Date: Tue, 26 May 2015 11:48:10 -0400
Reply-To: phishman068@GMAIL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Craig Cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Awning advice
In-Reply-To: <CANMEa3i_irR1Dw0T14NmDPLVfyT8LYxxKGcXGsBPv0YVrTC6xg@mail.gmail.com>
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Having dealt with most of the awnings on the market, I can confidently state how dissapointing the bus depot one has been (though it may have been an older model) taking 3 people almost an hour to fully assemble one last year!
The Fiammas are epic, but pricey. The shadyboy is small but nice.
The ARB is my choice.
-craig
> On May 26, 2015, at 11:34 AM, Tom Buese <tantonbz@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
> MY experience w/ my Shady Boy is the same as Mr. Squirrel's-use the tricks
> learned the hard way & it works great, for about 10 years also.
>
> YMMV,
>
> Mr. BZ
>
> On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 10:58 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <
> camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I've been using a Shady Boy for over a decade now -- in thunderstorms,
>> hailstorm and heavy heavy rain, winds that toppled camp gear. It's never
>> let me down.
>>
>> There are some tricks.
>>
>> Always securely tie down the outer two corners so winds can't blow the
>> awning up. Always use the optional blow-down poles so winds can't blow
>> the awning down. In heavy rain, shorten the outer corner tiedown lines
>> to pull the corners earthward so rain will sluice off and not pool on
>> the awning.
>>
>> When set up like this, it's never let me down.
>>
>> --
>> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
>> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
>> Bend, Ore.
>>
>>> On 05/25/2015 09:59 AM, Stuart MacMillan wrote:
>>>
>>> I've had a Shady Boy, and it's a bit of a PITA to deal with. And, you
>>> ALWAYS need to tie it down. One time I didn't, and a sudden gust of wind
>>> on a calm day blew it upwards, and the center fiberglass rod was
>>> "slingshot" into the van and put a big dent in the cabinet. It would have
>>> put a big dent in me if I had been in there.
>>>
>>> Same goes for the Fiamma or any other awning. The PO of my son's van had
>>> a Fiamma that blew up like this and it ripped off the rain rails, partially
>>> tearing them away from the van body, and breaking the seal between the roof
>>> and the body. The awning was destroyed (or at least he thought so since he
>>> tossed it), and it took me a while to figure out where the water in the
>>> back of the van was coming from. It was coming in where the roof panel
>>> seal was broken. Now I need to weld the rain rail back to the body. There
>>> was also a lot of rain rail rust under those mounting brackets, so I can
>>> understand the desire to not modify or permanently attach anything to the
>>> van.
>>>
>>> Probably Ron's EZ Awning for me next.
>>>
>>> Stuart
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>>> Of Kk Al
>>> Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2015 12:40 PM
>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>> Subject: Awning advice
>>>
>>> Hi all.
>>> We are considering an awning purchase for our 87 Syncro with no pop top .
>>> We'd like something as desrete and slim as possible. And of course, does
>>> little or no permanent change to the vehicle.
>>>
>>> Any suggestions are appreciated.
>
>
> --
> Tom Buese
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