(Poll) Awnings on vintage trailers

[goswick]

Do you have the vintage style awning or the Zip Dee style on your vintage trailer?

[purman]

I had a vintage one but it was to much hassle to put it up.. Looked into a Zip Dee but it was gonna cost a few thousand. We have a portable awning that we can put over a picnic table or where we want. It works better for us..

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by goswick

Do you have the vintage style awning or the Zip Dee style on your vintage trailer?

Thousands of vintage Airstream owners, from the 60's on, have installed several different brands of awnings.

Most of them, at this point, are no longer in business.

Of those that are still around, the number one choice awning, appears to be Zip Dee. It's the name that Airstream has stayed with for many years.

Perhaps because they use the "Sunbrella" fabrics, and the way the awning arms fit the shape of the shell.

Andy

[tkasten]

Restored/renovated/updated our 65 Safari just this spring and use Zip Dee all the way around. A bit pricey but they are just great to use....Tim

[overlander64]

When it became obvious that I was loosing the battly trying to keep the A & E Travel Awn 5000 in good repair on my '64 Overlander, I went with new Zip Dees. The Zip Dees are far less intrusive than the Travel Awn, and the temperture under the awning tends to be lower since there isn't any vinyl to catch the heat and limit the fabric's ability to breath.




The awning over the streetside bedroom windows was a splurge, but worth its weight in gold when participating in a limited-electric rally.



The bathroom window awning helps to provide a little extra privacy for the bathroom when parked in crowded campgrounds or at busy rallys. The spare tire carrier in this photo was removed a short time after the photo was taken to avoid re-aggravating the recently repaired rear end separation.



The smaller, less bulky arms allow the Zip Dee to become lessobvious when it isn't deployed.



For comparison, the old A & E Travel Awn 5000 is much more obvious with its wide, flat arms than the Zip Dee with its smaller square tubing arms. I also noticed a big gain in the ease of operation with the Zip Dee.

Kevin

[Jim Foster]

We have Carefree Colorado on the Caravel, and Zip-Dee on the Excella. Both much easier to use that a vintage type awning. Either of these awnings can be set up or taken down quickly, so they get used more often. Sometimes we put them out just to have lunch when driving down the Pacific Coast, or stopped along a stream somewhere.

Also, they both are "self storing".

[vswingfield]

Not to mention, an '83 Excella is vintage now. Mine came with a Zip Dee.

I use it all the time. I would almost never deal with a "vintage type" awning.

[Holzarbeiter]

The now vintage 78 Excella still has its original (vintage) zip dee awning.

[ddstech]

After seeing the poll results I feel like I loose. . . .

I like the look of the vintage awning. In reality, it takes me less then 10 minutes to set up, I am 33. That time table may increase as the years go by. It does feel more open to me. Meaning you can walk right into it without having to go around any arms protruding from the trailer. The kids ride their bikes right thru it usually, and I have only walked into the support ropes once. . . .

[the544man]

have any of you installed the vintage style ones from vintage trailer supply? I have a 56 bubble so i'm thinking about one of these but the oregon coast is pretty windy--i may only be able to use an awning inland or in the mountains anyway? cheers--ted

[Mexray]

We also have the original ZipDee's all around our 78 Ambassador - still going strong, maybe a few spots here and there from some tree sap, but otherwise in great shape for their age...

Their longevity is a credit to ZipDee's original design - the aluminum 'wrap around' at the top that protects the fabric when stowed, is a solid design that just plain WORKS for years and years...

Last year, we ordered a couple of new ZipDee folding chairs with the matching blue (awing) striped fabric, from AS - I think that says a lot for a company and a design that wasn't made to become obsolete, like so much other stuff we are forced to 'update' in more recent times...

Ray

[Frank's Trailer Works]

Okay, I have no problem being the odd ball in the group. I do not like the way a roll out awning looks on a vintage trailer. It just looks out of place to me. I should also state that even though vintage is 1985 and earlier, vintage stops at 1965 for me. The look of 1966 and later is a clear visual division for my weird sensibilities. The 5 minutes it takes to put up my awning is worth it to me. For it completes the look.

My awning is 14x 9 foot and offers a lot of shelter from the elements. We often have 10 sitting down for dinner under the awning. Mine was made by Marti's awnings in California. The material is vintage sunbrella and the price was very reasonable to say the least. The awning came to me very quick and has it's own storage bag. This awning stays up during the hardiest wind storms due to the springs I installed on my ropes. While all the Zip Dee folks are scrambling to roll their awnings in before the storm hits, I am casually enjoying an adult beverage.

I also had Marti make me window awnings, which just snap onto the windows. You will see this in old rally photos and on a few vintage rigs out there. The window awnings make a huge difference in keeping the trailer cool.

They also double as black out curtains at night. They also came in their own storage bag.

Yes, the roll outs take seconds to deploy, but it is camping, and are you really in that big a hurry?

[SilverHoot]

Tim, to me there is no better looking trailer than yours. So nice. Mine has no awning and was no where near thinking about which type to get, but I'm all for ease of use, if it's easy to use then you use it more. Zip Dee will be my most probably be my choice.

Frank,

Thanks for the pics of all your snap down awnings, I think it explains the numerous old snaps that are on our trailer, around windows, all around the belt line and around wheel wells.

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by 62overlander

...I should also state that even though vintage is 1985 and earlier, vintage stops at 1965 for me. The look of 1966 and later is a clear visual division for my weird sensibilities...

OK, I can see your point here, a little. However, the ones with the curved Corning side windows, 66-68, have the same vintage look as a 65, but better in my opinion. Subtle, but still an improvement. But hey, I have one so it may color my opinion.

Given that, yours really looks great.

I will agree that there is something different visually about the later models, after 1968, though.

[adore]

Originally Posted by mattkroff

After seeing the poll results I feel like I loose...

The kids ride their bikes right thru it usually, and I have only walked into the support ropes once. . . .

I'll stick to my ZipDee awning for that particular reason...

[Overlander & Sea]

We installed a Zip Dee on the '61 Overlander and the '66 Tradewind came with a vintage style awning.

[InsideOut]

We have vintage style awnings on both our trailers. Rope & pole (new) on our 1964 and framed (true vintage (old) & ropeless) on our 1956. I LOVE the look of both vintage awnings and think the ZipDees just ruin the clean-lined, unadorned look of the trailers when the awning is not deployed. We dislike rooftop A/Cs for the same reason.

The Rope/Pole awning is easier to set-up & take down I can do it by myself. The Framed awning takes two people. Both are very sturdy in the wind/rain - but we take them down in inclimate weather (especially at night) because the whole trailer shakes.

BTW, the Rope/Pole awning can be used on either trailer - at International we took both and displayed the "true vintage" one during Open House, but used the Rope/Pole on the other days. With the ability of changing between the two - we can change the look of the trailer on a whim...can't do that with a ZipDee!

Shari

[cruiser54]

I think, for my Cruiser 1954 ZipDees is one "not go"...
Werner

[Jim Foster]

Originally Posted by mattkroff

After seeing the poll results I feel like I loose. . . .

It does feel more open to me. Meaning you can walk right into it without having to go around any arms protruding from the trailer. The kids ride their bikes right thru it usually, and I have only walked into the support ropes once. . . .

Many of us with Zip-Dee or that type awning have a small plate which we stake to the ground, then detach the awning arm from the trailer and attach it to the plate. This leaves the space open just like a "Vintage" type awning, but there are no support ropes. The bolt which normally attaches the arm to the is replace with a 1/4 inch diameter pin which is also used to attach the arm to the plate on the ground.

[Jim Foster]

Here is a photo of our Caravel with the Carefree awning arms extended to the ground.
With the Carefree it was necessary to make stand off supports to keep the awning from winding back up to the coach. Not necessary with the Zip-Dee.