bag awning comparisons

I am a new owner of a awesome 1995 towlite in great shape. However the awning was a fatality and had to be removed. One of the nice rollups is just not in the budget so I was wondering which manufacturer of the bag awnings does everyone prefer or have experience with? At this point I am leaning toward the trim line in the 12 foot length.
Also in my future I see me needing to remove the big windows on both sides and recaulking/mounting them. Both windows seem to have slid down in the opening over the years creating a need for caulk at the top of the window. I hope that's not a big project?

Sax Player, Welcome aboard.
I removed my awning for 2 reasons, one, it caused a major water leak that has led to a major rebuild, and two, I can't see dragging around an extra hundred pounds of weight and wind drag. Our travel plans really don't see much of a benefit to an awning.
As for the windows, it takes 2 people, some new screws possibly, and 2 rolls of the caulking tape and that is availble at the RV stores @ approx $8.00 a roll. 1 roll per window. As for the windows do it now. It only takes a little water to make a lot of damage and that water always seems to get to the bottom beams and cause them to sag away from the cable supports.

Charlie

since this is our first camper period, I don't know how much we will use a awning. I see just about everyone has one...so I thought we would need one as well. Since they can be slid into the gutter channel would it be feasible to slide it in when we get to the campsite and remove it when we are breaking camp to leave?
I was wanting to do the windows ASAP but then I thought that the caulk might not seal as well being cold. It's like 22 degrees today with a 30 MPH wind blowing. In flat land USA the wind ALWAYS blows. Soybean and corn fields do not slow the wind down. I'm super excited about the trailer and I want to give it the TLC it needs. At the present time, I don't have a garage available to put it in to get the work done.

Those awnings are pretty hard to slide out of the groove. It would get tiring fast. if you could put something on the top portion of the windows, even duct tape to help keep the water out it would be a help. I wouldn't put anything on the bottom of them, but make sure the camper is down for storage. Others may have some better ideas.

We've had awnings on all our RVs and have used them regularly. Living in CA we used them for the sun. Now that we live in WA we use them for the rain. I wouldn't own an RV without one.

Awnings

sax player,Welcome to the forum. I agree with Charlie's advice in using the duct tape for the winter. You tube has a video on how to remove and reinstall an RV window. This should be done in better weather in the spring. The correct caulk to use would be Lexel caulk or sikaflex. Lexel is only to be applied to a low of 40degrees. I found lexel at ACE hardware or on line. It also sells on the internet at around $8.00 a tube. Sikaflex can be found at Home Depot. This is applied around the exterior window after reinstall. For your awning I would just purchase an easy up shelter. Cost effective to give you some shade and a place from rain. Spend some time this winter looking at back posts for maintenance items. Our forum also contains some informative videos on how all the systems work.

If you would like to put a bag awning on the HiLo I would say the Dometic awning would be a good bet. It is essentially the same awning Coleman used for years on its popups and now being used on the Coleman clones, SomersetRV.
Dometic Trim Line Awnings - Dometic - RV Patio Awnings - Camping World
You can get them from various suppliers, I just used Camping World for an example.

our hi-lo came with the manual type where we rolls it up, on the top it is fastened with a harness. we used to think that we didn't need it also until we started camping and yes it is very useful, protection from the sun, and when it rains we have some place where our chairs and anything we leave outside can stay somewhat dry. in our case it is a 2 person operation to lower and raise but its worth it.
sax player, what part of central IL are you at? years ago I used to live in Peoria.

OK, I give up . . . what's a "bag awning?" Not familiar with that term.

Luckydog671 said:

OK, I give up . . . what's a "bag awning?" Not familiar with that term.

Click to expand...

It's an awning that does not have a roller structure attached permanently to the RV. Instead, there is a long vinyl bag that can be attached to a rail on the RV. The bag contains the awnings and poles. To use it you unzip the bag and pull out the awning and poles.

Google "bag awning images" to see some examples.

Norton Rider said:

It's an awning that does not have a roller structure attached permanently to the RV. Instead, there is a long vinyl bag that can be attached to a rail on the RV. The bag contains the awnings and poles. To use it you unzip the bag and pull out the awning and poles.

Google "bag awning images" to see some examples.

Click to expand...

OK, now I get it. I've seen those before but thought they were soft covers for installed awnings. Thanks, Raul!

Thanks everybody for the info. I went to the local RV place and got some of the caulk tape. I am going to hit the hardware stores for some of that Lexell so I will be ready for my spring project. I got under the trailer the other day and hit the pulleys with the WD-40 and greased up the guide rod for the ram. The ram had more fluid/dirtcaked around it than I would have liked to see. I hope I don't have a seal leak. I appreciate the youtube advice, I will be watching videos all winter!! By the way Gus, I live a short distance from Springfield. We go every year to the Christmas Lights display in Peoria. It is fantastic to see. We already have one of those easy raise canopy types people use at the local ball games so I guess we will use that till we see if we really want to invest in a bag awning.....I have a feeling we will....I really appreciate everyone's willingness to offer advice and help. I have never posted anything on any forum I have ever been on so this is a new experience for me. I will do my best to do my research in the archives before posting something that has already been discussed.

yes they do have nice display of Christmas lights, its been almost 14 since I visited the city. Speaking of the canopy types that people use at ball games and the beach, on our last camping trip, the people who were camping to our left had a pop up camper and they were using one of those instant canopy with mesh curtains. As always on every trip we have taken, it started raining real hard for an hour, when it cleared that instant canopy was torn and twisted. I helped them tossing it in the garbage, he said that was the third one they got from "Big lots" and he was saying maybe because it was the cheap type, I didn't want to tell him that with 40mph wind and rain, the whole thing is basically a sail, I think the top has to be removed before any hard rain starts.