Awning pegs and hard standings
Comments
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I read this and as someone who never wields anything in the direction of an awning peg I think I'd adjust my travelling style to a non awning one, like many do. Perhaps a canopy could be used on a softer pitch but if you're going to possibly wreck the other good arm I'd start thinking about life without an awning and enjoy your van anew.
PS The moment we got our first caravan I disliked awnings as it prevented us from decamping quickly and moving on. So I've never been a fan even though we've used them in the past.
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Brue I think your right. If I was the OP that's what I would do, go awning free.
On site now, going home day, so we packed away the porch awning yesterday before dinner.
Last nights dinner was in the slow cooker, in the awning. Picked it up, put on the caravan cookers glass top! Not missing the awning one bit.
It's nice to have the extra dry space, but to be honest, you dont actually need it, unless of course you have bedrooms in there.
Be more inventive with the caravan, we have electric kettle,toaster, coffee machine, George grill, all in the awning, all could be replace with gas ones.
Use the car more for storage, not ideal, but do able.
if you can take the caravan carpets up so muddy shoes and paws arn't as much of a problem, throws on the seats. IKEA sell large coconut floor mats, one of those outside.
When we used to tow the caravan for our weekend stays, we never put the porch awning up, not enough time away to justify the hassle, havnt used a full awning in umpteen years dont actually own one anymore.
I think you should rise to the challenge, you never know, you could later advise others on the tips and tricks, in the end, we could all end up ditching the canvas
Be good.
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We came to caravanning from tenting in our 50's. Partly because we did not want to put a tent up again.😀 We have managed without one with both our first smaller and now our current U2 Cadiz. We have used a smallish roll out on both. However, the main use of that has been to BBQ under when it's wet, so hardly essential. We will shortly be switching to a MH with a fair bit less space than we have now. I am sure we will adapt.
I would look towards the positives. You can now arrive on site and be set up in a fraction of the time it used to take.
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no problem at all, thanks for re-posting
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I suppose the awning has the advantage of being fastened to a large van on t'other side, where my event shelter was freestanding. And the difference between a whole row of bottles and my couple of jerricans (plus some iron weights) placed at each corner obviously counted too!
PS re hammers, which is obviously a bit off topic... the most impressive I saw was when working next to a travelling blacksmith at a heritage event. One little tap to position the peg, (iron, of course, and substantial) then one clout and it was all the way in. And the same with each one, all the way round his tent!
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I’m not sure anyone has been ‘telling’ the OP he doesn’t need an awning. We’ve been suggesting what to many of us is the simplest solution. Others, like you David, have suggested the screw type pegs.
Let’s face it, unfortunate as it is, there really isn’t an ideal solution for someone in the OP’s circumstances to enable them to continue using a peggable awning.
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David
The OP also mentioned he had difficulty raising his right arm above shoulder height which would suggest to me that he might struggle with a canopy? How well the OP can mange in the future very much depends of whether there likely to be an improvement in his condition or whether he has to put up with it in the longer term. I think the suggestions on not using an awning were really only made if it was going to be a temporary problem that would resolve itself. If it is a longer term problem perhaps a wind out canopy might be the answer especially if the leg brackets were fixed to the side of the van then on calm days you could get away with no pegging. The OP has not expanded on what he uses an awning for so it is possible that a canopy of any sort is not suitable?
David
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This is the very reason we moved from a 'manual' rollout to a Thule wind out.
As mentioned earlier, we tend to use the Thule roof quite often from May to September, and occasionally put the sides in for stays of a week or more. Between October and April, we just use the caravan without an awning at all.
David
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I think the answer is not to use pegs as normal.
My method is to use steel tube (conduit) thread through the awning rubbers and hold down both ends with whatever takes your fancy, got this idea from NEC when looking at awnings, the concrete floors are similar to club hard standing,
Ps it will also keep the awning sides straight and true
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There you go. A roof rack with a selection of scaffold poles. Decent bit of weight in them.
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Scaffold poles ain't conduit tube, constructive help for the op is what is needed, my conduit system works well with little added weight screw pegs job done.
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Thank you for all the your replies. There are some good suggestions for us to work with.
My wife and I both suffer with problems in our hands, knees and shoulders, and I have an additional problem with my back. Up until I had the injury to my arm, we managed to erect the awning between us. The only issue we have had, has been pegging out the awning. The issue wouldn't be as bad on a grass pitch, well at least I don't think it would.
The awning is an huge bonus to us. Our caravan is a 5 berth, with bunks, which requires that we make up the double bed from the front dinette. With our joint issues, it's much easier to leave the bed made up and use the awning for dinning, watching tv, chilling with a book and a glass of wine, etc.
We have a one week window to grab a week away with the caravan in March, before my cancer treatment kicks off again. We've decided to have a week at Norfolk Broads Caravan park. We will use the opportunity to discover exactly what each of can and can't do, and to work on making adaptations to how we work together. Obviously, if we can't manage the awning we need to ascertain if we can "survive" without it in the future. In the meantime I think I need to go do a little shopping.
Again, thank you for all the helpful suggestions. We really do not want to give up our caravanning, and Ollie the Labrador is missing patrolling his awning.
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Have a great time, been to that site, and it's a good one in a great location. There are service pitches there which might help you too.
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Once again thank you for the replies.
A series of events beyond our control now means we have to sell our caravan. The serious arm injury hasn't improved and I have I continue to have limited movement and strength in my right arm.
I have since been diagnosed with a serious illness, for which I'm currently undergoing treatment. If that wasn't bad enough the storage site we have our caravan at is closing, due to the expansion of the site next door.
I don't think we were intended to caravan into our twilight years.
All the best.
Ian
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