By
Cree Vicar Dave ~ SASS Life #49907
There are two things the Vicar’s Wife demands of a campground, shade and a picnic table. Since not all RV parks comply we carry a table in the back of the ole pick up and the trailer MUST be fitted with an awning.
So one of the main things to look for when shopping for a used trailer is an awning. Some Airstreams came with awnings from the factory others did not. Zip-Dee awnings were used widely on new Airstream trailers. Most if not all of the trailers have an awning rail installed from the factory. Awnings are a good thing to have on a trailer when you get to where you are going. It says in Jonah 4:5-6, “Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.” While on the road you can’t always be assured of ample material to build a brush arbor or having a vine miraculously sprout up to give ease from the sun. It’s very comfortable to sit in the shade of an awning with a gentle breeze coolin your soul while sippin on an ice cold lemonade. Also if you are cramped for space, the area under the awning makes a great place to clean your guns and load shells if the park allows such things to occur.
We put an A&E awning on our 1966 Airstream. Mainly because it was quite a bit less expensive. Our 1969 also had an awning rail but no awning. We ordered an A&E awning for the 1969 but it was lost in route. After calling the company several times it came but was damaged and we found out the factory building was out of service for an extended period of time and the arms would not be available until after we were supposed to be on the road. And we were told that the arms no longer came in the aluminum color but were now painted white. We prayed about it and decided to send the awning back. At the same time we found a Zip-Dee awning on sale for around the same price as the other one.
The directions for installing the Zip –Dee were adequate but I found that the brackets on the top that hold the awning in place did not line up just right to be locked in place for travel. If I had it to do over again I would have placed only one screw in each until the awning was connected and rolled up in case it had to be moved. I placed clear silicone caulk under all the brackets.
After the Zip-Dee awning was installed and used last season I would say from my experience that it is a little more convenient to roll out and retract than the one we have on our 1966. A couple times I have had to get up in the middle of the night to put it up because of high winds. It went up quite easily and with little effort. If ya all see us at a shoot come on over and sit a spell. Might even talk the misses in ta stirren up a tall cold one or the coffee is ready ta fill the cup most any time of day.
Hope ta see ya in the shade on the trail
God Bless,
