Excellent advice. I actually had that last weekend, it was really windy when we went to bed, and the awning seemed like it was going to come off in the wind, so I went out and closed it.
My neighbor, not so lucky or smart. The wind ripped half of the awning off, and they were staying for another week!
I think it's a good idea to just close the awning when you are headed to bed whether it's windy or not. You just don't know what the night will bring.
Oh and don't forget to clean up your site too! My unfortunate neighbor also had debris everywhere, that used to be on their picnic table.
Good advice... thanks for posting!
Mommy , Skyler , Sammy...the wonder dog
TV: 2000 Ford Explorer Sport 2dr 4WD
HTT: 2004 Jayco JayFeather 18ft Hybrid; Prodigy brake control (with Eaz-lift WD hitch)
In thirty years as an insurance agent, the MOST common claim my customers experienced with RVs was damage to the awning caused by wind--in fact, it was far and away the most frequent claim. My customers had the claims while parked and while driving and these claims are covered by your Comprehensive coverage unless excluded (and I have never heard of that exclusion on an RV policy) and subject to the Comprehensive deductible.
The very first gizmo I bought for my MH was an awning lock and after driving the unit in some pretty stout wind conditions, I swear by them. I don't have to constantly check my mirrors while driving in the wind anymore and if you have seen, as I have, one of these things come loose on the highway, you don't ever want to go there.
I have seen many folks leave their awnings extended for long lengths of time but all of them have several tie downs and most have had awning rooms attached.
I would never leave my unit with the awning out without tie downs and, frankly, even with them I don't sleep well with the awning moving the motorhome around all night--not even counting the sound of the thing.
We lost one to the wind while rolled up when the spring lost a bit of tension & the gentle 50+ mph gusts in the columbia gorge snaged it but I did know the springs were a bit weak & had just not gotten around to fixing them.
The original post is a bit too harsh, BUT is dead on...it IS about Murhphy's law.
Leave it up at night and you double (triple) the chances that a breeze will come up and make it rattle and wake you up!
But for the fifth time- it's Murphy's law....last summer an afternoon shower got about three or four awinings in the campground...and I'm sure it was simply one, good, sudden wind gust! (Fortunately, I was already a believer in leaving mine up if you aren't there to "guard it").
I, as well as most of the permanent campers in our cg do not roll up our awnings while away during the week. However you do need to take certain measures: Awning must be fully extended and not loose, locking knobs must be tight, use of deflappers, center posts and tie downs is highly recommended. When at camp the awnings are canted to prevent any water buildup and when leaving they are lowered down to the lowest position.
I have been thru numerous high wind and torrential rain storms (including this past weekend) and the only once did anyone at our cg had an awning fail. This person failed to tighten the upper arms AND set up his awing straight across. Well it poured one night and his awning actually filled up with water.The weight of the water was too much for the arms to hold and one side collapsed the next morning. The trailer was about 50 yards away from ours and I heard it happen while having my morning coffee - under our unaffected awning.
We hardly ever used the awning on our '96 Pace Arrow because it was a pain to put out and take up every day & night. We have a Weather Pro now and the awning gets used almost every time we stop. When we were up in Frankenmuth a week ago we left and when we came back the awning was rolled up. The automatic protection is great. That has happened a couple of times for us while we were out and all I have to do is press a button to put it back out.
We were camped in central Idaho a few years ago. (We had a Cougar TT then) It was a nice day, a nice evening, nice sunset, perfect weather.
A few hours later, I’m out in a horizontal driving rain in briefs (undies) trying to get the *&%$#@! awning rolled back up in a 50 MPH wind while trying to see in the pitch black of 2 am. I lost my slippers in the *&%$#@! mud also, and finished getting the awning rolled up with mud covered bare feet.
Lesson learned. The awning is out ONLY when we’re sitting beneath it. We leave or go in for the night, and it’s IN. Now we have a power awning on the Safari, but the rules still apply.
FMCA# F355513. 1997 Safari Continental, 40 foot, 1 slide. Cat 3126B, Allison MD3060. 2000 Durango SLT 4x4 toad with a Blue Ox Aventa II and stopped with a Brake Buddy. Seen on the Road Photo album
, Skyler 
, Sammy...the wonder dog 
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