How to hold down your awning legs without pegs

[DavidofHook]

At last, a method of holding down the awning without pegs.
Having looked longingly at the cast iron weights in the professional markets to hold down the legs of their awnings I was shaken by the price. But then found a much cheaper (er, more economic option) on the internet.
We have been here at Canterbury for a couple of days and they seem to be working well and fulfilling their function.
They are heavy (concrete clad in plastic) but easy to store in the van and to carry around. They are not huge either. They were incredibly easy to fit
So far feeling chuffed with them.

 

[DavidofHook]

Oops! Sorry, I-have managed to post 7 images of the same thing and cannot change it. If any in admin can remove the spares then please do….. I am an idiot!

 

[Jodalo]

At last, a method of holding down the awning without pegs.
Having looked longingly at the cast iron weights in the professional markets to hold down the legs of their awnings I was shaken by the price. But then found a much cheaper (er, more economic option) on the internet.
We have been here at Canterbury for a couple of days and they seem to be working well and fulfilling their function.
They are heavy (concrete clad in plastic) but easy to store in the van and to carry around. They are not huge either. They were incredibly easy to fitView attachment 82938View attachment 82937View attachment 82937View attachment 82937View attachment 82937View attachment 82937View attachment 82937View attachment 82937
So far feeling chuffed with them.

Having seen the result of a flipped over awning in heavy winds that ripped 2 chunks out of the side of a big white, the forces of wind on the area of a Cali awning are immense. I would be surprised if your weights could hold fast. I would still rely on 2x pegs per awning leg hammered in at different angles.

 

[Swiss Cheese]

Never mind the weights, I really like the second pull out(?) awning you have!

 

[DavidofHook]

The side awning is a Fiamma rain sheet (I think they are called) They are very easy to fix, almost nothing to pack and help to hold down the awning as well. They give a lot of privacy and effectively make a room on the side of the van without having to erect a seperate tent.
To put Jodalo's mind at rest I usually have a couple of tie downs as well which can be fixed over the top of the rain sheet. But the rain sheet gives a lot of stability to the awning proper and help to divert any side wind over the top rather than under it and I am hoping we can dispense with them now we have the weights
Oh, Fiamma also do a similar sheet for the sun (not perhaps for the UK!) but that will tend to let in the rain and is no good for our purposes

 

[DavidofHook]

There is another difficulty with directly pegging the awning feet.
The hard standing on Camping Club sites is often ballast laid on a plastic grid under. Once you have a peg through that it is almost impossible to withdraw it. I have had to take a hacksaw to one to free the leg.

 

[Jodalo]

There is another difficulty with directly pegging the awning feet.
The hard standing on Camping Club sites is often ballast laid on a plastic grid under. Once you have a peg through that it is almost impossible to withdraw it. I have had to take a hacksaw to one to free the leg.

Claw hammer.

 

[DavidofHook]

I take a club hammer but not a claw hammer as well. But even so I'm surprised a claw hammer would fit between the leg and the peg. My experience attempting to lever out pegs suggest that even a claw hammer may not have the leverage to shift a peg in that position.
Not tried it though, have you?

Claw hammer.

 

[Jodalo]

I take a club hammer but not a claw hammer as well. But even so I'm surprised a claw hammer would fit between the leg and the peg. My experience attempting to lever out pegs suggest that even a claw hammer may not have the leverage to shift a peg in that position.
Not tried it though, have you?

Err…yes otherwise I wouldn’t have mentioned it. Lol.

 

[Ozzy Pete]

There is another difficulty with directly pegging the awning feet.
The hard standing on Camping Club sites is often ballast laid on a plastic grid under. Once you have a peg through that it is almost impossible to withdraw it. I have had to take a hacksaw to one to free the leg.

You can buy screw in type pegs but you would need a battery powered drill to put then in and take them out.I got a set from Aldi when their camping gear was on sale. About £7.99. And I doubt they will screw directly into rock but will into most hard surfaces.

 

[Kernowboy]

Carrying heavy lumps of concrete around isn’t fair me. Why carry all that excess weight? Must be a better solution….Like pegs….

 

[MeltedGoldfish]

I have the same weights for the same reason. 10kg in total, and great for a quick/temporary weigh down of the legs. They can also be used for weighing down the base of the additional side screen (I use a camping tarp that reaches to the floor) instead of pegging it out, if it’s only for a short time

However…I’ve also now bought the Thule storm kit and that always gets fitted, unless it’s dead calm and I’m not leaving it unattended! At which point the weights (or pegs, whichever used) on the legs are more there just to stop me accidentally kicking the leg out after a few beers…


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[EddieEagle]

Carrying heavy lumps of concrete around isn’t fair me. Why carry all that excess weight? Must be a better solution….Like pegs….

Or how about pegging the legs and using water as ballast?

Water freely available!

 

[DavidofHook]

Or how about pegging the legs and using water as ballast?
View attachment 82954View attachment 82957
Water freely available!

Yes, I had tried that but I found it a lot easier to carry 4 small heavy blocks to the awning than finding water and then filling up buckets and bottles. And I'm not sure I like the appearance with the buckets etc but that is a personal thing.

 

[DavidofHook]

Carrying heavy lumps of concrete around isn’t fair me. Why carry all that excess weight? Must be a better solution….Like pegs….

The weight is not great to carry in the big scheme of things. Pegs get stuck in the ground and can be impossible to remove.
In an emergency a stuck peg or pegs can be a big problem when trying to quickly take down the awning If you can’t free the leg.
I also have Fiamma tie downs and always use a Fiamma rainguard which slides onto the edge of the awning is pegged down and provides more stability. You can see how it works from my picture

 

[California4x4]

This is my solution to holding the awning firm in windy weather where you can’t peg it down. It is also good for keeping awning legs out the way of dogs on leads. But you cant open the drivers door without putting the leg on the floor and
drunk people do try to walk into them. It’s an expensive option as I upgraded the awning legs to the three piece ones (you can get from the club shop) but worth it for me.

 

[willwander]

View attachment 83011
This is my solution to holding the awning firm in windy weather where you can’t peg it down. It is also good for keeping awning legs out the way of dogs on leads. But you cant open the drivers door without putting the leg on the floor and
drunk people do try to walk into them. It’s an expensive option as I upgraded the awning legs to the three piece ones (you can get from the club shop) but worth it for me.

Ace. I need this. Dogs getting wrapped round the legs drives me crazy.

 

[California4x4]

Ace. I need this. Dogs getting wrapped round the legs drives me crazy.

 

[soppelsa]

How do they release when you need to gain access?

 

[California4x4]

How do they release when you need to gain access?

The Mount is made from two products connected together with no physical modifications using stainless steel bolts. The first is a sea sucker universal mount. The second is a Thule wall bracket. If you look at the bracket, there are there are 6 horizontal lines. These are for grip, if you pull up at that point, the locking mechanism for the foot slides up and you can pop the foot out. It takes seconds.

 

[Kemper-van]

However…I’ve also now bought the Thule storm kit and that always gets fitted, unless it’s dead calm and I’m not leaving it unattended! At which point the weights (or pegs, whichever used) on the legs are more there just to stop me accidentally kicking the leg out after a few beers…


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Have been wondering about the Thule storm kit too. Question I have though, is whether there would we a big difference between the thule kit vs fitting additional (spare) tent guy ropes through the top of the awning legs?

In the end, the guy ropes are also used (& succeed) to keep whole tents & awnings down, so not sure why the thule kit includes springs etc. Anyone that can share some insight?

 

[MeltedGoldfish]

There is a Brandrup tie down kit which seems more like just tent guy ropes, and slots into the kador channel. Not sure if that has springs (I’m presuming not).

Where a tent is pegged down and tensioned from multiple angles, the awning is essentially hinged along one edge and presents a big flat surface area for the wind to get under.

The springs (which are pretty stiff) provide just a little bit of give to absorb gusts, which may take the strain off the awning itself. The Thule one is pretty meaty though - I’m sure it would be enough to anchor the Titanic!


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[Ch1pbutty]

Springs just allow a bit of give, so will ease the strain on the awning / awning mounts in strong winds.

 

[Kemper-van]

Springs just allow a bit of give, so will ease the strain on the awning / awning mounts in strong winds.

I agree, but in my opinion, tent guy ropes also have some ‘give’ in them.

I need to take a look at the brandrup ones vs thule vs tent guy ropes. For those last ones, I was thinking of securing the awning leg by guiding 1 rope through the opening of the leg, and then secure it with 2 pegs on both sides of the leg: one in front of the leg, one on the side. This would secure 1 leg on 3 positions in 3 directions. Not sure if my description is clear though…

 

[California4x4]

I agree, but in my opinion, tent guy ropes also have some ‘give’ in them.

I need to take a look at the brandrup ones vs thule vs tent guy ropes. For those last ones, I was thinking of securing the awning leg by guiding 1 rope through the opening of the leg, and then secure it with 2 pegs on both sides of the leg: one in front of the leg, one on the side. This would secure 1 leg on 3 positions in 3 directions. Not sure if my description is clear though…

If the weather conditions mean normal guy ropes aren’t going to keep the awning on the ground, then the awning is not going to be a pleasant place to sit out and there will be so much flapping it won’t support a good night of sleep. You might as well roll it in and go to the pub.

You need to secure the awning, but it’s not important what you do it with.