ARB Awning w/ Light - Black Aluminum Case - 8' 2" Long x 8' 2" Wide

Video Transcript for ARB Awning with Light Review

Hi everyone, it's Evangeline, and today we'll be taking a look at our ARB Touring Awning. Just like other ARB accessories, their awning matches with how well it works with all kinds of add-ons. So if you want something that is sturdy but can be used with a wall or rooms or includes lights, then this is something you might consider for your adventure. Now there are different versions of this awning designed for different adventures, and here at etrailer we have different kits designed just for you. Also, we do have different methods of mounting it to your roof. So whether you have an ARB rack or maybe just another roof rack, we have brackets for you too.

But no matter which awning you do get, they are gonna share the same base features and those base features that we will see across the board for awnings from different brands is that you're gonna have a waterproof or water resistant top. You're gonna have side arms or rafter arms, and then you're gonna have legs. Now ARB does add a little extra to those base features that you might be interested in. The most important part of an awning though is gonna be the awning fabric. So we have poly cotton fabric that is coated with polyurethane and that's gonna be pretty standard fabric to make sure that to the awning is waterproof.

So tips here are as you set up your awning, if you could have it angled downwards so that when rain comes, rain doesn't pool on top of the awning, but rather it just falls off to the side. Another thing here is that because of how the hook and loops are sewed onto the fabric, if you pull too tight, you might pull at the stitches and create leaks. I'm not a fan of how that is stitched, so that is something to be mindful. What I am a big fan of though is the integrated light strip. So this is gonna be an LED strip, which has different settings and different brightness modes with it right in the center of your awning, as you're hanging out underneath here, even at night, you're still able to light up whatever you have.

Now with this being integrated, we have all the great features of this being covered and waterproof. Rather than adding a random light bar to your setup, this is gonna work a lot better in conjunction with your awning. The harness for your lights are included with your awning, and this plugs into any 12 volt power source, so you could plug it into your car's lighter. I like to plug it into a portable power station since I'll already have this outside at the campfire or campground charging up my phone. Plus, with this plugged outside, I then don't have to go inside the vehicle every time I wanna change the light setting.

We have aluminum side rafter arms, and this is what I use to run our light wire through. The arms are gonna sit a bit longer compared to other brands, partly because of the eight foot, two inch width of the case, but also ARB designed it so that even in full extension you still have a lot of overlap of that front arm. So if you've had other awnings where this rafter arm doesn't support the weight of the awning and the walls, this one is gonna be a bit more quality based and have more stability. Supporting the weight of your awning, you have the legs and these are gonna be telescoping legs where you can adjust the height and tighten it back down into place. The maximum height this can go is gonna be up to seven feet. That's measured from the ground to the bottom of our beam. To secure in place, you do get stakes as well as guidelines included, two guidelines in fact. Always use your guidelines whenever you have your awning out. You can also stake the legs on their own down here and if you're gonna be in extremely windy situations, you can also get the upgraded guidelines from ARB that have some stretch to them. Check them out here at etrailer.com. The front and the rear have tracks to slide the ARB room through. Also use this with sidewalls and extensions. A good thing about this is that the setup as well as the tear down of the awning is very intuitive and very simple. Everything folds into itself and is stored very neatly in our nice storage case. The length of the case is going to be 101 inches, so that's eight feet and five and a half inches long. A little bit wider than your awning is actually going to be. So depending on your different vehicles, it's gonna fit differently. Also, depending on how you mount it, that will change how high, low or far out it's going to sit. The way this will mount to your roof will depend on what type of bracket you're gonna pick for it. Now with the awning, you do get six of these bolts, the silver ones included with it and that will allow you to amount to some types of roof racks. But I'm currently using the ARB base rack bracket. Since we have the ARB rack, you can find that bracket or other brackets like quick release brackets, universal brackets or other types of brackets here on our website. Check out our videos of the brackets if you want an in-depth look at how they install and how they work. I'm a huge fan of the aluminum case. It is rare to see hard shell cases around awnings and this keeps our awning lightweight, but also make sure that it is protected from the elements and that it blends very well with your roof rack system. Now this hard shell case is available in two colors, black as well as silver. And if you liked this awning style that we wanted a more affordable option, check out the canvas case. And while it is more affordable, the canvas case is something you would usually see on other brands anyways. And I have worked with a bunch of different awning brands, so something that has stuck out for me is that the ARB awning has that really cool aluminum case. It has that light stripped down in the middle and it has the ARB room, which is really impressive when everything works together. Now if you are looking for other options though, the ARB doesn't have the same type of premium canvas top as you would see on the Yakima Slim Shady. I think the Slim Shady does a slightly better job with how they sew that awning material as well as how it all works with the side rafters and the poles. But on the other side, the slim shady doesn't have the same amount of accessory compatibility as ARB. And if you are looking for another hard shell case there is the Thule Hideaway, but that's a whole different type of awning which uses a crank instead of side rafter poles and it's at a much higher price point compared to our ARB awning. So there's pros and cons to every type of awning, but this definitely is worth looking into if you like those other accessories available for your ARB awning. Now this right here was a look at the ARB awning at etrailer.com. My name's Evangeline, and I hope you enjoy the journey.