Best Awning?

[akphotobob]

Make your own!

Awnings are super easy to make, everything you need is at Home Depot. You need a tarp. I like the browns ones with silver on the opposite side. For my F150 I use an 8X10, but size it to your rig. If you want walls, get a wider one. To attach it to your rig you need either 3 or 4 large carabiners. For support legs, go to the paint dept and buy adjustable paint extension handles. I got fiberglass poles adjustable from 4 foot to 8 foot. Now all you need is some nylon cord and tent stakes, which you probably already have. To get really fancy you can look for a paint roller handle that screws onto the end of the extension pole. Mine is about 6 inches long and I cut off the roller part. I screw it into the end of the pole and use the end as a stake and drive it into the ground. In good ground it will hold the pole upright by itself while I tie the tarp to the hole on the other end and stake it out. Easy as pie, very cheap and fully adjustable. If the tarp wears out, I buy a new $10 tarp. Bob

 

[Beowulf]

I have to say that I like the Hannibal the most from what I found.

What I want to know is do you have to use legs when you install the walls? I cannot imagine it is strong enough to hold the weight of the walls five feet out from the vehicle. Even if it is I'd just feel better if there were legs for use with the walls.

 

[Beowulf]

Take a look at this Hannibal pdf. It looks like they have a table. Anyone have any info on this thing.

http://www.hannibalusa.com/hannibal_catalog.pdf

 

[Beowulf]

http://www.gunyah.com.au/index.htm

Found another one.

 

[Spikepretorius]

The Hannibal is viewed as the Rolls Royce of awnings over here. They can apparently handle the wind without guy ropes etc. The only problem is I can't afford one. Much more expensive that the others. Worth the bucks though if you can afford it.

 

[Connie]

Originally posted by Beowulf
What I want to know is do you have to use legs when you install the walls? I cannot imagine it is strong enough to hold the weight of the walls five feet out from the vehicle. Even if it is I'd just feel better if there were legs for use with the walls.

No legs required! I could probably hang off of the end of the Hannibal (I haven't tried 'cause I love my awning). I can tell you that the awning (without the sides on) withstood a major sandstorm with no damage. The only problem we had with the sides on in high wind was keeping the bottom out. We burried the apron in the sand and sat the heaviest stuff we had on it and that did the trick. The awning is also extemely useful for stringing the laundry line on.

P.S. Don't leave the Hannibal up at night if there is alot of wind, it rocks the truck too much when you are trying to sleep.

 

[adventureduo]

We are running the Fiamma F35 Pro...and we are very happy with it. It takes like 1 minute to setup, really quick. We really like it. It's the same awning thats on our Horizon. One of the reasons why i chose it was it gets closed up in a hard aluminum clamshell case out and away from the weather. It's super light also. The hannibal, not so much. It's perfect size for us , it will fit 3 people sitting under it and its length is great for roof racks. It can be mounted to nearly any flat surface. The hannibal uses big brackets. AT sells the Fiamma's.

 

[Robert Bills]

All the local Westy folks have one of these: http://www.shadyboy.com/vans/index.html

I contacted the U.S. west coast distributor for the Shady Boy retractable awning and received this reply:

The base price for an awning is $292.00 +$39.00(S&H). The colors are
Burgundy, Dark Blue, Light Blue and Silver (the silver is a reflective
material to keep you cooler and an additional charge of $12.00 is added
for this color). The extra poles cost $25.00 and the awning will come with
stainless brackets and hardware to install on your camper.

To order please fax us at (509)-472-8666 your Visa or MasterCard number,
full name on the card, CVC number (this is the 3 digit number located at
the back of the card), date of expiration of the card, shipping/billing
address, color choice, options and type of vehicle (Vanagon, Eurovan, Ford
etc.). Our fax number is a secure fax.

Regards,
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Salim Miro
Country Homes Campers
FORD & VW CAMPING VAN EXPERTS
http://www.countryhomescampers.com/
email: info@countryhomescampers.com
Voice Mail: (509) 472-8666
Fax: (509) 472-8666
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><

 

[Overland Hadley]

I just bought and installed a Shady Boy awning. I have a report, with lots of photos, on my Tacoma thread. (Link Here)

It is cheaper to order the awning straight from Canada.

I worked with Wolfgang, who is the designer. He was very helpful.

 

[Robert Bills]

I just bought and installed a Shady Boy awning. I have a report, with lots of photos, on my Tacoma thread. (Link Here)

Thanks for the link. Your photos answered my question about how to mount the thing to a Yakima rack. (Haven't decided yet whether a permanently mounted awning would be most useful on the side or the rear of my trailer - but using U-bolts directly to the rack makes it simple enough to experiment.) The feature of the Shady Boy that draws me do it is the relatively narrow width of the case in relation to the width of the awning when set up, which allows mounting in either location.

Do you still like it as much as when you first installed it? How much headroom does it have (looks to arch upward from the mount)? Any tips or advice you can offer a would-be purchaser?.

 

[Overland Hadley]

Thanks for the link. Your photos answered my question about how to mount the thing to a Yakima rack. (Haven't decided yet whether a permanently mounted awning would be most useful on the side or the rear of my trailer - but using U-bolts directly to the rack makes it simple enough to experiment.) The feature of the Shady Boy that draws me do it is the relatively narrow width of the case in relation to the width of the awning when set up, which allows mounting in either location.

Do you still like it as much as when you first installed it? How much headroom does it have (looks to arch upward from the mount)? Any tips or advice you can offer a would-be purchaser?.

I have only had it on the one time (last week) to test fit it, but I like it and it will be on my truck whenever I am traveling.

It does have a slight upwards arch to it. Mine is mounted almost eight feet up on the cargo basket, so there is tons of headroom.

I chose the light blue fabric over the silver because the silver is made from a different kind of fabric, a ploy if I remember right. And Wolfgang said the light blue was a good fabric.

And I did also get the optional down draft poles. If you are going to mount it up high, talk to Wolfgang about longer down draft poles.

 

[Beowulf]

I cannot believe how inexpensive this awnings are. Even is shipping was $100 it would be a good deal.

http://www.brownchurch.co.uk/awnings.html