Should I buy an awning for my caravan?

They can be super useful – if you’ve got kids, fishing tackle, bikes, dogs or just lots of friends who are caravanning with you, then the extra space is going to come in really handy.

The flip side is the time to put up, the maintenance and the extra cost.

Lets take a look at each item one by one.

Time to put an awning up

I’m sure there isn’t an experienced caravanner alive that hasn’t witnessed a marriage break down through putting an awning up, or an otherwise placid and mild couple turn into raging animals because the beading of the awning won’t go through the channel on the caravan. It’s a scenario played out on caravan sites across the country every Friday night!

You can make life easier though. Lubricate the beading with candle wax (just rub a candle across the beading, don’t mess about melting it on!). Alternatively, use the silicon spray found in car shops that’s used for cleaning dashboards etc. Spray this into the channel on the caravan – the silicon will provide the lubrication needed to make the beading run through as smooth as you like.

Also, when you first get your awning erect the frame at home. Erect it against a wall to give it support, and when it’s up mark the joins in the poles with coloured electrical tape. If you don’t have enough colours to mark each pole join wrap different numbers of tape ‘rings’ around the male and female poles at each join.

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By doing this when you come to erect the awning on site you’ll know which pole goes where in an instant!

If you are new to erecting an awning, pick your time to break your duck. What we mean is, don’t try and erect your first awning in windy weather late in the afternoon – it’s only ever going to end in tears. Pick a calm day and make sure you start early in the afternoon so you have plenty of daylight left.

If the weather is fine – no strong winds expected – one option to take is that of putting the guy ropes on the inside of the awning (rather than the traditional approach of putting them on the outside).

By putting them on the inside you avoid the painful potential of you or your children tripping over them. There is nothing worse than trekking back from the site pub or club only to find yourself looking up at the stars after tripping over near invisible awning guy ropes.

Next time round we’ll look at the maintenance required to keep your caravan awning looking good and working great.

We want to hear your awning stories. Success stories from putting up that awning in the face of a howling gale or tips to how you make erecting an awning a easier experience please add your thoughts by filling in our comments box, thanks!