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We thought we had better have a practice run erecting the awning on our 2nd hand Penine Pullman.What a laugh ( apart from one of the poles falling over and hitting me on the head!) trying to put all the various poles together, however we got there in the end and think we have finally sussed it.

It would be interesting to hear how everyone organizes there awnings and what they keep in them.

Nearly finished sewing the new curtains and I have bought some great fabric to cover the seats.

We have booked for the Isle of Arran and will be heading off next Monday can't wait to try the camper out!

hi there

I always leave the erecting of awning to hubby, well the poles at least then just help put the cavas on.

In our awning we have our table and chairs we normally eat in the awning or outsidde depending on the weather.

Another table the we use for the coffee machine, extre fridge if we are using it, also have my coat hooks out there.

Toilet tent, bin and dog basket, toys for grandchildren, shoe box and I am afraid to say my little hoover.

Good idea to erect awning before trip. we also did this a week before we first used our fc. It must of been comical to watch but we learnt a lot.

The table from inside the camper stays out in the awning along with chairs, dog cage,rubbish bin, non perishables and porta potti.

Although the space in the camper is great, having the awning up is the icing on the cake. loads of space and room to relax.

Hope trip to isle of Arran goes well,  steve.

Quote: Originally posted by steve6163 on 07/8/2007

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Good idea to erect awning before trip. we also did this a week before we first used our fc. It must of been comical to watch but we learnt a lot.

The table from inside the camper stays out in the awning along with chairs, dog cage,rubbish bin, non perishables and porta potti.

Although the space in the camper is great, having the awning up is the icing on the cake. loads of space and room to relax.

Hope trip to isle of Arran goes well, steve.

Hi Littlejen

Did you know that Awning is french for divorce? (not really) but putting one up with the spouse usually gets the divorce lawyers rubbing thier hands together. Once your's is up, sit back and watch others and think "was that us"? The answer is usually "yes".  Pennine change thier awning suppliers from time to time so there's no guarantee that your awning will be the same as our on our Sterling so could'nt offer any specific advice other than to recommend you colour code the poles with tape until you're used to what goes with what and how far out it has to come. To buy and take an awning tie down kit to Arran with you and put it on whether you need it or not until you are used to how your awning behaves in the wind (i kid you not Arran can be windy and its a D#mn big awning!). The Harringtons caravan shop (formerly Tyneside caravans) at Portobello, Birtley sells them. Also take a good light for the awning too cos its a big area to light up in the dark. We run a 18inch  12 volt strip light off the camper battery and clip it to the middle overhead strut but find that a gas or parafin tilley lamp gives both heat and light which is great on a cooler night and its not limited to location by the legnth of the wire. Don't hang it from one of the overhead struts when its lit though, it will soften the roof of the awning if its vinyl.  There are'nt many caravan shops in Scotland so if its a gas lamp take a spare canister. We also carry a couple of straw beachmats that go down on the ground in the awning to soak up any dampness and stop wet feet treading clarts into the camper.

Welcome to the Folding camper tribe

 Best of luck hope you have a great time on Arran

looking at your pic steve can you unzip the sides
has well has the fronts???

Hi.

 yes the sides do unzip aswell as the front. However I do not think my awning is an original pennine awning. Was one day thinking of buying a bedroom extension which would zip directly to main awning in place of side panel.

The Pullman awning is a doddle to erect once you can do it. It has taken us 2 years to work it out but it is much easier than the caravan awnings.

WE ZIP OUT THE WALLS BEFORE PACKING TO REDUCE DAMAGE AND WEIGHT AND CUT WIND PRESSURE WHILST ERECTING. Zip them back in once erected but before final pegging.

If you fit the poles with hooks into the main fc frame tubes before you extend the frame to tension the fc canopy, it saves you having to jump up or take a pair of steps.

Once the roof tubes are horizontal and supported by the front frame you can lift the cover over the lowered awning frame and zip it to the fc using the yellow zip cord.

Then extend the fc frame progressively and the awning frame and pegg down canvas as you go.

Try to avoid giving each other advice!

I have printed you post out for reference Edward452, I'm sure it will be a great help.

When we first started we didn't have a clue what the little hooks were for,however with trial and error we managed to work it out.

Quote: Originally posted by edward452 on 08/8/2007

The Pullman awning is a doddle to erect once you can do it. It has taken us 2 years to work it out but it is much easier than the caravan awnings.

WE ZIP OUT THE WALLS BEFORE PACKING TO REDUCE DAMAGE AND WEIGHT AND CUT WIND PRESSURE WHILST ERECTING. Zip them back in once erected but before final pegging.

If you fit the poles with hooks into the main fc frame tubes before you extend the frame to tension the fc canopy, it saves you having to jump up or take a pair of steps.

Once the roof tubes are horizontal and supported by the front frame you can lift the cover over the lowered awning frame and zip it to the fc using the yellow zip cord.

Then extend the fc frame progressively and the awning frame and pegg down canvas as you go.

Try to avoid giving each other advice!

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Our trip to Arran was fab, but erecting the awning was a flaming nightmare!

Just as we were about to put the awning up the wind started to pick up. So every time we got the frame up and the canvas on, the wind would lift everything up and the frame would fall down! While I was holding onto the frame so my OH could extend the poles out, one fell and hit me on the head! it nearly knocked me out!

This went on for about an hour and a half ( must have made great entertainment for the whole campsite who were sitting watching us ) Finally a kind gentleman and his son came and gave us some help and those extra pairs of hands were a godsend. We still could not get the awning to sit straight and when it rained we would get a pool of water in the roof, but we just weren't able to straighten it out any more without the poles falling down. They are not the easiest of things to erect, we thought it would be just as easy as our tent but it wasn't!

 We then found out that one of the zips in one of the doors on the awning was bust sew we had to just stitch it together temporarily, and we also found a pinprick of a hole in the canvas on the camper tiny but enough to let the rain in and soak the bottom of my bed.

However even after all that we still love having a fc and I'm sure we can rectify the faults that we found. We still had a great holiday!

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 i have 2 bags of poles(1 blue &1 brown colour,i think one says "EXT" on it???

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I bet you have acquired an awning with an extension.  whatever the size you should have 4 panels. 

Although edward has found a way which works for him, you tend to put it up differently each time.  Most FC owners hook on, zip up and then erect the frame work, allowing the canvas to settle in place as you do so - then fasten the sides in.