Something scarry and sad we saw on our visit

[Camping Griswalds]

We saw three awnings that looked like they had snapped in the
middle. One even had strips of the awning still attached to the camper. I can't imagine those poor people who returned from a day in the parks to see their awning in pieces. I tried to post about this earlier, but it must have gotten lost with the software update. We always try to have our awning at an angle. one side at least one foot higher than the other. This way water can't pool in the middle. We usually pull the legs out from the side of the camper and secure them down with 8 " inch pegs. We've seen people also strap their awnings down. What do you do to avoid heartache while you are away from your camper??

 

[Disney Campers]

What do you do to avoid heartache while you are away from your camper

I turn the water supply off, the connection to the commode broke free, we were in the trailer when it happened thank goodness, but i never leave with the water supply on,

We have seen many collapsed awnings, nearly happened to us but we got back before any damage occured

 

[always quiet]

When we were there in Dec., they had 10" of rain in one week. I have never seen rain that hard in my life! (all the CM's compared it to a hurricane hitting! ). It got REALLY bad on Thurs. night into Friday morning. We decided not to go anywhere til it passed. When we crawled out of the trailer late morning, the pop up next to us had their awning ripped right off! DH also keeps our as an angle so the rain runs off the back (and into the sandy area behind the camper).

Since our trailer is a HiLo and with the push of a button, it lowers, we always make sure most of the electrical items are turned off inside the trailer when we leave. It we are plugged into a power source, there is not a problem, but if we are using the battery and things were left on and the battery goes dead, we wouldn't be able to lower the camper. Out of habit, we turn everything off . That way, we'll never have any surprises!

 

[Memph1s]

We turn the water off also. As for the awning we keep it on angle and staked out with 12" metal sand stakes. If there is a chance of strong winds about the only thing you can do is put it away altogether. However, you only need to have one side down about 1'. I have seen some, especially big rigs, that have one side as much as 4' lower than the other. All that does is set you up for wind damage. Made the awning look like a sail.

In case any of you come back to a wet campgrounds and wondered how your awning got lower on one end, it might have been me. I don't know how many awnings I have saved. I just can't sit in camp and watch someone's awning get torn up because they forgot or did not know to lower one end.

 

[ftwildernessguy]

I have told a number of new campers about lowering the corner of the awning, only to be told that they "don't like the way that looks." They change their minds after the first rain, though. Be sure to lower the corner away from your door so that the water drains away from your camper entrance.

 

[sltrawick]

When we were there in June, the camper in front of us had there brand new awning (it was a brand new trailer) snaped right in the middle because of all the rain we had.
They were gone at the parks all day and when they returned home, we offered to help them in any way....and they didn't want any part of it and were very rude to us.
Just trying to be neighborly and this is what we get. Oh well!

 

[PenskeSth1]

We tip our awning and also use 3 foot long Circus tent stakes with tie down straps so our awning won't blow off.
We have never had any problems, but have seen many who dont stake down and their awnings be blown off. We have also put peoples awnings in before for them if they were not at their site. The people we have helped were all pretty thankful.

 

[DMRick]

In case any of you come back to a wet campgrounds and wondered how your awning got lower on one end, it might have been me.

I know you mean well, but I would not be a happy camper if you messed with my awning. It's private property, and you have no way of knowing if my awning has any quirks (which it does). Responsibility is mine, as is the decision to lower or not lower it.

We have an awning on our Holiday, that can only go down so much, and still clear the door when opened...if we came back to the campground, and didn't notice it, and threw open our door, we might end up with a tear in our awning. We also have a center pole, which has to be loosened before being adjusted..which people may not realize, if they don't have one...and a bent center pole wouldn't be noticed, until we went to put the awning away...and the pole wouldn't retract.

Hate to be negative about this, when you mean well..but I'd just as soon people didn't touch our trailer/awning. We have insurance to cover our stupidity, if the awning is damaged.

Doris
UPstate NY

 

[mom2bandp]

We are buying our first pop up (so excited!) which has a screen room and awning, and this is all very new to us. What should we do while we're away from the camper in case of rain...is there a danger of the screen room collapsing? Is there a way to angle it like there would be with just an awning? Thanks!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Any of the awnings/screen rooms I have dealt with on our popups could be adjusted and should be. The outside supports are adjustable - just drop one down a couple of notches.

 

[TRAPPED-PARENT]

This reminded me of a few years ago when a tree fell on an older pop-up in the 1500 loop ... the family didn't arrive back until late at night after a day in the parks.

The FW personnel had everything roped off and was available to help the family once they returned.

What an ending to a day at the parks!!

 

[DMRick]

What an ending to a day at the parks!!

But actually a blessing that the tree fell while they were in the parks and not in the popup. Our Holiday RV (hardside) got hit in our driveway last fall with a tree..and sustained $9,000 damage (all fixed, good as new), and I can't imagine being inside a popup when a tree hits.

 

[mom2bandp]

I agree TRAPPED-PARENT, what a way to end the day! The very first time we tent camped in FW we came back from the parks to find rain had totally collapsed our tent, and all of our bedding and everything inside was soaked. We were in the laundry room at the comfort station late that night washing and drying everything just so we could go to bed, on top of having to set the tent back up again. Needless to say, we learned a lot about tents and tent camping on that trip. We still loved it though, and have been back in a tent many times!