Hi Richard,

I am glad no offense was taken and you enjoyed the reference.

I  have been camping without an awning or solar panels and like yourself,
it has never been part of my set up and is something I found unnecessary
and frivolous.  But as I refurbish my Westy, (currently in a very long
restoration), I am planning to add these components.  Partly due to where I
live (like Alistair) living in the Pacific Northwest with an abundance of
moisture - which when it is not raining, seemingly is on fire during the
summer months! And also because I want to recharge my aux battery during
longer stays or have it in a positive state voltage wise.  As well, I have
been around other Vanagon owners with awnings and solar panels and
definately see the upside - can make things just a little easier and more
manageable given the environment.

I am purchasing these items very slowly off Craigslist at a discount which
suits me in both the cost factor and the reuse.

Is your van back from being repaired - or is that still on-=going?

BT

On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 7:13 PM Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net>
wrote:

> Outstanding Bruce!!!  Watching it brought me back to my carefree college
> days, at UCSB.
>
> (BTW...one of the reasons I sent this "awning" thing, was to try to
> understand why some emails go immediately to SPAM.  And others don't.  I
> don't have a solution, it's complicated.  But sure, I'm gungho about any
> and all methods of camping.  I have no issues with Class A Motorhomes, or
> backpackers, or in-between.)
>
> But for sure....I'm looking forward to becoming grumpy....with no excuses
> needed!!  Ha-ha!!
>
> On Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 05:56:18 PM PDT, Bruce Todd <
> beeceetee@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> I appreciate minimalist camping but I am looking forward to using the
> second hand ARB awning I picked up a few months back - just another blade
> on the Swiss Army knife of vehicles.
>
> This post made me think of Grumpy Old Men - "Back in the day we didn't need
> no fancy protective awnings.  Instead we had potato sacks which we tied
> together with our shoelaces from our hand-me down shoes.  When the sun went
> down we would spend three hours taking all the knots apart so we could put
> our shoes back on.  We didn't need awnings - and we liked it!
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x7S2H-g60c
>
> In jest!
>
> Bruce
>
> On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 5:24 PM Richard Koerner <rjkinpb@sbcglobal.net>
> wrote:
>
> >  Ha-ha, good one Dave!  Heck, I'm going to start collecting Social
> > Security next month!!  And there is nobody as cheap as me!
> >
> >    On Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 05:20:19 PM PDT, David McNeely <
> > davmcneely40@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >  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.
> >
> >
> >
>