Awnings are our friend. We use them ALL THE TIME while RVing and for a variety of reasons and we love them.

My company does the social media for a large awning manufacturer and it got me thinking about all the different reasons why we use our awnings. So here are some random thoughts about the importance of awnings on your RV and the uses we have with them.

Awnings Keep Us Dry

It’s a lot of fun to sit outside in the rain. It’s not always a good time to get wet. With an awning you can kick back in your favorite camping chair with a good book and listen to the rain pummel the earth while you relax in dry comfort under your awning.

In fact it’s so relaxing most sleep sound machines have the rain feature and our kids love it, but it doesn’t replace the natural sound of the rain coming down. So be warned, you might end up falling asleep while you’re out there…This also is great opportunity to get outside if you have multiple rain days and you don’t want to be stuck in your RV or you’ve played too many card games and are itching to spend some time out in nature (or away from your significant other).

Awnings Give Us An Opportunity To Go Shopping

Although they are great to sit under during a storm, you’re going to have to make sure that the storm doesn’t have raging wind that attempts to blow you away. Because if that’s the case the odds are good that you’re going to get your awning ripped off.

The good news is if that happens you have the opportunity to go shopping for a nice new awning and there are a ton of great ones to choose from. So if you love to go shopping, go ahead and head toward the hurricane, pull out your awning and be ready to enjoy the sound of your awning being ripped off so you can do some online shopping… Might I recommend a Girard Systems Awning?

They Keep Us Safe

Those nasty sun rays kill people. On a hot summer day do you want the sun penetrating your skin with harmful rays or would you rather sit back next to your cooler knowing your awning has your back? Of  course you’d rather avoid the pain of skin cancer, many RVs have awnings in multiple locations, our Road Warrior has 3 awnings to sit under so if you have a big family or you don’t like your family at the moment you can each head under a different awning.

Awnings Save Us Money

Sunscreen costs a lot of money. If you choose to sit under your awning instead of in the powerful sun you can save on the cost of sunscreen. Plus, it can be a challenge to find someone to rub suncreen on your back and you might have pull some favors to convince someone to rub some on your back if it’s really hairy. Avoid all that uncomfortable tit for tat and just chill under your awning.

Awnings Keep Us Cool

Have you ever been out west to some of the AMAZING sand dune campgrounds? What an amazing place to head out to do some riding, hiking or even go sledding down the dunes at a high rate of speed. But the desert can be HOT and most of these places don’t have any shade.

Awnings allow you to bring the shade with you wherever you go. Not only does this keep you cool when you’re sitting outside but the most common way to stay cool with your awning is actually inside of your RV. Our 5th wheel is big and black. So when the hot summer sun hits it you can expect the temp to try to shoot up quickly.

One tactic that we use often is when the sun starts beating onto our rig trying to cook us like eggs, we simply push the awning button and you can instantly feel the relief against the unit. This also can save you significant amounts of money if you’re staying long term at a campground and are being charged for electric.

Awnings Are High Tech

Anybody who geeks out over technology is going to love the fact that awnings are super high tech. The old days of heading outside into the elements and having to have awkward conversations with your neighbor while you crank out your awning are gone! All you have to do is simply push a button and your awning pops out. It’s a little more complicated to bring it back in, you have to push the button again…

Awnings Look Cool

There are some awnings that will make your RV look like a space ship at night with all the LED lights popping off. It’s really cool if you’re at a music festival, raceway or some other event with a bunch of non-RVers.

We’ve seen quite a few awnings that not only are cool at night, but are big art murals during the day. If you want random people stopping and taking pics of your rig, get an awning like this!

Awnings Make You Money

If you’re an entrepreneur who works from your laptop you know the challenge of taking that laptop to work outside. It sucks! The sun creates a nasty glare making it very difficult to see your screen. The technology has improved greatly and after beating my previous laptop up and delaying the cost of a new one for 5 years it finally died this year. Although my new one is significantly better it still doesn’t do a good enough job all the time and more important if the sun is hitting your laptop it heats it up which can be damaging to your computer.

I have a portable desk and chair that I can quickly pop up under my awning which allows me to get to work when the sun decides to come up and make it challenging for me to see my screen or keep it cool.