RV Slide Out Awnings and Wind Conditions
Back in March, we left Pismo and headed to Desert Hot Springs. We planned to stay for a month at Catalina Spa & RV Resort, and I was looking forward to all the RV resort amenities they had to offer. The one thing I was not expecting was the crazy winds! I am not sure why I didn’t think about the winds, given the number of wind turbines in Desert Hot Springs and the surrounding areas. We could see a ton of them just miles from the RV resort so we were definitely in the wind path. We share our cheap, easy to deploy and remove, and effective solution for managing our RV slide out awnings in wind conditions.
Wind and RV Slide Out Fabric Awnings
Our motorhome has Carefree SOK III fabric awnings over the four slide outs. Sometimes we refer to these as the “slide toppers”. Unfortunately, when the wind picks up these fabric awnings flap on three of the four slides. The one that doesn’t have problems is the rear passenger vanity slide which only extends about a foot vs the other slides which extend upwards of 3’ each.
In the worst wind, above 25 mph they do not “billow” (like a sail) like some brands do, but they catch air. I can see stress on the awning brackets that attach to the motorhome so we are worried about something getting damaged. While they are meant to flex, sometimes we can even see the entire slide-out shifting slightly under heavy wind and these things are heavy!
If you have been following our blog you might recall that when we purchased our motorhome, one of the things that came up in the inspection was damaged slide out awnings. As part of our motorhome purchase, we received new acrylic fabric to replace the existing awnings. Given that this fabric is new and not cheap, we try to be careful when it comes to wind and snow.
There have been a few times over the last year that we have been in some crazy winds over 25 mph so we decided to bring the slides in for peace of mind. The first day in Desert Hot Springs was nice (deceiving!), but after that, the wind really started to pick up on most days. Depending on which side of the motorhome was getting hit by the wind we would bring in one or two slides all but a foot or so. This way we retained a little of the living space (vs fully retracted) and there was not enough room for the awning to get enough airflow to cause issues. We managed life for a few days doing this, but it was starting to get tiring. Our motorhome is not designed to be very functional with the slides in. It is such a tight fit and not that much fun.
Our Solution for Wind Conditions
Our solution for wind conditions includes nylon rope wrapped in a pool noddle from the Dollar Tree. Just buy an appropriate number of pool noodles for the length of the slide, and insert the rope. If you have difficulty inserting the rope, cut the pool noodles lengthwise with a knife and then insert. The pool noodles are there to provide a larger surface area to reduce the chance of damage to the fabric. The rope should be long enough to go around the length and height of the slide x2.
Example: If your slide is five feet long and five feet wide, you need at least 20’ of length. Center the pool noodles on the rope and that part goes on the top of the slide topper with the ropes hanging down the front and back so you can tie them off together underneath the slide. See pictures and it should all make sense!
Other solutions we have tried, but do not like:
Bringing in the slides
This is our go-to solution for the three slides that have difficulties, but it makes the RV less livable
We tried putting plastic inflatable balls from Dollar Tree underneath the fabric awnings as some other people had suggested
We couldn’t find the perfect size ball so ours eventually blew out and fell or ended up bunching in the middle of the slide reducing the effectiveness and also making removal difficult
Did you read about the time our RV slide out awning froze and we almost got stuck in the Grand Canyon? What tool saved us? Read about that in our Frozen RV Slide Out Topper Leaving the Grand Canyon article.
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