INFORMATION ABOUT CARAVANS CAMPING & MOTORHOMES - TIPS HINTS & ADVICE

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CARAVAN AWNINGS

General Information

All Awnings are basically some form of extension to the ground area of your caravan or motorhome, usually made of fabric with supporting poles. FULL awnings generally fit into a rail on the side of your caravan, the "canvas" slides into the rail following the shape of your van, and then the various poles are assembled inside and the fabric is pegged down to the ground, stabilising the whole structure.

PORCH awnings, sometimes called annexes, usually cover about a third of the size of your van, and look a bit like a porch on a building, hence the name. Also available are pull-out sun-screens, some of these having side and front panels effectively making them into FULL awnings by your choice. These are mainly fitted permanently to the sides of Motorhomes, and are now becoming available "in a bag" to fit the awning rails of towed caravans or motorhomes. Campervans and small motorhomes often use free-standing awnings, especially where rear entry doors are a feature, these allow the user to detach and drive away the base vehicle, leaving the awning still on site.

The poles used come as steel, (heavy-ish), or alloy, (lighter but liable to bend or deform if overtightened), or fibreglass, (light but may splinter and break if subjected to sideways stress)

Newcomers and those erecting a new awning for the first time might find a copy of the "Oxford Guide to Colourful Swear Words" and the details of a good divorce lawyer extremely useful things to have at hand for the first few attempts! 8>)

The most important (and usually the hardest!) thing to get right is the size. Awnings are normally purchased via Caravan Dealers and they will have a guide to sizing the awning for your van going by the year, make and model. Note however that this is a "guide", and maybe should not be taken as totally definitive, especially on an older or unusual make of van, and the guide will always opt for the safer larger choice from that awning manufacturer. The difficulty in sizing often arises because your caravan may need an awning that is (say) 934cms, and the awning from the maker your dealer has in stock is either 925cms or 950cms so an awning from this source is either 9cms too small or 16cms too big. The smaller size will be too small to peg down and may even tear if you try to do so, whilst the big one will need you to raise your caravan evenly on blocks to take up slack, or have a piece taken out to bring it nearer the actual size. Try to get as near as you can to the correct size, even if it means asking your dealer to supply a make he does not normally stock.

Since awnings are normally supplied by caravan dealers, we simply list the maker and any website they may have. You should normally contact your local dealer to purchase.

The above information supplied by courtesy of www.xetronella.co.uk

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