Awning or Pop-up gazebo

[tryagain]

So I have been toying with the idea of getting either an awning for the side of the car or a pop-up gazebo but am still undecided which path to go down. I have different friends with both and the Gazebo I have seen it in use a number of times whilst the awning only once. I am leaning towards a gazebo as in this stage of life (young family) I think it will probably be better suited but am interested in others opinion's

[jwb]

I gazebo will be much more versatile.
You can lug it to any position required. And even erect it in shallow water if the need arises.
As long as there are no carrying restrictions



cheers

[paceman]

agree with previous poster that a gazebo is much more versatile... depends on usage case, i guess...

we bought one of these and it has been fantastic:

http://outdoorconnection.com.au/products/premier-aluminium-3x3m-gazebo/

has stood up to rain and wind with ease.

easy to throw on top of the camper trailer, just in case, but also handy to use at home as well...

[Bird]

Gazebo's can really suck arse when its windy, even pegged down they blow around and away.. had one several years back, at Frys Flat..  Came back from a day out and even though it was pegged down - the pegs pulled out and cartwheeled away... result was bent beyond recognition

But they are versatile.

[Rumpig]

I have both a gazebo and awning, Xmas time camped on Straddie for near 2 weeks the awning got a run daily and the gazebo stayed at home. In saying that, there's times the gazebo got used previously and awning stayed rolled up on the fourby...either is a good option IMHO. Upside to the awning is no need to tie it back onto the roof rack for traveling around, if i had a ute i could throw it in instead of having to tie onto the roof rack  then it would be better, but I go with the awning as it's already on the vehicle good to go.

I gazebo will be much more versatile.
You can lug it to any position required. And even erect it in shallow water if the need arises.
As long as there are no carrying restrictions

we had our vehicle awning set up in shallow water at Xmas time...lol...but yeah gazebos are better for doing that job.

[Chappie]

We have both, a homemade awning made with a 16' x 8' tarp and a gazebo similar to Pacemans except it is a 6 x 3 aluminium Outdoor Connection gazebo.  Both are handy however I think a 3 x 3 would be more versatile. 
If it just for some shade over the kids then a 3 x 3 Oztrail deluxe gazebo for less than $200 would be hard to go past.
 
Chappie

[Muckinhell]

Have both as well and so far gazebo seen more use specially at home for family functions when the patio isnt big enoupgh, another tip is get a gazebo with a side wall then you can peg and pole it out for another couple of meters of shade as well.

[Nomad]

I have both.

The old gazebo is fairly stretched from weather etc but still does the job.
Per Birds comments about blowing away, when I use it and weather is apparent I peg the frame down seperately to the nylon cover. Sand pegs and dual ropes with the springs on. Haven't destroyed it yet.

The awning mainly sits in the garage these days.........got sick of negotiating my way over and around it to get boards and stuff on my roof. It has its good points.....size for travelling etc but it does Shit me that I have to set it up and pull it down if I want to move the car around....i.e. change of wind direction etc.

[Pete79]

Gazebos are great for easy setup in near perfect conditions. I wouldn't (don't) rely on one for a main shelter when camping. It only takes one decent shower of rain over night and no one clearing the water that pools in the corners to destroy even the better quality ones.

Just this Christmas holidays I saw 4 gazebos destroyed by the weather. It was not windy or wet enough to move a 9x18 tarp with only 6 poles under it, but one night of gentle storms was enough for us to wake and see buckled and twisted gazebos all around us.

[Sixpack]

I go both too.

[Chappie]

We use an Outdoor connection gazebo instead of the annexe on the camper and it also gets put up at home for extra shade and often left up until we need it elsewhere, water pools a little but unlike the 300 denier polyester type cover on the Oztrails it doesn't seem to stretch as much, so avoiding the problem of slowly filling up with water until either it collapses or someone saves it.

There is a plastic contraption sold on ebay to alleviate the water pooling in the corners called a gazebo monkey? i think. It is a 3 pronged piece or plastic that fits on each corner.

[tryagain]

There is a plastic contraption sold on ebay to alleviate the water pooling in the corners called a gazebo monkey? i think. It is a 3 pronged piece or plastic that fits on each corner.

Looks like they are called a marquee monkey but they look like they are sold out.
https://www.facebook.com/Marquee-Monkey-681297281887212/

[hempo]

hey mate, looks like you have a wagon.  This is what happened with us.

We had a ute for a few years and always just had the gazebo.
We then had a wagon for a few years and had the awning.  It was easy to use, always ready to go.  No need to lug a gazebo on the roof and strap it down etc.   Never used the gazebo when we had the awning.
Now back to a ute and we have no roof racks so the gazebo is back in business.

At the end of the day if I had a wagon I would probably have an awning again, with the ute we tend to like the gazebo as there is room to store it inside as opposed to putting it on the roof.

We really only use it at the beach.  When camping we have a 30 second tent with their little awning or the camper trailer with the bigger annexe.  Plus on our new ute we have a 3xm fleet series canopy with large lift up doors which offer some shade.

Time and effort to set up either is about the same with two people, gazebo maybe a little longer.  Gazebo you can leave set up and drive around if need be.  Never had any pooling in the rain issues and we have the old oztrail 3x3.

Cheers

[LB]

My thoughts on gazebos

We have been through 3 over the past ten years. One was our fault we didn't have it peg down 6x3 m we set up for the cornice guys when we had our kitchen redone. Found it on the roof the next morning.  Next one after a few years the straps broke off most likely from win pressure and the clips on the poles stopped clipping. The last one we have had for just over a year and we came home to find the centre in the pool it was covering with broken and bent struts. I suggest wind did this but it was pegged down and the four corner poles remained solid the top just went. We have now decided to go back to the old fashion tarp. An oldie but always a goodie.

[tryagain]

Was in the local aldi today and see that they are clearing out their remaining awnings for half price ($75) Thinking for that price I might try one out, anybody had any experience with one? it's cheap but if it's crap then it is still a waste of $$$