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What awning do I want?
- drive away, connected to T5 with a Reimo rail.
- compact bagged and erected size - it's only going to store a few waterproofs and shoes on wet days, maybe leave bikes locked up inside, two of us sit out in camp chairs out the sun or mizzle etc
- ideally no windows so folk don't peer in (see bike storage...). Happy with single wall.
- ideally with a floor in.
- poles don't bother me, and I'm put off by the heavy weight and large size of BiL's blow up one.
- under £300....
Mate, you can't drive away in an awning. The van is the bit that does the driving, the awning stays put. You should have been able to work this out yourself tbh.
One of these https://khyam.co.uk/products/motordome-tourer-lite-quick-pitch-awning
Inflatable don’t pack down as small and are heavier. (I have both the above and a Vango inflatable which never gets used these days).<br /><br />Use a couple of pegs and string to mark a line on the drivers side between the wheels parallel to the van you can reverse back into when you want to reconnect.
edit - missed the price part! I think they do a pole and sleeve version which is cheaper!
I've got an outdoor revolution cayman something or other.
Does the job, mainly for storage and eating in. It's only 2 poles, so pretty quick to put up on my own.
We now use an Outwell Newburg 160 poled awning. It's taken us years (literally) to settle on this model and its brilliant.
I've had 2 vangos in the last couple of years on our camper...a cruz 2 (zip broke and massive thing) and a tolga (smaller replacement for the broken zip on warranty). In between it breaking and the replecement i just used a tent with a tarp out front and tbh found it so much easier. New awning got sold on and now I just use a tent with a tarp and pull the van up to the tarp. No faff with rails 🙂
One of these https://khyam.co.uk/products/motordome-tourer-lite-quick-pitch-awning
/blockquote>We have had one of them for about 15 years. It's great. Insanely quick to put up.
The only suggestion is to see if they do one without the awning attachment .... Ie a tent.
Using an awning as an awning is frankly deeply sub optimal.
( massively)Much reduced space in the awning.
Faff connecting and disconnecting ( fine if you're the type of person who sees camping as an activity in itself, but if you have better things to do...)
But most importantly it makes it darker and claustrophobic in the van, and makes getting in and out a PITA.We just pitch ours a couple of metres from the van and it's great
( posted WRT to quad occupancy. With just 2 people many of the above would be less of an issue)
Can't recall if your bus has a bog. If so then also less of an issue for you.
Look at Decathlon too
This is what we use. Not strictly an awning but the back zips up so a sort of connection to the van can be made if you really need it. Packs up quite small for an inflatable and has the advantage of springing back up after been knocked flat in some wild Welsh weather.
We have the same in a different colourway. Super quick to put up and take down. We pitch ours a little way away from the van but use the flappy bit as a 'roof' between the van and awning so we can get in and out of it in the dry if it's raining.
Bought Abigale a Decathlon air drive away one a few years back. She has used it when touring the Alps and all over the UK. Packs up small and easy to put up and take down
Straps over rather than attaches to rail
Same as ours!
Another vote for the khyam quick erect. Look a bit old fashioned compared to air ones now but they go up super quick and can be done on your own. Also incredibly stiff and strong.
(Took all my self control not to go full on with the double entendre opportunities…very hard 😉
There's a tent called Cinch Hub which is basically a copy of the old Decathlon base seconds pop-up that we've had for 9 years. It's slightly bigger and twice the price but should be good. It's worth looking at
Haven’t had time to trawl their site, but FB ad popped up with 40% off Khyam stuff using code CNY40.
Echo the quick erect pop-up being brilliant.
Had a Khyam before and it was good - massive and heavy but good. Got a Vango Kela now which matches your brief OP. Picked it up used (but a tiny handful of times) for £250. In fact I'd consider selling it as we're not really going to be using it anymore...
Where are you? If anywhere near West Yorkshire you can have our Vango one to try out. Then if you like it pay what you think its worth. We bought it with a T5 Van last year and are not using it. It needs a puncture repair on one of the airbeams but could be a cheap option if local. Message me if interested.
Dammit, the Decathlon Air is not available any more....
I think I have found a couple - plan currently is to give a couple of weeks on Gumtree and FB Marketplace, if not buy new one.
We picked Abigale's up when out in France from the big Decathlon at Troys. Couldn't get one in the UK at the time and it was 50% off in France so a good buy at the time.
Its showing one in store at Sheffield and available for home delivery on their site
@matt_outandabout - did you get an awning?
We're looking to replace our old and very tired Decathlon Base (green pop-up 2m shed)
Looking for small pack size and under £300. Any ideas?
Yes I did... A barely used Vango Faros low came up for sale on Facebook marketplace for £130...
We've only had it up once with the van, but eldest and his uni hillwalking club mob used it as a 'mess tent' at Glenbrittle. It seems good and meets the spec we wanted.
Not as small packed as I had hoped, but it's bigger when up and can stay standing with the windows closed and bikes hidden in it when we do go away.
There's one opposite me on the campsite this morning - they too are using it by night and bike/kit store by day.
We're touring this fortnight so chosen not to bring it as we only stay a couple of nights in each place.
Decathlon Air is still available. Most of the small camper van we saw in Bourg last week were using them.
Thanks
Low-ish weight, small pack size, poled awnings are increasingly rare.
Sold mine last year and replaced it with something much bigger (and spendier). Its more a tent with a big door than an awning, great value but doesnt have the features of a proper drive away awning like the access porch etc but good for the money.
What awning do I want?
Potentially you don't want an awning at all? We have one of the Vango AirBeam ones, a smaller model, which is still the size of a small planet and packs down to the size of a moderately large asteroid. Given that awnings are mostly predicated on the idea of being extra sleeping/living accommodation - think a full-on house extension - rather than storing stuff, which seems to be your brief, kind of like a garage, you might as well just use a free-standing tent.
You'll spare yourself the hassle of careful partking of the van every time you go anywhere and the main downside is going to be that you might get rained on for a few seconds between the tent and the van rather than it all being integrated. Don't get me wrong, proper awnings do work really well, but I'd maybe ask if that's what you're after? If your priority is expanded storage space rather than living space, it might be simpler just to use a tent?
A lot of awnings are designed for VW T6 sized vans which is great unless you have a Ducato/Boxer sized van
They are available. We've had one of these for a few years.
https://www.outdoor-revolution.com/cayman-f-g
It's quick to put up and pack away, and in packed form it is relatively small and light. Gives a decent amount of living space for wet days.
Got a Vango Keela - don’t tend to use it when stopping a single night, but great for when you want to go off for the day and leave all the sleeping bags etc. Also good for drying stuff by rigging up a clothes line. Air beam was a bonus when it was really windy - just left it untethered and it would blow flat - poled tents were breaking and ripping.
Potentially you don’t want an awning at all? We have one of the Vango AirBeam ones, a smaller model, which is still the size of a small planet and packs down to the size of a moderately large asteroid. Given that awnings are mostly predicated on the idea of being extra sleeping/living accommodation – think a full-on house extension – rather than storing stuff, which seems to be your brief, kind of like a garage, you might as well just use a free-standing tent.
You’ll spare yourself the hassle of careful partking of the van every time you go anywhere and the main downside is going to be that you might get rained on for a few mili seconds between the tent and the van rather than it all being integrated. Don’t get me wrong, proper awnings do work really well, but I’d maybe ask if that’s what you’re after? If your priority is expanded storage space rather than living space, it might be simpler just to use a tent?
This x 100
We have one of the Decthalon airbeams. The slight issue with the over-the-roof flap design is it covers the solar panels and roof window. We very rarely use it as it adds too much faff and makes the van very dark.
This is our old one. Cost £150 in 2014. Fantastic utility tent/awning but Decathlon stopped making them.
The only issue was that some sites dictate that the "awning" has to be attached to the van (we had this during COVID on a few sites but also some sites kept that rule to keep riff raff off their land)
As per @dovebiker. We have a Kela but only use it when we're going to be staying in one place for a few days. We've not had any problems with erecting it, linking to it, parking etc. Ideal as our "dining room", as well as storage so we're not having to pack up everything in the campervan if we're heading out in it for the day. They do come in a range of heights for various van types.
I have one of those decathlon single pop-up tents. It has the groundsheet and the internal sleeping area with it as well. It doesn't get used much if at all now, make me an offer if you're interested.
Alternatively I have the similarly designed decathlon 4 person tent which is similar to the above but has 2 sleeping areas attached to it. Again hardly used now.
I'm over in West Lothian if you wanted to come have a look!
Just wanted to join the 'post a picture of your Decathlon awning' club.
? Supposed to be a face with sunglasses emoji...
We had a Vango St Kilda but UV killed it in 3 years. I say had, it's currently sitting in the van footwell with a massive rip. We're in Spain, sitting under the tarp we had the foresight to bring.
I think I'll get a "utility tent"
Had anyone got a Sunncamp?
These look okay
https://www.glossopawnings.com/sunncamp-utility-buddy-poled-tent.html