Outdoor Revolution Sportlite Air 400 Caravan Awning

Having researched a new replacement awning for our caravan, thought this awning would work for us, as having had Outdoor Revolution goods in the past and found them of excellence quality and long lasting.However,on primary setting out the awning on our driveway and following the installation instructions,found the overall weight of the assembly to be heavy on trying to pull through the guide rail on our caravan.Removing the side panels would lessen the bulk though.It was certainly a two person task and even then with difficulty.Inflation was straight forward and not too strenuous, as only a small pressure was needed for the frame to become rigid.However on trying to set up for the first time on the campsite,our difficulties began.We consider putting it up in any wind would be near on impossible due to the weight and awkwardness of the awning.Putting it down to it being new we perceivered.After inflation it became immediately apparent that the design of the rearward pads were not suitable for our caravan as they stood proud or the sides of the caravan with a large gap,which when ever correctly pegged out was of a sufficient gap to allow any reasonable amount of wind to get behind the awning ,hence giving the possibility of awning becoming unstable even in light winds.I believe rear poles are an optional extra for this type of awning ,which I believe should be included, if it was at all needed to keep the awning tight to the caravan.I think at this point having pegged out the awning correctly, realised that the risk of wind damage was too great,if the wind got underneath it,so decided to deflate and repack in its bag.Now I can only say,this is not an easy tasks.All the air needs to be removed first ,then tightly rolled to get anywhere near the packing bag size.I wouldn't like to even contemplate doing it in the wind even less so in the wet!Having liked the idea of not having to carry a bag of poles with an awning,have come to the conclusion that although a pain, it would outweigh the possible difficulties you may encounter by not having them.Unfortunately although we liked the idea of an inflatable awning,we will stick to a more traditional poled version for now.