairly safe to do? Or do you put the awning in when away at the parks and pull it out again when you return?

I must admit I ask partly out of laziness. But the wife and kids also like to put out the lights and decorations that attach, largely, to the awning making it more difficult to roll in and out on a regular basis.

I know, from experience, it can put quite a damper on a family vacation to return home to the RV and find your awning twisted and mangled up on top of the trailer.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Personally, considering the time of year, I would close it up if I was going to be away all day, just to be safe. In October, we usually leave it out, but drop the far corner pretty far unless there is bad weather in the forecast, then it gets closed up.

 

[VAN]

We had an awning damaged once a couple years ago ... our insurance picked up the total cost, so I'm surprised that you were out of pocket by that much.

 

[1derfultigger]

We had an awning damaged once a couple years ago ... our insurance picked up the total cost, so I'm surprised that you were out of pocket by that much.

I was shocked myself as I thought I had a great RV policy (I won't say the name but it rhymes with progressive - haha).

First, I had to pay a repair guy $150 just to remove the awning so I could get the trailer home. It couldn't be pulled like it was and I didn't have enough tools to do it myself. There was no hope of getting it replaced before we needed to leave. Then, my insurance only covered a depreciated percentage of the damaged (ruined/totaled) awning leaving me with a little over $600 to pay out of pocket after adding in my deductible.

So, obviously, I don't want to go through that again. I'm not concerned with rain as I know to slant the awning such that excess water runs off easily. It's the wind bursts that got me last time and that I'm concerned about again.

Thanks

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

2 weeks ago when we were at FW a storm blew in very quickly around 5 PM. We had high winds and hail with a huge downpour. 30 minutes later it was over. While we were driving the cart to the campfire we saw 3 awnings destroyed in our loop (1700) and one in the 1200. I would guess there were more but we didnt drive around and look, I figured 4 wrecked awnings in 2 loops was bad.
During the summer we never leave ours out if we are going to be away. When we are there we tilt it drastically to get the water to run off and I tie the ends down to some screw in doggie stakes. Nothing can ruin a camping trip faster than damaged equipment.

Sounds like my dropping that insurance comapny that rhymes with progressive was a good idea

 

[rushing]

We lost our awning in June a few years ago. Disney was great helping us, our insurance took care of the rest.

 

[Colson39]

I would close it up at this time. More than once we have had an awning tear, rip, or totally fly off. The wind can seriously pick up on these storms, and in a matter of 15 minutes it can go from breezy to full on 40-50 mph winds.

 

[hatchmo]

I go by the weather forecast and always take the awning in if storms and winds are expected. We have one of those cheap little emergency weather radios and I'm in the habit of checking it just about every morning. But it is a big nuisance putting up and taking down lights and decor.

 

[1derfultigger]

Thanks for the responses. My new awning came with tie downs so I also use the screw-on doggie stakes to secure it as well as tilt the awning to provide run-off for rain water. However, some storms can easiy defeat the tie downs and, even if they don't, can do damage in other spots like ripping or bending the arms.

Some places, though, are fairly immune to this because there are enough trees or other natural or man-made obstructions to block enough of significant winds so it's not an issue. Sounds like that is not the case at FW given the eye-witness accounts above.

I do watch the weather but that's the problem with summer weather in the south and, especially Florida. Those afternoon thunderstorms can sometimes come out of nowhere and unpredictable (at least in specific locations or specific times) by forecasters. For example, I checked the long term forecast for Orlando and almost every day has, at least, a 40% chance of "scattered thunderstorms". I guess that's a weatherman's way of saying "it might rain but I can't say when or where".

I think leaving the decorations in storage and putting the awning in before heading to the parks is the way to go.

Thanks again

 

[Gatordad]

let me ask you pros this question, naturally the lights have to come off, but do i need to pull off the little grey clips in the track as well?

 

[1derfultigger]

let me ask you pros this question, naturally the lights have to come off, but do i need to pull off the little grey clips in the track as well?

I thought about the same thing. Not sure what kind of clips you have but mine slide into the track and then have s-hooks that attach to them to hang the light string from. I don't think rolling it up with the steel hooks is such a good idea but I don't see why you couldn't roll them up with the rubber pieces that slide into the track. On the other hand, the biggest pain to me is getting the lights to hang properly in those s-hooks anyway so leaving the pieces in the track while rolling the awning up isn't going to save me too many headaches anyway.

We rarely go camping where we don't go far enough away from the TT to be concerned with the awning and all of the decorative attachments. Even at the beach, it's typically windy enough or gusty enough to not be concerned a little. So, I find myself not even bothering with the lights, etc. so that we can more easily put the awning in and out. I've seen some do-it-yourself ideas where you glue 2 clothes-pins together and attach the lights to one end and clip the other end to the part of the awning that hangs over at the front. There are probably products you can buy that are similar but I haven't seen them. If I can figure out a way to stow and later unravel the lights with such a connector and have them stay in place on the light string, I'd probably do it. What I'd love to find are some lights that have clips built onto the string that attach the same way.

 

[loveDmouse]

You can leave those little grey clips in. We weren't sure at first but it says you can and so far so good. We haven't lost one.
I am a little nervous about my insurance now. I heard a lot of great comments on an RV forum about them.
Why do you say rhymes with? Is that a forum rule? I seem to learn new ones everyday.

 

[Shorty82]

I do watch the weather but that's the problem with summer weather in the south and, especially Florida. Those afternoon thunderstorms can sometimes come out of nowhere and unpredictable (at least in specific locations or specific times) by forecasters. For example, I checked the long term forecast for Orlando and almost every day has, at least, a 40% chance of "scattered thunderstorms". I guess that's a weatherman's way of saying "it might rain but I can't say when or where".

This is Florida we're talking about. If you don't like the weather wait five minutes or go five miles and it'll change.

This time of year afternoon thunderstorms are the norm in Florida.

 

[elastigirlfan]

Be careful with your awnings. We just got back from the Fort (we were there last week) and one of the thunderstorms that rolled thru ripped off our entire awning. We found out the next day that about a dozen or so campers had damage to their awnings or lost them like we did.

 

[auntie]

You can leave those little grey clips in. We weren't sure at first but it says you can and so far so good. We haven't lost one.
I am a little nervous about my insurance now. I heard a lot of great comments on an RV forum about them.
Why do you say rhymes with? Is that a forum rule? I seem to learn new ones everyday.

Wondering the same thing...especially since we have coverage through them also. Did you have a larger deductible of say $500.00 or so?

 

[1derfultigger]

This is Florida we're talking about. If you don't like the weather wait five minutes or go five miles and it'll change.

This time of year afternoon thunderstorms are the norm in Florida.

Wasn't being critical of the weather or Florida. I expect the storms and that is why I created this thread regarding awnings...

 

[1derfultigger]

You can leave those little grey clips in. We weren't sure at first but it says you can and so far so good. We haven't lost one.
I am a little nervous about my insurance now. I heard a lot of great comments on an RV forum about them.
Why do you say rhymes with? Is that a forum rule? I seem to learn new ones everyday.

It's not a forum rule, no - just a little tongue-n-cheek humor that, apparently, didn't come off that way.

I didn't say I blamed progressive and wasn't trying to rip them (too much). I was just surprised because, according to my policy, if I total my trailer in the first 5 years, progressive will replace it with the same or similar one - no matter the cost relative to the first one. Yet, when I damage a 2 year old awning that WAS in excellent condition, they ding me for depreciation on top of my deductible.

 

[ynottony99]

Our awning is pretty long, and has a center support arm. I always leave it pitched with one end really low. That wasn't enough one day though. I guess it rained hard enough that the awning began to sag, broke the center arm, and formed a nice bulge. Thankfully, I was able to drain it, and the fabric was not damaged. Lesson learned. Roll it up, when gone!!!

 

[Gatordad]

You can leave those little grey clips in. We weren't sure at first but it says you can and so far so good. We haven't lost one.
:

cool, i'll leave them in..... muchas gracias.

 

[loveDmouse]

It's not a forum rule, no - just a little tongue-n-cheek humor that, apparently, didn't come off that way.

I didn't say I blamed progressive and wasn't trying to rip them (too much). I was just surprised because, according to my policy, if I total my trailer in the first 5 years, progressive will replace it with the same or similar one - no matter the cost relative to the first one. Yet, when I damage a 2 year old awning that WAS in excellent condition, they ding me for depreciation on top of my deductible.

I am suprised too. Seems like it is suppose to be a good RV policy and it was reasonably priced.
Sorry I didn't get the humor. It has been a long week.