We love our RV window awnings—sort of. They’re great for shading out excess light, and a real blessing on hot Southwest days. But the trouble is, there are only two positions for RV window awnings—rolled up for travel, or pulled down, with almost no view of the outdoors. Here’s a quick, simple, and inexpensive way to keep your shade—and your view!
You probably already have the solution to readjust your RV window awnings. We’ll give you a hint—the solution is stretchy and has a hook on each end. Yep! The humble bungee cord!
Give your RV window awning a readjustment
If you want to see more of the outside yet still keep some shade on your windows, pull out your bungee supply. Grab hold of the window awning pull strap and slip both hooks of your bungee cord in the pull strap loop. Now take the “middle” of that attached bungee cord and hook it through the pull strap hold-down clip.
You can adjust how far down the window awning “sits” by using different length bungee cords.
That was easy. But before you go, listen to the safety advice:
Bungee cords store a lot of energy when stretched, and if they snap back, that force can be dangerous. If a hook slips, breaks, or comes loose, the cord can whip back at speeds up to 60 mph, causing serious injury.
Common causes of recoil accidents:
- The hook slips out of your hand while stretching
- It detaches from the anchor point
- The hook bends or straightens
- A cord or its attachment breaks
- The hook pulls free from the cord
Old or worn cords can fail without warning—cracks and wear make them much more likely to snap. That’s why the American Medical Association recommends warning labels on bungees.
To stay safe when using bungee cords:
- Always wear eye protection
- Stretch cords carefully and don’t overextend them
- Secure hook ends firmly
- Keep your face and body out of the recoil path
A bungee cord can make a big difference in adjusting the view from your window equipped with an RV window awning. And a little caution goes a long way in avoiding painful surprises.
For a fuller rundown on bungee cord safety, check out this page from motion picture producer, Warner Brothers.
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##RVT1204
I use zip ties
When picking the fabric for our window awning, I chose a ventilated shade cloth type fabric allowing us to see through the material. The cord extension is a good tip, I’ll have to try it. I’m assuming the partial deployment reduces the amount of shade.
Whether or not it reduces the amount of shade depends upon the angle of the sun and how long your bungee cord / strap is. We adjust our straps throughout the day to keep as much view as possible while preventing the sun from shining in the windows.
I can verify the dangers of a bungee cord coming loose. While putting a tarp on the boat when it was sprinkling, I lost my grip on it while trying to stretch it to a grommet hole. The hook hit me in the face above my lip. I had to see a nerve specialist who told me my feeling of teeth and the left side of my mouth should return within a year. He was right. Thanks for mentioning these dangers in the article!
I like the idea of bungees. They allow some give if a wind comes up suddenly. Gives you time to roll them in.
Bungee cords are certainly functional for this purpose, but definitely not very attractive. We bought some black straps that match the existing straps on our window awnings. Then my clever wife created ‘extension straps’ by sewing loops at each end plus multiple loops every 6″ along the strap. We are able to hold the window awning open at various positions by using a carabineer clip to attach the end of the awning strap to the appropriate loop on the extension strap. And it looks like original equipment. 🙂
Yes, be careful with bungees. I know a full-timer who is now blind in one eye due to a bungee accident.
Thank you for the suggestion and accompanying warning, Russ and Tina! Your point is well-taken and the reason DW requested no window awnings on RV #2, and we have none. Have a great day and safe travels!