I built my own awning like you did.  I works very well in light showers,
and for shade.  I like it.  In the right camping spot, I tie it off to
trees rather than use the poles. Trees make great shade, however, the best.
But I would never spend hundreds of dollars for a fancy factory built one.
I'm just too cheap, I guess.  old man mcneely

On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 4:52 PM Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

> Awnings on a Vanagon have always baffled me.  I think it has to do much to
> do where you live and where you camp.  Sure, on Facebook and advertisements
> I've seen them all!  What are they for?....sun or rain?  I live in San
> Diego and mostly camp in the West; when I want some shade but don't have
> any, I simply move my campchair to the other side of van.  The rain we get
> out here is either a deluge or nothing.  When a deluge, I sit inside van;
> after the storm passes, I move outside again and enjoy the fresh wonderful
> smells.  I've even camped in 48 states in my van....sun or rain issues
> never seemed to be a problem.  I tried once building my own awning with
> Harbor Freight tarp and collapsible camping poles; to test, I even went up
> to local mountains during most severe thunderstorm....to my surprise, the
> rain actually hit the pavement in the campground and bounced back up!!!
> Felt silly as I was being drenched.  Hey, I'm don't mean any bad intent
> here.  Still....am curious about awnings.  Seems like a lot of hassle and
> expense.
>