Choosing a caravan awning

The humble awning is one of the best additions to a caravan, motorhome or camper trailer. Long gone are the days of fiddly canvas awnings and annexes that you’d spend ages fitting to the van’s sail-track, and then setting up poles and ropes and finally pegging it all down.

The vinyl roll-out awning (and boxed awning) has turned this unpleasant task into a simple, effortless two-minute job.

Not always plain sailing

That doesn’t mean it’s plain sailing with the latest awnings available on the market. It’s a convenience feature that can quickly become very inconvenient if the hardware isn’t set up and looked after properly.

There are typically three things that can damage an open awning at camp: high winds, falling branches, and user error when rolling out or -- more often --when retracting the awning.

Awning arms are made of aluminium, which makes them lighter and therefore easier to handle than if they were made of steel but also more prone to damage.

When high winds arrive, the open awning acts like a giant sail. The awning’s aluminium arms, while offering some support as they triangulate the structure, are simply not strong enough to take the strain. Either the relatively thin support arms or the vinyl material itself will fail in high winds.

Even if the wind isn’t gale-force, the awning’s stitching and seams will be under strain with repeated wind gusts. As the awning ages it’s going to be more prone to tearing along its seams in such conditions.

Keep clear of trees

Not camping under trees means not only your caravan will be less likely to suffer damage from falling branches but your awning will too. The vinyl used is quite strong but a sharp and heavy branch will easily pierce it.

Only rolling out the awning a metre or two can help reduce the risk of damage from wind and branches, but it isn’t ideal.  Other options include fitting both an anti-flap kit and tying down the awning using roller clamps and rope/pegs. Fitting awning walls will also protect the awning from wind gusts.

Retraction issues

While pulling out a roll-out awning is fairly straight-forward, it’s when retracting it that you’re most likely to end up doing damage. That’s because the roll is spring loaded to help make it easier to roll up, but the spring tension with some awnings is very strong, and this is what can bring you undone.

The best bet is to double check that you have retracted the arm support braces, have the strap centred and the awning rod in hand ready to go. Gripping the awning strap firmly, you move the lever at the end of the awning roll to ‘close’ and let the awning retract.

With most on-road vans and all pop-tops you can simply hold the strap until the awning has fully retracted, but with taller (usually off-road) vans you’ll need to either be very tall, step on a step ladder or use the awning rod to hold the strap in the last metre or so of retraction.

If you have a long awning on a tall off-road van and let go of the strap you can end up bending an awning arm or damaging other parts.

The power of one

There are powered roll-out awnings that take the stress out of setting up the awning, but the shorter side arms usually do not provide as much support as the arms on the more popular manual roll-out type.

These arms are also angled in such a way that they are more exposed, leading to damage to them and/or your head, after bumping into them.

Box-style awnings are slightly less susceptible to wind gusts with their support arm design and much easier to roll out and retract than roll-out awnings. You just hook in the winding handle (or press a button with the powered box awnings) and the awning slides out. They don’t have side arms to bump into, either.

Cover up

It’s not only your van that’ll be happier if it’s under cover when stored; the awning will be too if it’s the roller type. The main awning material type used these days is vinyl that despite being durable enough to last 10-plus years, will delaminate more quickly if left exposed to the elements.

UV rays are the (eventual) killer for vinyl awnings, but on the other hand they’re resistant to mould in a way that the canvas awnings were not. Admittedly, canvas if looked after (such as drying properly if it has become wet) is a very durable material that will last a long time.

Keep clean and protected

Awnings need a bit of love to last. Wash them with a mild soapy solution every once in a while, and try to hose off contaminants like bird or bat poo before it dries.

There are many UV-resistant vinyl protectants on the market such as 303 Aerospace Protectant that add another barrier if applied regularly to an awning surface (only apply after cleaning and drying the awning).

If the awning material has delaminated, or stitching has failed or has been damaged in some other way (such a tree branch falling on it) you’re looking at a replacement.

Replacement options

There are a few replacement options: you can order a direct factory replacement (if it’s a fairly recent van) that comes on the drum roll, or just the vinyl section that’s already stitched up and ready to fit to your van’s drum roll. Or you can go to an auto or marine upholsterer and get them to cut and stitch an awning for you.

The cheapest option is to get a (usually aftermarket) vinyl section already cut and stitched to suit the roll length. If you’re handy on the tools, replacing the vinyl yourself is doable, as we outlined in a previous article.

Whichever option you choose, make sure the awning material is 100 per cent UV resistant.

Awning options

If your van doesn’t have an awning already fitted, there are a few options other than the permanent fixture type such as roll-out or box-style awnings.

Nylon awnings and annexes have become popular in recent years, firstly with aluminium or fibreglass poles or more recently with inflatable structure versions.

However, these nylon awnings and annexes originally came out of Europe and may not be as durable for long-term use or as UV-resistant as vinyl awnings are.