Bag awning?

[Cape Cod Mountain Man]

Rolled it out and it doesn’t look too robust. Do you guys use yours? Thinking of just bringing my 10x10 pop up shelter from my tent days. Any way to shore that thing up so it might not fall apart after a few uses? Looks like a slight wind will start the decline of its usefulness . Pup model is in mu sig.

You are getting lots of good advice so I'll try not to repeat. I have had a Jayco and a Coleman awning. We only got caught one time (out of 800 camping days) with a wind coming up in the middle of the night and wrecked it. We used it all the time.
Interestingly, a key element was the screening. That served to weigh down and counterbalance updrafts making the setup very stable (as awnings go). It also deflected enough wind and rain to make it usable in inclement weather. The provided panels could be shut to address the wind / rain direction. It was extremely useful.
When replacing after our one mishap, I got a used Coleman and put it on the Jayco. Easy install for even the modestly handy person.
No question that quality varies and care is needed, but you will enjoy using an awning / screen room for the extra living space it provides. If you have the room in your TV bring the stand alone canopy as well. It is nice to have over the picnic table and you can just drop it down if in the light rain or at night.

 

[Nicoline Conwauy]

Rolled it out and it doesn’t look too robust. Do you guys use yours? Thinking of just bringing my 10x10 pop up shelter from my tent days. Any way to shore that thing up so it might not fall apart after a few uses? Looks like a slight wind will start the decline of its usefulness . Pup model is in mu sig.

We use ours, but beware. If it looks like it's going to be windy, please roll it back up. The wind in Utah, blew our awning and it created a hole on the top of our pop-up. Luckily gorilla tape works.

 

[Mytime]

Thanks for all the info !

 

[tfischer]

We have a Trimline awning that is pretty trivial to set up if you have 2 people, and doable but a bit of a PITA with a single person. I added ball sockets to the side of the trailer for the legs, since our dog's chain used to always get wrapped on the poles going to the ground and I was afraid he'd damage something. Connected to the camper ( I use mini bungees for additional support) the awning will even hold up to moderate winds without issue.

If we knew as severe storm is coming I'd roll it up, but I only recall doing that one time in 8 or 9 years.

 

[CoolCanuck]

We used ours a few times since I bought it 5 yrs ago. Unfortunately, the bag with its' awning and the attachment rails decided to drop off the trailer last summer, due to the extreme heat. It was only held on by one (slightly) squiggly glue line. Wouldn't want to know how solid these things are in a bit of a wind though...

 

[J Tannert]

Most awning legs have rings at the bottom which can be used to stake the legs down. I do that every time I put out the awning (which is most times I camp). If the weather looks "IFy", I'll also use tie-down lines, attaching them where the legs meet the cross beam in a "V" pattern. That way the awning now has 6 points where it's staked down. With wind, I draw the line at about 12 mph, If I see the forecast is calling for winds greater than 12 mph at any point during my stay, I don't put out the awning.

One other thing which needs to be considered is where the awning bag attaches to the camper. The bag will, with age, start to separate from the core (the piece which goes through the track). The two are sewn together and the material will deteriorate over time. This should be inspected on an annual basics for damage.

We recently bought a used popup camper that has an awning but we haven't checked it out yet. The bags zipper doesn't work so previous owner has it laced close with a cord. If the awning inside is good, is there a possibility to replace only the bag, or could the zipper be mended?

 

[kitphantom]

We recently bought a used popup camper that has an awning but we haven't checked it out yet. The bags zipper doesn't work so previous owner has it laced close with a cord. If the awning inside is good, is there a possibility to replace only the bag, or could the zipper be mended?

You might be able to find someone to make a replacement bag, or repair the zipper depending on the state of it all. The stitching on the bags seems to have a tendency to rot out before the awning itself.
Look for auto upholstery, upholstery, awning, or boat canvas places, they are the more likely to do it.

 

[Tonya Harding]

Have a few of these in the truck tool box, dang handy when it gets breezy...

 

[Sherronlee]

I have the same bag awning as Grandpa Don here. When we got the Clipper from the PO, there were extra parts for the awning. Turns out they had a good blow come through and twist her up pretty good. I use mine all the time. Like above, you have to angle one side down for rain. I keep mine like in the video. Though you can put the legs down and stake in the feet. I learned something from my Dad. He had a more permanent camp and he had the Eve (the outside edge) secured with straps and springs staked ( in his case secured to the deck) into the ground. That way if a decent puff came up it would give the awning some room to move up and then bring her back down. Otherwise I’ve seen the legs staked into the ground and a wind twist up the awning because it had no give.

These are what we use too ~ like your dad. My husband attaches them to the frame of the trailer. We have never take the awning down in our 23 years of camping with a pop-up.

 

[Ger]

We use our awning every single trip...... and keep an eye on the weather. We always adjust one corner lower to allow rain to run off and always stake down both awning poles. It provides shade and shelter from the rain and we can keep the "windows" open on the awning side. We pull our club chairs, small table and dog bed under the awing at night, just in case. We also have a separate shock corded screen porch we use if its buggy. Plus, where else would we hang our pretty awning lights!!

 

[tfischer]

We absolutely use ours... every single trip. Provides a semi-sheltered spot from a pop-up rain shower, and a bit of shade too.

The place we camped over Memorial Day had minimal shade. We were parked under a big oak tree, but the leaves were still coming in and the sun often came from the other direction. We found the awning indispensable. As I noted above, we also like it for the overnight rains (which happened every night this trip) and we can still keep things under the awning and avoid most of the rain.

 

[Mytime]

Used it all day yesterday and most of today. ( will make a thread about the pups maiden voyage when I get a better cell signal) about an hour ago winds kicked up due to a pop up shower heading our way . Got it down in 10 min standing on a chest cooler so I didn’t have to lower the roof. Good to know that’s possible.

 

[Musictom]

Somebody else already mentioned it, but it should definitely be angled for rain. We left ours (2021 Rockwood) up and a huge rainstorm came in overnight. Our awning just kept collecting water until one of the aluminum supports just bent in half.
It took a bit of research, but we finally found the part we needed, and it's been repaired since. So we'll keep it angled from now on!

 

[davido]

I will use the bag awning if I'm camping more than two nights, and if the weather is expected to be alright for it. By alright, I mean not windy. They're hard to secure in the wind.

I bring a canopy along too; a 10x10 straight leg. It sits on my bike rack cross-bars, so it's easy to bring along. That's easier to tie down, surprisingly.

We often use both. The awning is attached to the trailer. It's nice to have some shade there. The canopy can be set up wherever I need it, such as at a picnic table that is not close to the trailer.

 

[Bullfrog Bheer]

Awning out every trip. Picnic table and fridge go there on our front porch. Can't tell you the number of times our friends and us are all squeezed under that thing in a sudden downpour. Also, nice to keep the window and door screen open in the rain. Only one time I took it down prior the wind and rain and I won't do that again. Had to put our fridge inside and everything else had to go back in the TV. Plus the ground was soaked right up to the point where you entered the PUP, tracking in mud, water and grass. As I said, we won't take it down again. If rain's coming we just drop one corner a lot and we have 4 guy-ropes to keep it anchored to the ground.

 

[jeepster04]

Almost always used ours unless the campsite was backwards and wouldn't allow for it. I always throw some stakes in the ground to keep wind from picking it up. Its a glorified tarp, use it accordingly.