I cooked up this idea a few years ago. I wanted an awning that was free standing (without guywires) and it would allow water to run off, see pic. I had Marti at Marti's awnings install a pocket in each corner of the awning. By using some leftover tent fiberglass poles, cut to the correct length, and a piece of velcro in the center of the awning, it gives me plenty of headroom and water runs off the awning when attached to the side of a tear. Here's a handy tip!
I camp in National Forest campgrounds regularly. I just asked the campground host to save me any of the glass poles if they find them next to the dumpster. Many of these guys will recycle the aluminum and parts. I asked earlier this summer, and this last weekend when camping, picked up 50 joints of shock corded fiber glass poles. While they can be picked up from a garage sale, or a thrift store...these were all free and all I had to do is ask. That is enough to do maybe 5 awnings on trailers.
As a side note. If you spend some time talking to those hosts, you'll find that they have all sorts of situations that they have to deal with, with little thanks. Invite them over for some eats, or a dessert, maybe take them some leftover dutch oven brownies. They typically will decline an invite, but at least you made the effort and they will remember that and usually your trailer. Down the road, in an area that has some non-reservation type sites, they may save you a site on a crowded weekend, it's happened to me. This last weekend I mentioned that I was having trouble reserving a group site for 2014. He told me that if I got the regular public camp sites, that he would let me double and triple up in them. That's stretching the rules. FWIW. Doug