RE: Rain breaking the awning....
If the awning is allowed to fill up with rain water any awning or some part
of it can fail, water is heavy.
First, I have the largest of the Fiamma awnings, almost ten feet long and
extends around eight feet.  Second, Fiamma provides, with that size awning,
a center rafter to be put in place in case of rain.  And they also warn you
to slope it so that the rain can run off.  I didn't have the center rafter
in place and thought that I had sloped the awning enough to handle the rain,
let it run off.  But the rain started in the middle of the night and when I
heard it I was to lazy to get up and check. The rain was very light, just a
drizzle. It survived for several hours but the buildup of water and the
consequent weight was to much for the gutter mounts,  Just as I was waking
up about 0715 there was a great crash outside as the rear gutter mount
pulled off at the rear of the van.  When it crashed, it broke a hinge
fitting where the extension arm attaches to the outer portion of the casing,
the part that is at the outer edge of the awning.  This was totally my fault
and I should have know better, I had an almost identical failure a few years
ago when a major rain squall and hail storm hit the camp while I was away
from the van.  Major damage that time.