Learned the hard way with a fiamma to not only stack it down, with guidelines, and take down at night. Rain, wind, awake with a bang.  Wrestling in the dark and repairs in the morning, would have destroyed if not tied how down. An awning is a sail ready to fly .
Never had problems with fiamma dripping between mounting and entryway. High cost, one person roll out, and with Northwest rains, easy to adjust rain drainage as the weather changes.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

-------- Original message --------
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Date: 11/14/2015 11:30 AM (GMT-08:00)
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: A Westy awning

It was a clear, sunny day at a coastal campground, well away from the beach,
where It's always breezy. With no warning a sudden gust came directly at it.
Lifted it up at a 45 degree angle, and then it was basically a bow with an
arrow in it.  I tied it down every time I used it after that.

Stuart

-----Original Message-----
From: Rocket J Squirrel [mailto:camping.elliott@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, November 14, 2015 10:41 AM
To: Stuart MacMillan; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: A Westy awning

On 11/14/2015 09:48 AM, Stuart MacMillan wrote:

> Before that, I had a Shady Boy on my '84 Westy.  That was okay, but
> one time the wind caught it and the center fiberglass rod shot out
> into the van like an arrow, putting a deep dent into the cabinet. It
> might have put one in me if I'd been in there.

Yikes. I use my Shady Boy in all kinds of weather: hail, heavy rain, gusty
wind, and when properly staked-down it's been bulletproof. I have had the
center pole drop down to the ground with a clatter when wind shakes it loose
from its anchor hole, but have never had it hurl itself into the van with
lethal force, that's for sure.

--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
Bend, Ore.