I’ve had one of these for the past 2.5 years and have used it a lot. It’s got both pros and cons.
I’m rather attracted to this model because allegedly one can use it temporarily in “light” weather, without having to go to the extra exertion of additionally setting up its stability legs
Yes that’s true. It’s easy to set up quickly and put up quickly and doesn’t requite legs (which are also real easy to unclip and drop down and extend). IMO it handles mild to slightly brisk winds just fine in free standing mode. With the legs extended it can handle pretty gusty winds, especially with a line and stake or two. We’ll set up for just a short lunch break if we want the coverage.
Other pros: it's pretty robustly made, and yet fairly lightweight.The cover and all materials are high quality and have stood up very well to the brutal Phoenix sun. Mine is mounted on the back of my camper, but using some lighter weight custom aluminum brackets and the unit weighs 22 pounds. The supplied brackets for a roof rack are close to 10 pounds combined.
It's very rainproof and the fabric is very rugged and blocks light completely. One thing I really like is that there is a keder channel built into the back strip where it amounts against your camper. That allowed me to make a rain gutter with keder strip that would fit into the awning and mount to a keder channel on the back of my camper. One con re: rain is that there’s no flip up peaks to help channel rain off, so it can accumulate a bit. I made a hoop out lightweight tent pole material for the center of the awning that helps.
Cons: the biggest downside to this awning is how hot it gets in direct sun. It’s a dark green exterior with a black interior lining and can really heat up. Even when the outside temperatures are only in the high 70s if there's strong sun out, the underside of the awning can get up to the 130 -140° mark. No kidding. I have to put a reflective cover over the top if I'm going to leave it in the sun for long. The picture was from a very comfortable day in the mountains where the external temp was about 80º.
The other thing to be aware of is that the tensioning straps really should stay horizontal to the awning. Initially, I was attaching them to the end of my rock sliders on a diagonal, and that seemed to put too much downward force on the awning arms. It's not a big deal just something to be aware of.
The main other 180º awning I know about is the Darche, which you might look at too.
Not sure I’d buy this awning again due mainly to the heat issue living in the southwest, but I’ve figured out my work arounds and it’s not worth getting rid of either. In the PNW, it’s probably a pretty good unit to have.
