Pretty much all caravans have an awning of some description. Generally they are the Dometic roll out type and for the most part they are a fantastic addition to any caravan to enhance your outdoor living experience. Sometimes it would be nice to have a little more privacy and perhaps some additional shading from the sun in the morning and particularly the afternoon. The addition of an awning shade can provide this additional privacy and protection. Trouble is, the ones available generally are grey in colour and don’t really enhance the look of your van. They can also look a little unfriendly to other travelers.

Over recent months. we saw a few caravanners had customised awning shades that featured pictures on them rather than the plain grey colour. They looked amazing and we wondered of it would be possible to have one custom made for us featuring our website logo.

I contacted the company, RV Shade and Covers, and they advised that they do arrange custom images using digital photos from their customers or from a list of stock images they have available. I asked about using our logo and there was a question about whether or not it would be of sufficient resolution to look good enlarged to the size of the shade. Normally they require an image of at least 300 dpi. Our logo was made using Powerpoint and the stock image was nowhere near the required resolution. After some tracking around, we were able to find a photographer with access to specialised software and he was able to refine our image to sufficient resolution.

Melissa, from RV Shade and Covers, was very kind to offer us a satisfaction guarantee that if we were not happy with the final product, we could get a refund. Given using a company logo or similar was new to them, I thought this was extremely reasonable of them to make such an offer.

As it turned out, we need not have worried. The shade arrived about a week or so after the order was placed and on first impressions, it looked amazing. The shade itself is excellent quality and looks to be manufactured with suitable durability for the task. It is also very light weight so for those of you concerned about exceeding your van’s weight restrictions, you need not concern yourself about the weight of the shade. Ours is 4.5 meters long and it weighs less and a couple of kilos.

We got our first chance to use it at a recent trip to Port Fairy. Installation is simple.  The shade slides into the existing groove in the awning roller. Once threaded through, it’s a simple matter of pegging down the bottom through the eyelets.  The fit was absolutely perfect.

We were over the moon with our shade. The graphics look bright and sharp even from up close. Being white on the back means the inside of your awning remains bright. We also noticed that while no one can see in through the shade, we can see out quite well. Its like having a huge one way mirror running the length of the van. Best of all, it generates a lot of interest and we had a number of visitors asking us about the shade and how they can go about getting one. So your social activity should suffer any for having the shade up.

A rather pleasing side effect of using one of these shades is that they tend to inhibit a lot of the movement inherent in these awnings.  We had a bit of a gusty wind blowing over the weekend we used it and we found the awning remained pretty stable throughout.

All in all highly recommend RV Shade and Covers. Melissa was fantastic in assisting us to get the image right and kept us informed about the progress of our order. The final product is excellent and we are confidant will stand the test of time.

Do yourself a favour and get one of these custom awnings for yourself. Mention RVeeThereYet.com and they will give you a 10% discount on your purchase….!

5 Westies....!

For more information contact Melissa on sales@rvshadeandcovers.com.au