Heading off this weekend fir the first time in our new-to-us caravan having only ever camped in a tent before. Hoping that the threat of snow will be a nonsense...
Just wondering how an awning works in conjunction with a hardstanding pitch? Do we 'park' the caravan at the edge of the hardstanding so that the awning would be pitched on the grass? Or can the awning be pitched on the hardstanding too?
I wouldn't bother with an awning this time of year unless you have dogs or things to store. As a rule we don't use the awning early and late season due to the drying of it.
It does strike me that it may be a bit of a gaff but we do have a dog and I thought we'd store our bikes in it too. I'm keen to have a look at it as it came as an extra with the caravan and we've not seen it yet. We're heading to the NEC in a couple of weeks and so just wanted to see if the one we've got will serve what we need or whether we might spend some time seeing what else is available at the show
So quite a few poles involved then. Have you practised putting it up if not you will need to take some Gaffer tape with you apply a strip to each persons mouth and things should be fine . As was previously mentioned drying could be a problem and the other is weight. You will need to make sure that you dry it out properly or it could get mouldy. We have Two porch awning both air ones and one with a single pole at the front the one is made from a nylon type material and the other is thick heavy duty. Its hard work getting them through the awning rail especially the thicker one and early morning this time of the year they are wet and sometimes frozen. Thats why we don't bother. We are hoping to go away next week Wed, Thurs and Friday but we are not taking an awning but then again its just the Two of us.
Great advice camcroft thanks. We haven't practised, no, however from putting the tent up my husband has learned that the best thing to do is apply gaffer tape and obey orders, lol
Good point about the drying out. Perhaps we'll wait and see. We'll be towing with our van and are only venturing 9 miles from home so if the worst comes to the worst we can chuck it in the van and dry out when we get home - although I'm sure that sounds simpler on paper than it is in practise....
Presumably you wouldn't bother with any kind of ground covering in the awning at this time of year?
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We use a cheap blue tarp when we're on a hard standing pitch,it's amazing how much gravel you walk into the van,if it rains,it doesn't take long to walk the wet grass inside.with a floor cover,you can take your shoes off and sweep the grass etc' up.
Quote: Originally posted by Paul B on 11/2/2016
Hardstanding is normally a gravel/stone finish which you position both van and awning onto. You will need rock pegs for the awning.
Second the rock pegs. We have had them bend on us on some CC sites. We try ans use screw pegs with the drill as it makes it a lot easier.
Could be worth taking it with you, even if you just spend some time on Saturday pitching it, checking out the size/condition etc, then taking it down same day without the hassle of it getting wet. At least you'll know what you've got and will better able to compare it with other awnings at the show.
We're not off in our van until Easter, but we'll not be using the awning at this time of year either...
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Topic: Awnings and hardstanding pitches
