An awning isn’t unlike a spinnaker on a boat. In the right conditions, the wind can whip it up, bend aluminium arms like plasticine, and render it useless in a blink of an eyelid.
The two most common areas of awning failure are:
1. The wind pulling the pegs out of the ground and damaging the awning. Avoid pegging through the awning pole feet, as this limits the pegs to thin steel pegs that offer limited purchase into the ground, often straight down. Instead, use a commercial tie down kit such as Ground Dogs, that mimic a guy rope, with webbing straps and thick pegs with a coarse-like thread. These can be screwed into the ground with a hand tool or drill. The coarse thread offers increased grip on the earth. Better still, they can be inserted on an angle like a normal peg in a guy rope, for much better resistance.
2. The wind whisking the guy ropes off the top of the pole spigots – this is limited to the hard floor style of camper that use upright poles with spigot ends, that insert through the canvas eyelet. A guy rope sits on top and is pegged to the ground. The Supa Peg Tarp Buddy is a great accessory. It screws into the spigot, compressing the guy rope against the eyelet, preventing it from being blown off.
Tarp buddies are sold in packs of four ($14.90 per pack), while the Ground Dogs are available in a range of accessory packs. The pack above retails for $98. They make great Xmas presents and are a good addition to your awning essentials pack. Save thousands on awning damage and protect your precious shade. Available in-store at The Dirt Off Road Campers.
