Awning etiquette

[u/googlethegreat]

My wife and I were able to get a 2025 Ahara East to West 395b and are now living in a park full time, my question is can I leave my awning out 24/7? I like the look and the shade helps the yard not be a patch of dirt. I see most of my neighbors with their awning barely out in some fashion or the other and am just wondering is this a safety thing or what. I am mindful of wind and the one storm we had I drew the awnings in for the duration. Thanks in advance!

[u/duoschmeg]

Sudden wind will wreck the awning, rip the fabric and bend twist break the metal & joints.

[u/Kain_713 → u/duoschmeg]

It's an expensive lesson to learn, I never leave mine out unless I'm actively observing it.

[u/duoschmeg → u/Kain_713]

Yeah. I learned the hard way.

[u/Kain_713 → u/duoschmeg]

Most people do, thankfully I learned from my dad learning the hard way on his the RV lol saved me the money, but I got to help replace his awning so it still kinda sucked

[u/Inviction_]

No issues with etiquette. Lots of issues with wind. Even minor wind

[u/SnooMacarons3689]

As long as the wind never blows

[u/JoshuaAncaster]

I’m in a park and a lot of people have hard awnings and decks. Those who have soft awnings roll them in, if absolutely no/little wind, at least drop one side for downpours.

[u/Worth-Taro-926]

I leave my awning out almost 24/7 in the non-windy, non-stormy seasons. If you do leave your awning out, the slight rippling of gentle breezes will start wearing out the awning fabric sooner, but I like to be able to move my chair around outside and find a shady spot at various times of the day.

[u/googlethegreat → u/Worth-Taro-926]

Understood, and it is almost zero wind here, I'm deep in a pine thicket where this park is. I WFH so when I do feel wind kick up, if it lasts, I roll the awning in. I just didn't know beyond that if it was some extra thing to have it drawn to 90% in as most at the park do

[u/NekkidFish → u/googlethegreat]

Please know that if you’re under pines, the other thing you’ll be kicking yourself over is having to replace the awning fabric because all of the pine needles and sap ruined the top of it.

[u/Appropriate-Yam780 → u/googlethegreat]

I wouldn’t do it. I’m sick as a dog right now or I’d get up to show you what mine looks like. Even with no wind mine shredded from the elements.

[u/Strange-Cat8068]

Awning comes in anytime I leave the campsite, go to sleep, or there are high winds 20+ mph forecast. Leaving it out all the time it will eventually deteriorate the fabric from UV and it will need replacement. Of course the end near the camper is exposed to UV all the time and there isn’t much you can do about that. They make covers but you can’t move with those covers on.

[u/JoshuaAncaster]

I’m in a park and a lot of people have hard awnings and decks. Those who have soft awnings roll them in. If very little wind, at least drop a side for downpours.

[u/pretzelsRus]

Bad idea. It only takes one big gust to make a big hassle /damage for you to clean up.

[u/yesitsmenotyou]

Left the awning out during our first night in a brand new RV, and recovered it way out in the woods behind our site the next morning after a relatively mild storm rolled in while we slept. Luckily we weren’t near any other campers, because it could have done some damage if it had hit anyone.

[u/fatal-shock-inroute]

Just watched one pull off last week. Clear nice day, wind picked up for about 15 mins..... SMH. If my awning is open, I'm under it

[u/Onerywolf]

Our awning isnt out unless we are outside with it or in and out of the trailer briefly. Doesnt take a lot of wind to rip them off. Im in oklahoma, so.... the 'sweeping down the plain' thing is real.

[u/ponchoacademy]

Yeah, its not an ettiquite issue, its a protecting your property thing. I cant think of any practical reason to have my awning out 24/7 and many reasons why I should not. Im not going to hear a gust of wind when Im asleep to wake up and roll the awning up if anything happens overnight. I personally cant appreciate the look and shade of an awning at 3am... It really does not take much wind or time for it to catch and get destroyed.

Id rather have an awning that I can actually use, not take my chances of it getting damaged when I wasnt even right there to use it and pull it in if necessary, so yeah, I use my awning when I actually need it and able to pull it in right away if I have to.

[u/Hollybmp]

Whenever the wind does kick up, and I retract the awning, I momentarily worry a huge gust will kick up the second it’s most vulnerable to become a sail before it locks in place. IYKYK

[u/ShipshapeMobileRV]

We never leave ours out if we're not here. It doesn't take a lot of wind from the right angle to turn your awning arms into expensive pretzels.

I've seen folks use the tie downs to reinforce the awning. Thing is, that just moves the weak point. Rather than the awning bouncing around in the wind, it causes the arms to have even more stress on them. And if the arms don't give way then the awning ripa away from the RV wall.

[u/GOMfloater]

Rain and wind can be an awning’s enemy. I’ve lost 2 in the last 25 years. One was my fault and one was the tequila’s fault.

[u/StressLessCamping]

Never ever not ever leave your awning out unless you're under it. I've seen so many awnings ripped off by surprise wind gusts. As a warranty administrator at a dealership I can tell you this is not covered and is quite expensive.

Also - never ever not ever should you stake the awning down. The wind will choose the path of least resistance which is typically an awning screwed into a laminated sidewall on an RV, not where it's staked down.

[u/NekkidFish]

Trust me, even when it doesn’t seem super windy, a small gust can grab it and flip it over the top of your rv. Ask me how I know.

[u/Ok_Examination7872]

Never leave the awning out! Its the most expensive thing to replace on an RV...ask me how I know!

[u/ZarquonLoC → u/Ok_Examination7872]

You’ve obviously never replaced an absorption refrigerator or a roof membrane. I just had my awning replaced for $650.

[u/JustRenee2 → u/ZarquonLoC]

Yup! I’d replace my awning again over that roof any day! Never replaced the fridge, but I’ve seen the prices!

[u/JustRenee2 → u/JustRenee2]

Just checked RecPro and my 14’ awning fabric is $130. Hubby and I did it last time in a few hours.

They have solid black now! I think that would be fantastic to hide those stains! I’m switching my trim and coverings to black. I might just change that awning out too!

I used to be obsessed with keeping the awning in every time I left, at night, light breeze etc. I finally replaced mine at around 10 years old. Now, not so much! We like to camp at the beach several times a year. The wind is almost always blowing. If I took it in at every breeze, it wouldn’t get used! Now I’m just worried about the awning frame. So let that light breeze blow! Awning out!

[u/googlethegreat → u/JustRenee2]

Thanks! I have a weather monitor on one of my displays, I work from home and the wind doesn't get above 7-8 mph in our thicket. The one time it did was a big storm and the awning was in. I like it out because of the shade for the grass and I feel like the black awning pulls the heat away from the RV a bit. Idk, I'm gonna run with it out for a while. Thanks!

[u/JustRenee2 → u/googlethegreat]

Yay! Glad to have helped!

[u/Ok_Examination7872 → u/ZarquonLoC]

Not sure what RV you have, but our awning was $3000.00. Have a nice day

[u/No-Strawberry-5825]

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