Dorema Awning Poles - Steel, Alloy or Fibreglass

[truckin73]

Hi There,

Am after other users thoughts on the plusses/minuses of steel,alloy,fibreglass Dormema awning poles. I have fibreglass on a size 13 Senator Lux, but following gale force winds this weekend, awning losing tension, poles bending almost double, with end result of taking awning down before some serious damage done, would I be better with alloy or steel poles as opposed to fibreglass.

Thanks.

 

[jacky3]

hi there,

i think you have your answer there in front of you.

general consensus is that steel is strong,heavy and still bend in adverse wind,alloy is light and weight concious people will argue for this,unfortunately it bends worse than steel and in high winds will bend easier than steel.fiberglass is both light and strong and is far more flexible than both steel and alloy____its fibreglass for me everytime

 

[Martin24]

Bought a new awning with van just before moving to E yorks coast. As we were buying a bradcot we had a similar choice to you. the advise we were given was to have the glass fibre as the easy alloy may bend in the rough weather, I can't manage the weight of the steel due to health reasons. Had no probs with the glass fibre(now sold awning) Have had a porch with easy alloy and not had any probs with that either but to be fair not been up in very strong winds

 

[Steve_374475901]

Hi,

we spent 10 days in Newquay (August) and had horrific winds - no not the hubby ......tail end of some hurricaine!!

The in-laws were with us and he kept getting up in the night coz his poles were bending and he was worried they would snap, ours are steel and although I was worried the extension would fly away I wasnt worried about the poles.

We have since changed our van for a twin axle and have noticed that once you get over a certain size awning most suppliers only give you the option of steel poles - whether this is coz they are stronger or not I dont know but we personally would choose steel.

 

[Mikey1]

Fibre glass all the time as they have give whereas steel and alloy dont.

Steel poles have very little bend before they break.

 

[Dustydog]

Steve

Our Izzy is one the largest awnings you can get for our T/A. We had a choice of Carbon x fibreglass or steel. No contest.

The Carbon x fibreglass is far stronger , more durable and a lot lighter.

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[stevecritchlow]

Steve

Our Izzy is one the largest awnings you can get for our T/A. We had a choice of Carbon x fibreglass or steel. No contest.

The Carbon x fibreglass is far stronger , more durable and a lot lighter.

Cheers

Dustydog

yep, fibre poles. When you drop one, which you will, they won't smack the side of your van anywhere near as hard as the heavy steel ones. Plus - and its very important - a big bag of steel poles is a fair chunk of your maximum load.

 

[JulieT1]

Hello

We had a Conway trailer tent for years which had very good quality steel poles and survived several holidays in very strong winds. One time in Wales a chap next door to us had an awning with fibreglass poles which snapped during the night and the awning ended up over his roof.

We bought bought a size 12 Dorema awning last year with steel poles and a tie-down kit. Not used it in strong wind yet, but we are wondering whether to buy a couple of extra poles which seem to be supplied as standard on a size 13.

Steel every time for us but that's because we've taken a battering in the tent and survived.

 

[chrisn7]

We have a Dorema porch awning, originally supplied with alloy poles. After a time, the surface gets marked where one pole slides into another, or adjustments are made, leading to a nasty gritty feel. I managed to p/ex mine for a fibregalss set, which is vastly better.

 

[Taff]

Purchased a Dorema size 14 awning earlier this year. Our last awning had steel poles and they were very heavy to keep transporting around so this time I opted for the alloy poles. These are alot lighter. It takes my wife and I 20 minutes to erect the awning and this year it has stood up well to gale force winds.

I cannot comment on the fibreglass poles.

Steve