Awnings

[NM Novice]

I am getting ready to take my fairly new to me pup out in March.  I rehabbed an older pup and it did not have an awning.  It has the track for one, so I am looking for advice about what it good, what is not, places to buy one, etc.  We had the pup ready last summer but New Mexico wildfires caused us to cancel all of our outings.  This is our first long trip, and I think we will need the shade.

Thanks!
 

[generalbeluga]

Bear Creek makes a top quality product at a price that can't be beat ($250 for 11')!  The only beef I have is that their awnings don't come with a solid metal header that holds the awning tight from side to side when open and provides a storage area for the support legs to fold into.  It is simply a piece of #12 vinyl with a grommet in each outer corner to put your pole into and guy wires on.  I would have been willing to pay a few dollars more to have the ridged header.  I would not buy another awning from them until they add this feature. 

John

[matwiyj]

I bought a bag-awning from Interwest Sports last summer. I needed to buy the 6' awning (small trailer) so was forced to purchase the Classic model instead of the Supreme one and am very happy with it. The awning is one of the "Must haves" for me and this one is a winner.

http://www.interwestsports.com/bag%20awnings.html

[NM Novice]

The awning from Interwest looks like a good product.

[D-mo]

Awnings are a basic necessity of camping in a PUP.  Picking an awning that is easy to set up, that may take a bit more time for the inital installation on your Pup maybe a good thing.  Being through a number of awnings in the past .. my pick would be a Carefree of Colorado ... as it is a nicely made awning, very easy to set up .. and very easy to install .. (can attach to your sidewalls).
Other bagged stuff with polls will sit in the "bag" and never be used due to the problems of staking and guy-lines.

d-mo

[AZbirddog]

I have a Interwest Supreme I bought for my Coleman Bayside. It really works great, we love it..

[chiefd]

Awnings are a basic necessity of camping in a PUP.  Picking an awning that is easy to set up, that may take a bit more time for the inital installation on your Pup maybe a good thing.  Being through a number of awnings in the past .. my pick would be a Carefree of Colorado ... as it is a nicely made awning, very easy to set up .. and very easy to install .. (can attach to your sidewalls).
Other bagged stuff with polls will sit in the "bag" and never be used due to the problems of staking and guy-lines.

d-mo

I concur the only one to buy is the carefree of colorado.  This is the one to get.  All poles store inside the awning when put away.  Installation is fairly easy. 

[hoppy]

+1 for the Carefree of Colorado "Campout" style awning.

 I replaced my original bag awning on my first 1978 Palomino with one of these during my renovation of the PU back in 1992, and paid $ 210.00 for the 10 foot wide awning. One of the best investments I ever made.
 All the rafter and vertical poles are attached to the front rail of the awning, and the vertical poles can be set in the carport position, or attached to the side of the PU. I was partial to using the poles in the carport position...I would always bump my head on one of the poles when attached to the side of the PU, but this was only my prefference, and your situation my vary from mine.

[NM Novice]

Thanks.  My area dealer carries these awnings.  Looks like a great product and a great value.

[golfnutsjosh]

love my carefree of colorodo.  had it for 4 years and have never had any problems.  so easy to set up i can do it by myself!

[hosh]

+1 Carefree

[stumps]

Awnings are a basic necessity of camping in a PUP. 

So now you're going to get the advice that is opposite of this.  My question to you was going to be do you really want an awning since your camper currently doesn't have one? 

Another option is to get a free-standing screen room that you can put anywhere on your campsite you want.  Awnings are like leveling methods, you're going to get opinions about them from all over.  My personal one is that they aren't worth having - I don't care for the effort to deploy them and having to take them down every time I leave the campsite. 

Having said that, I believe that Carefree of Colorado makes one that is a pretty neat design -

http://www.carefreeofcolorado.com/carefree/products?action=product&productid=79&categoryid=42


This is a better design than having support poles on the ground.. IMHO

[Old Granddad]

Got our first pup with an awning in 2008 and have never used it.  I suspect, though, that shaded campsites are a lot harder to come by in New Mexico than in the Pacific Northwest.  An awning is not a necessity for a pup, at least for some of us, ergo I respectfully disagree with D-Mo.

In the Cascade mountains the wind picks up considerably right about sunset, then dies out as it gets dark.  It'd be a pain to roll up the awning late every afternoon, then put it back out again the next morning.  Out on the plains, I should think the wind issue would be a deal killer--no awing up at any time.  But I don't camp there, so I'm just speculating.

I do agree with D-Mo that a free standing screen room can be mighty nice to have, especially if it's put up over the picnic table.  We ALWAYS take one along when we tent camp.  Bug-free dining, board and card games after dinner, reading, cooking out of the bugs and (ew!) the rain, etc., can be pretty swell.  And screen rooms are cheap, at least those made with polyethylene roofs.  Watch for sales.  You can often pick one up for around $50.  If it only lasts three or four seasons, eh, bien, toss it and buy another cheapie (the sun is killer on plastic tarps).  When we take the pup, though, all that is taken care of--we're off the ground and out of the bugs and the rain.  Life is good with a pup.

[wavery]

Just so you know.... there are other options out there. Several of us here have purchased the A&E Trimline awning from this eBay seller. I bought mine nearly 5 years ago and it is still in perfect condition with the current owner.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/A-E-TRIM-LINE-10-CRANBERY-AWNING-CAMPER-POP-UP-PICKUP-/140689273119?pt=Motors_RV_Trailer_Camper_Parts_Accessories&hash=item20c1bbf11f

The awning is almost identical to the Carefree in that it can be mounted to the trailer or straight to the ground and all of the legs are permanently attached and swivel up into the main frame for storage (just like the CareFree). The fabric is the same also.

Here are pics of my installation:

[Old Granddad]

VERY nice!  I would probably change my tune about awnings if I had one like that.