It's a few months since you made this post so you may have the information you need.
I bought one of these as a cheaper and easier to use awning. Our full awning and caravan were destroyed in a fire a year ago so had limited funds from insurance for replacement van and equipment. Also my husband is in Afghanistan so I have to put the awning up with the kids and find the traditional canvas awnings difficult to maneuvre and lift. I didnt want to compromise too much on size so was happy to find the evolution 450. i had seen the compactalites in shops and was happy with the way they looked and quality of finish. Did a fair bit of research before buying. Used for 5 days in February, torrential rain and no leaks - no problem. used for a week in June, nice weather - no problems. very easy to put onto channel, peg down etc, probabaly about 30 minutes in total. The pole goes along the front arch then you zip it in which is so much easier than threading through channels. Came with the usual short useless pegs which i changed before even using but most awnings and tents do, so no camparative faults there. I was sceptical of the one arched alloy pole that runs along the front and fixes to the bottom tape via the pin system. It seems to be under a lot of strain, and is kept up via 3 front guy ropes and the storm straps, 2 of which are suplied but it has fittings for 3. Found that it did need the guy ropes to be tightened daily as slipped but was easily remedied by changing the type for the ones that lock in place at little cost, and because of slope of roof was close to the awnning light. Slight difficulty in tightening the storm straps as they feed through a thin strap at the point they meet the peg, time consuming more than anything.
Used it in August in Cornwall fpr 16 day holiday - 3 day there we awoke to the front arch being a strange shape - it had gone flat about 2/3 of way along the arch. Easy to check the problem with the unzippable channel and found that one section of the pole had split lengthways from the joint. As that is all that keeps the awning up we had no option but to get out the invaluable duck tape. Wrapped it lenghways and around split and called the manufacturer. Spoke to the director of company who initially didnt want to know. After a rather heated conversation in which i spelt out how I would be claiming for the spoilt holiday he agreed reluctantly to send me via overnight courier a replacement pole. He said that they normally sold these at a cost of £89 plus carriage but in the circumstances would send me one if I paid £25 inc. I querried this under the guarantee, (awning was just 6 months old) he then said that the poles were not included in the guarantee and that they were made for fair weather only and not to be used as full awnings. (doesnt say that anywhere in the advertising blurb or the instructions). I pointed out that on this use there had been no adverse weather conditions with almost zero wind on site. He suggested I pay for the poles and when i got home send the brolen ones back to him (at my cost), wherein if he agreed that they were faulty he would refund all my costs.
I felt like I had no choice - very limited instock suppliers of awnings in Cornwall, and we had wardrobe with 2 weeks worth of clothes for 6 of us in the awning along with the usual chairs, shoes beach stuff and dog beds, so had no choice to pay up. The replacement poles arrived (had to have all seven as linked together) although only one was broken Took 2 days despite promise of next day. Managed to change the poles over without taking the awning down, just loosened guy ropes and took out pegs along front - again the advantage of the unzippable channels.
Had no further problems. One day and night of very strong winds in which several tents, gazebos and windbreaks ended up in the bin, but no damage to awning or new poles.
Overall I think it is a fantastic awning, almost as much room as a canvas awning, easy to erect and take down. Can be taken down wet, given a good shake and dried at home over the washing line, has to be rolled pretty tight to get it into the bag but i dont bother to zip the bag up as its stored in the caravan anyway. I bought it at a reduced price as discontinued and despite the problems think it was great value if I get the refund. Not sure if it will reocure, company director says its the first one but if thats the case how come they sell the replacement poles? He wouldnt comment on that. Havent sent the poles back yet as once he has them i cant prove anything so waiting on trading standards having a look first - my delay not anyones elses. info on site says "the zippable channels give the awning extreme stability." and ..."the rear pad system which makes for a much improved guard against the unpredictable weather!" so this kind of negates his claims that it is for fair weather only.
If it was to break again i intend to replace alloy poles with a shock corded run of poles, the length needed for the span is less than on some tents which have the same arrangement of guy ropes per size. We have a Khyam screenhouse day shelter with annexe which works n the same way with shock corded poles, i think it would have a bit more movement in strong winds but wouldn't snap.
Overall - Awning great and easy to use. Blue diamond/outdoor revolution customer service - awful
Facebook
Twitter