How to Measure a Caravan Awning (Step-by-step + Pics) |

We were somewhere in Outback Queensland when a morning of unusually high winds decided to catch our awning and completely demolish it.

To continue with our travels, we had to fight with the awning, close it back up and strap it down for the rest of our Outback trip. It was not the most ideal part of Australia to be camping without shade, let me tell you!

A quick chat with a caravan repair mob in Townsville had us feeling confident that a replacement would be available for us once we got back to the coast. All we had to do was measure our existing awning and let them know which size we needed.

It sounded like an easy enough task, but up until that moment, I had no idea how to measure a caravan awning correctly.

Where exactly do you take the measurements from..?

The ends of the canvas?
The outside of the awning arms?
The inside of the awning arms?
The length of the caravan?
… Or an entirely different point?

There is a very specific measurement that is required when measuring the caravan awning, and it’s probably not the one you think!

Getting the wrong figure will result in a completely different awning from the one you actually need.

Read on to make sure that if you ever find yourself in a position of needing to order a new awning for your caravan, you can feel confident that you’ve got the right measurement!

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Our Broken Awning

Broken Caravan Awning — *After some unexpected high winds whipped through camp*

Broken caravan awning strapped closed for travel — *The broken awning strapped for travel*

How to Measure a Caravan Awning

What you’ll need for measuring a caravan awning:

Measuring Tape

The correct way to measure a caravan awning is to measure from the middle of the front awning arm to the middle of the rear awning arm.
_____

OR, to make life easier: measure from the front edge of the front awning arm to the front edge of the rear awning arm – this is will give the same result.

How to Measure a Caravan Awning:

Mark the exact middle of the front awning arm
Mark the exact middle of the rear awning arm
Measure the distance between those two marked points – from the middle of the front awning arm to the middle of the rear awning arm
Convert your measurement from millimetres to feet (as close as possible)

DON’T Measure:

❌ Length of awning barrel
❌ Length of vinyl
❌ Length of caravan
❌ From the inside or outside of the awning arms

Caravan awning sizes are generally spoken of in “foot”, so you will need to round your measurement to the nearest number of feet. Below is a handy conversion table to work out what your millimetre measurement will be in feet.

Caravan Awning Sizes:

Measurement in mm	Measurement in Feet
2,133	7′
2,438	8′
2,743	9′
3,048	10′
3,352	11′
3,657	12′
3,962	13′
4,267	14′
4,572	15′
4,876	16′
5,181	17′
5,486	18′
5,791	19′
6,096	20′
6,400	21′

▶︎ VIDEO: How to Measure a Caravan or RV Awning Correctly

Ordering a New Caravan Awning

When ordering a new caravan awning, you may be given several colour combinations to choose from.

General Awning Colour Options:

WHITE / BLUE fade out
WHITE / GREY fade out
WHITE / MAROON fade out
WHITE / GREY / BLACK fade out
WHITE / GREY / BLACK stripe

You will also need to know the brand of the existing awning on your caravan so that it can be replaced with an exact match. You should be able to find the brand name printed somewhere on the awning hardware (end caps, metal arms, etc.).

Common Caravan Awning Brands: