MY experience w/ my Shady Boy is the same as Mr. Squirrel's-use the tricks
learned the hard way & it works great, for about 10 years also.

YMMV,

Mr. BZ

On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 10:58 AM, Rocket J Squirrel <
camping.elliott@gmail.com> wrote:

> I've been using a Shady Boy for over a decade now -- in thunderstorms,
> hailstorm and heavy heavy rain, winds that toppled camp gear. It's never
> let me down.
>
> There are some tricks.
>
> Always securely tie down the outer two corners so winds can't blow the
> awning up. Always use the optional blow-down poles so winds can't blow
> the awning down. In heavy rain, shorten the outer corner tiedown lines
> to pull the corners earthward so rain will sluice off and not pool on
> the awning.
>
> When set up like this, it's never let me down.
>
> --
> Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
> 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
> Bend, Ore.
>
> On 05/25/2015 09:59 AM, Stuart MacMillan wrote:
>
>> I've had a Shady Boy, and it's a bit of a PITA to deal with. And, you
>> ALWAYS need to tie it down.  One time I didn't, and a sudden gust of wind
>> on a calm day blew it upwards, and the center fiberglass rod was
>> "slingshot" into the van and put a big dent in the cabinet. It would have
>> put a big dent in me if I had been in there.
>>
>> Same goes for the Fiamma or any other awning.  The PO of my son's van had
>> a Fiamma that blew up like this and it ripped off the rain rails, partially
>> tearing them away from the van body, and breaking the seal between the roof
>> and the body.  The awning was destroyed (or at least he thought so since he
>> tossed it), and it took me a while to figure out where the water in the
>> back of the  van was coming from.  It was coming in where the roof panel
>> seal was broken.  Now I need to weld the rain rail back to the body. There
>> was also a lot of rain rail rust under those mounting brackets, so I can
>> understand the desire to not modify or permanently attach anything to the
>> van.
>>
>> Probably Ron's EZ Awning for me next.
>>
>> Stuart
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
>> Of Kk Al
>> Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2015 12:40 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Awning advice
>>
>> Hi all.
>> We are considering an awning purchase for our 87 Syncro with no pop top .
>> We'd like something as desrete and slim as possible. And of course, does
>> little or no permanent change to the vehicle.
>>
>> Any suggestions are appreciated.
>>
>>

--
Tom Buese