Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2015 07:33:07 -0800
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: A Westy awning
In-Reply-To: <23C830FD-CA9C-4E2E-ABF6-1498225532BE@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
I don't have any actual experience with the awnings being discussed here
but I have extensive experience with many other brands and styles, used on
many diverse camping vehicles...Here's the thing about awnings....they WILL
blow apart or be ripped off almost every application if you are even just a
bit 'casual' about deploying them, or lazy about fold/rolling them away
when you leave your camp or hit the sack..... Wind on an awning can
create much more power than most people realize....
A cased-in awning also ads weight up high on a van and the latching
systems I've encountered are usually pretty inadequate....I almost always
see at least a couple of awning remnants when I drive west to Portland,
through the Columbia Gorge against the wind...
Awnings are great for shade and shelter but they love to self-destruct in
sudden and unanticipated winds....Which always seem to happen.....a good
rule is to always furl an awning whenever you leave your camp....no matter
how calm and beautiful the day is ....Staking down the corners is very
often NOT adequate. The fabric will be destroyed or the struts will bend
or the whole thing will pull out the screws or rip right out of the
body.....
On Sun, Nov 15, 2015 at 6:16 AM, Dennis Jowell <dennisjowell@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Questions on installing a Fiamma awning on the Westy. I noticed that there
> is at least 2 different ways of installing the Fiamma. GOWESTY brackets are
> drilled and screwed to the vehicle while VanCafe is bolted to the vehicle.
> Does anyone have experience which bracket is better? Is the difference more
> stability than the other? I have a lot of rough roads out here and didn't
> want the awning to fly off when driving, etc.
> Laters,
> Dennis
>
> Dennis Jowell
> Scotch Hollow Farm
> Newbury, Vermont
>
>
> > On Nov 14, 2015, at 3:18 PM, Rocket J Squirrel <
> camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> >
> >> On 11/14/2015 11:30 AM, Stuart MacMillan wrote:
> >> It was a clear, sunny day at a coastal campground, well away from the
> beach,
> >> where It's always breezy. With no warning a sudden gust came directly
> at it.
> >> Lifted it up at a 45 degree angle, and then it was basically a bow with
> an
> >> arrow in it. I tied it down every time I used it after that.
> >
> > Oh dear. Well I always stake down the two outer corners.
> >
> > --
> > Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> > 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> > Bend, Ore.
>
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