Staking down our Awning

[KarenLukens]

It's a bit windy here on the west coast and I bought these really nice paracord adjusters on Amazon and thought that I would pass them on because they really work great :)

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013FOVIGC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Then I bought these stakes and they came with the 4 pieces of paracord that made the perfect combo for securing our awning in the wind with the Awning Deflapper Max

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AT2L34A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I'm using rocks to hold the cords down here at the Pacific Ocean but the stakes work when used.

 

 

 

 

 

A week on the ocean :)

 

Reed

[KarenLukens]

The wind came up today and the fog set in, everything is holding tight and the awning is filled like a sail, yet secured to the ground and not even rocking the trailer... much... :) I really like this set up with the arms tied to the trailer and the paracord staking the corners going straight down to the ground. You can't see it in the picture above, but there are 10" stakes under the rocks driven into the hard pack under the sand. It's a good set up even with the 20mph+ gusts, it's holding fast. I put the rocks on top of the stakes to help hold them in place if we did get a bunch more wind, and it's doing fine. If it was worrying me, I would roll it in, but this is working great. Then, we bought the sun shade at Lowe's, it's 6' x 15', sold in the Garden section, we also got the plastic grommets for it there and they hammered in with just one tap.

 

 

And when it's calm and the sun is shining, it really keeps the UV rays away :)

 

[SeaDawg]

That looks awesome.

 

We've seen a lot of awnings ripped from stakes and subsequently ripping off the roof attachments of trailers and motor homes.

 

We stake only when we know we will be around, as you do. I would never trust stakes when I am away from my trailer. When the wind picks up, we disconnect and roll the awning in. Too expensive to replace. The wind stretches and distorts the fabric even if it doesn't rip. Gusts can take you by surprise.

 

Sherry

 

 

 

 

[Overland]

We found that the legs on the new Carefree awnings aren't strong enough to tie them down like you did.  The clamps on the legs aren't strong enough to keep them extended and so they slowly start to collapse back down.  I tried with limited success to rig up something using my REI poles, but there isn't a good attachment point on the awning so the poles kept popping out at the top no matter how much I tightened the tie downs.  I'm going to try to work out a better attachment and also get some stronger tie straps that won't stretch like the paracord I had on hand.  Hopefully that will do the trick since we weren't able to get much use from the awnings on this trip.

 

Carefree also has a shade extender the slides into the main rail, same as the Fiamma, and that might help as well.

[KarenLukens]

We found that the legs on the new Carefree awnings aren’t strong enough to tie them down like you did. The clamps on the legs aren’t strong enough to keep them extended and so they slowly start to collapse back down. I tried with limited success to rig up something using my REI poles, but there isn’t a good attachment point on the awning so the poles kept popping out at the top no matter how much I tightened the tie downs. I’m going to try to work out a better attachment and also get some stronger tie straps that won’t stretch like the paracord I had on hand. Hopefully that will do the trick since we weren’t able to get much use from the awnings on this trip. Carefree also has a shade extender the slides into the main rail, same as the Fiamma, and that might help as well.

 

Hmmm... I've got a bunch of the Blue cement float poles that I use for different things and they have all kinds of different ends or heads that you can put on them. Maybe head down to Home Depot and see what they have for ends because one is a double holed clamp that tightens with a bolt. Or wrapping the poles below the clamps with rubber bungi style bands may strengthen the slides enough to keep them up and in place.