4x4Awning.com.au - Which Awning?
We’re all about telling you what awnings are best for you and your 4wd and that means letting you know the good, the bad and the ugly among what’s on the market. The way we do that is by testing each product under real outdoor conditions to see how it performs, then giving our thoughts in a review.
Whether or not we like an awning or not depends on a few things, and we try to give our opinion on each of them. We’re not going to say “Hey, buy this, it’s a great colour!” Here are some of the most important things we look at, and what exactly we’re looking for:
Build quality
Nobody expects an awning to take the same abuse as a set of bull bars or an underguard, but it’s still a piece of outdoor expedition equipment. It’s no use getting one that collapses in a light breeze – you need something robust enough to survive the outdoor life. We look carefully at the quality of the materials used, how well they’re put together and the overall design.
Ease of use
If you get to your camp location and it’s late, raining and getting dark the last thing you want is to be messing about with a complicated awning. We spend time setting up and taking down each awning, and we do it often enough to identify any little pitfalls.
Flexibility
A basic awning that keeps the sun and rain off a patch beside your vehicle is great, but you can get a lot more out of it too. We look at how easy it is to add lighting, tent walls and mosquito nets.
If there’s anything else we think you need to know we’ll mention that too, but we always cover the basics. If you think we missed something just let us know!
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Instant Awnings28 Aug '13 The traditional design of vehicle awning is quick and easy to set up, and some new models like the foxwing style are even easier. There’s always room for improvement though. After all setting your awning up might be a two minute job on a nice sunny day, but when you really need the extra shelter – when it’s windy and raining, for example – it can take a lot longer. It can also become a real struggle if you’re doing it on your own. Anything that makes it easier is a welcome development. Manufacturers know that as well as anyone else, so new designs of awning appear regularly. Some catch on; some don’t. Quite a few different solutions have been tried, but because they all aim to cut the time needed for setup to the bare minimum it’s fair to call them all instant awnings. |
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Side Awnings27 Aug '13 The market for awnings seems to be growing pretty fast and there are some interesting new designs appearing, so it can be hard to decide what style is ideal for you. Until you know that it’s going to be difficult to decide what models to look at, so you need to have at least a rough idea about that. One of the biggest decisions is whether you want your awning at the side or rear of your vehicle. Of course you can have both, in which case congratulations! You’ve already made that decision, so head on over to our awning reviews. If you’re still not sure, though, here’s some info about side awnings and why you might want to choose one. |
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Retractable Awnings27 Aug '13 Most awnings are pretty simple – just two ends fixed to aluminium bars, with a lightweight tube down each side and legs at one end. When they’re stowed away the awning rolls round the outer end bar, and when you’re setting it up it just unrolls again. It’s not a complicated system and it works well, but there are times when it can be a bit of a struggle. Any sort of wind makes it a two-person job, otherwise you’ll end up wrestling with it as it tries to fly away, and rolling it up again when it’s wet and covered in leaves can be quite unpleasant. It’s at times like that you wish you could get an awning that would automatically roll itself up. |
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Rear Awnings27 Aug '13 If you’re looking at fitting an awning to your 4wd there are two choices about where to put it – that’s down the side or at the back. Of course you can always do both, and a lot of people do, but let’s look at why you might want to go for a rear mounted awning. |
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Foxwing / Batwing / Supa Wing Style Awnings27 Aug '13 There are plenty of awnings on the market and no two of them are the same. You’ll find them in all sizes, made of different fabrics and with a whole range of ways of attaching accessories. Most of them have the same basic structure though. You have a bar fixed to each end of the awning; one is bolted to your roof rack as a base and the other stands on two poles. A pair of struts – which are usually hinged to the base on the roof rack – connect the two to give it some stability. It’s a simple design and it works well. |
