Hmm.  I love my Catalina and I'm keeping an eye out for another one to mount
on the driver's side of the van.

We had three Westies together at Darrington last year: one with the
Catalina, a Fiamma and I think an Olympic.  The Fiamma has to be open all
the way or not at all, the Olympic was very awkward, but the A & E is very
easy to use and adjust.

YMMV

On Fri, May 30, 2008 at 9:11 PM, Stuart MacMillan <macgroup@comcast.net>
wrote:

> These are heavy duty commercial rigs and very heavy.  Shipping weight is 55
> lbs.  They are designed for daily use, and need to attach to a rack, not
> the
> vehicle.  Probably last forever though.
>
> I had a www.shadyboy.com on my Vanagon that I left on it when I sold it.
>  My
> EVC had a Catalina awning on it, so I didn't think I needed it.  Big
> mistake.  The Catalina is a POS, and only 8' wide, as opposed to the
> shadyboy being 10'.  First time I tried to use it I destroyed it. It was so
> difficult to open and close that a light wind made it impossible to close,
> and I broke off one of the flimsy aluminum posts trying.  That meant the
> spring unwound, and I had to unwind the other one too to manually roll up
> the awning.  I almost had to cut it off the side of the van.
>
> It wasn't suitable for the EVC, it needed to have the posts attached to the
> side of the van to work properly, and that can't be done on the EVC.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Monsieur Lafaire aka obeechi
> Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 6:11 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Thule Awning
>
> Haven't seen anyone review this one here
>
> http://www.etrailer.com/p-TH326.htm
>
> I know some have reviewed the other ones out there... forget, think the
> fiama was maybe the best (so far)?
>

--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
Crescent Beach, BC
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27