Awnings

[Randun]

I'm thinking about getting an awning. Do any of you have one on your rigs? If so, what are the pros and cons of having an awning that is mounted to your vehicle at all times?

Thank you all so much for your time and your help!

 

[Dusther210]

I got the cheapest 270 awning on Amazon. It works great, good customer service and no issue with quality.
But the sacrifice I noticed with a cheap one is it does take practice being efficient setting up and taking down. But some of the expensive ones seem to be pretty quick and easy.

The only other downside I’ve experienced is when I wanted to drive somewhere and didn’t want to go through the process all over again. It can be a little inconvenient.

But if you’re staying put for a minute it’s a game changer. It rained on my last trip and it was still a blast, I stayed dry and my stuff stayed dry. The time prior to that we didn’t use the awning and the stove got rained on, the chairs...everything got wet and so the inside of the truck got wet. Now with the awning bolted to the truck we can’t leave home without it. It also leaves space in the truck, maybe enough to see out the back window sometimes lol

 

[grubworm]

i have a rhino bat-wing on the camp trailer. as seen in the pic, i have it back home after camping and while set up, a wind came thru and broke the pivots, so i had to wrap it up with rope to get it back home. its nice to have and i really enjoy the awning when its hot and sunny and i guess i just have to make sure and use more rope to secure the awning when deployed. its a fairly expensive awning $600+ and i would expect better than cheap plastic pivots to take the main force of wind, but thats how most are made. it has stakes to secure guy lines to it, but they are plastic and only go in the ground so far...i will have to look into some stakes that are stronger and go deeper and hopefully that will help. on the good side, the replacement pivots were available on amazon for $16, so it wasnt too bad of a lick to take other than inconvenience...

pretty much everything is made cheap as hell in china and its up to us to make modifications, so might as well go with a mid-price unit like rhino and spend a few bucks to beef it up

 

[Randun]

I got the cheapest 270 awning on Amazon. It works great, good customer service and no issue with quality.
But the sacrifice I noticed with a cheap one is it does take practice being efficient setting up and taking down. But some of the expensive ones seem to be pretty quick and easy.

The only other downside I’ve experienced is when I wanted to drive somewhere and didn’t want to go through the process all over again. It can be a little inconvenient.

But if you’re staying put for a minute it’s a game changer. It rained on my last trip and it was still a blast, I stayed dry and my stuff stayed dry. The time prior to that we didn’t use the awning and the stove got rained on, the chairs...everything got wet and so the inside of the truck got wet. Now with the awning bolted to the truck we can’t leave home without it. It also leaves space in the truck, maybe enough to see out the back window sometimes lol

Great review! Thank you so much for your time, your incite, and your knowledge. I really appreciate it.

Those 270 awnings are beautiful! I have been looking at those too.

I also like the idea of it leaving space in the truck to see out the back window :) Boy isn't this true with all of our gear!

Thank you again!

 

[Randun]

i have a rhino bat-wing on the camp trailer. as seen in the pic, i have it back home after camping and while set up, a wind came thru and broke the pivots, so i had to wrap it up with rope to get it back home. its nice to have and i really enjoy the awning when its hot and sunny and i guess i just have to make sure and use more rope to secure the awning when deployed. its a fairly expensive awning $600+ and i would expect better than cheap plastic pivots to take the main force of wind, but thats how most are made. it has stakes to secure guy lines to it, but they are plastic and only go in the ground so far...i will have to look into some stakes that are stronger and go deeper and hopefully that will help. on the good side, the replacement pivots were available on amazon for $16, so it wasnt too bad of a lick to take other than inconvenience...

pretty much everything is made cheap as hell in china and its up to us to make modifications, so might as well go with a mid-price unit like rhino and spend a few bucks to beef it up

View attachment 179069

What a beautiful awning you have! So envious of your set up too!

Thank you for sharing your experience with wind. That has been something that I have been thinking about too.

Good to know that the fix wasn't too expensive as well.

I agree with you on the modifications comment too. I find that I have to tweak everything that I buy a little. I don't mind it however. The learning to overcome the challenge part is what drives me to move forward. :)

 

[El-Dracho]

I have an awning at the rear of the rig. I really like it because we sleep inside the rig and if it rains or snows it is nice to get in and out under a kind of roof. It´s a Howling Moon. Very quick and esay to setup and fold down. I like those things whch are easy and quick to handle while on the road. If it would take to long, I would not use it.

There are optional sidewalls for that awning. Very nice when you spent some more days at one place. Gives a bit of additonal room "inside".

Cheers, Björn

 

[LostWoods]

Ordered an ARB today along with a new rack because awnings are essential in the desert and there's no trees for my tarp like there was on the east coast. Shade and rain cover are always welcome and the alternatives take much longer to set up. Definitely had a few times the tarp took 20 minutes to get right because of weird tree positioning or something.

I know ARB has a quick release system that is basically notched brackets that allow for you to loosen the nut and remove the awning in about 2 minutes... if you're worried about having it on all the time you might want to look into that option.

 

[Alertchief]

I have both the bat wing and the alu cab 270 awnings. Different price point. I have the alu cab in the desert as I side it more. If you go batwing YOU... must carry some of the replacement joints with you. Amazon has them for about $15 a pair. I have had them break twice so keep them handy along with a screw driver or you may have an issue from wind. The fabric is good, but wind and snow are tough as the structure is built for economy.

 

[Randun]

I have an awning at the rear of the rig. I really like it because we sleep inside the rig and if it rains or snows it is nice to get in and out under a kind of roof. It´s a Howling Moon. Very quick and esay to setup and fold down. I like those things whch are easy and quick to handle while on the road. If it would take to long, I would not use it.

There are optional sidewalls for that awning. Very nice when you spent some more days at one place. Gives a bit of additonal room "inside".

Cheers, Björn

Thank you so much for your time and your help!

I will check that brand out.

It seems like you have a lot of pros regarding the awning. Any cons?

I really like the awnings that I have seen out there. They seem very functional and easy to use.

 

[El-Dracho]

Thank you so much for your time and your help!

I will check that brand out.

It seems like you have a lot of pros regarding the awning. Any cons?

I really like the awnings that I have seen out there. They seem very functional and easy to use.

The only con which comes to my mind is that it is not possible to store the two legs within the storage sack of the awining, but have to store it separately, e.g. inside the rig. But that´s a minor issue for me.

 

[Randun]

Ordered an ARB today along with a new rack because awnings are essential in the desert and there's no trees for my tarp like there was on the east coast. Shade and rain cover are always welcome and the alternatives take much longer to set up. Definitely had a few times the tarp took 20 minutes to get right because of weird tree positioning or something.

I know ARB has a quick release system that is basically notched brackets that allow for you to loosen the nut and remove the awning in about 2 minutes... if you're worried about having it on all the time you might want to look into that option.

Great review!

You brought up some great points about awnings vs tarps. I got in a discussion over the weekend with a man who was pro tarps vs awnings. This is a great example of a con to tarps. You need to have something to tie off to and sometimes you are in an area that is really baron and hot.

Thank you for also bringing up the notched bracket idea. I have not heard about this before.

Thank you again. I really appreciate your time.

 

[Randun]

I have both the bat wing and the alu cab 270 awnings. Different price point. I have the alu cab in the desert as I side it more. If you go batwing YOU... must carry some of the replacement joints with you. Amazon has them for about $15 a pair. I have had them break twice so keep them handy along with a screw driver or you may have an issue from wind. The fabric is hood, but the structure is built for economy.

Thank you so much for your time and your tip about the replacement joints.

Those bat wings are so cool, and the alu cabs are rad as well.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Randun]

The only con which comes to my mind is that it is not possible to store the two legs within the storage sack of the awining, but have to store it separately, e.g. inside the rig. But that´s a minor issue for me.

Got yah. Yah, that is not too bad. I agree with you.

Thank you!

 

[genocache]

I have a Rhinorack batwing also. The plastic pivots broke on setting up. I contacted Rhinorack and they told me "The pivots are designed to break because the horizontal poles are so light and if they were to bend it would cost more to replace them. I was lucky, I had my spares with me and in about 15 min I had 2 of them replaced. I learned to set it up by supporting the canvas and setting each support pole as I went along and then stake the shit out of it so the wind doesn't break it. I want to make some spares out of wood or nylon or something. The story is in my blog; Roaming Nevada 2019