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Thinking a family of 4 and all the kit in a T5 for more than a couple of days may become a little frustrating, so like the idea of these. Do you need one of these awning rails fitted to the side of the van, or is there another solution ? I assume once you've driven away, there's a flap which zips into the 'openside' where the van was. Big and more difficult to put up or a little awning and a quick erection ? Air beam ? Any thoughts and experiences greatly received. Ta
We used a tunnel type one, quite large but easy to erect, I could do it pretty much single-handed. Door at the end and side and a zip up flap on the van end. Doesn't need an awning rail fitted it pegged over the van, fitted with our pop top no hassles.
We've sold our van but still have the awning which I'd do for a decent price if you're interested.
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Khyam Motordome. Takes about 5 min to put up and peg out, the rep who was demoing them at the show we bought it from can get it up in about a minute.
We attached it to our roof rail but a proper awning rail would be easier & neater. (Buy by the metre from caravan shop, much cheaper)
The flap that attaches to van clips up out of way & a big door zips closed to seal it when not attached to van.
This one is for sale btw....
Cheers Guys. - That looks about the right size Mat. Do you get a massive draft under the van if the wind is blowing ? Not buying just yet, but might be interested if they are still available at the right time.
We've got an outwell daytona. I don't rate it much.
1. It's got a built in groundsheet which is good, but no matter what I do I can't get it up without leaving gaps around the bottom of the doors. The main door has velcro at the bottom to keep it in place, but the side doors do not and when it is blowy the rain comes in.
2. It does not attach well to the van (t5 with awning rail) without leaving a gap at the bottom sides
3. If it rains alot then you get big puddles collecting on the vestibule bit, which then leak.
4. It's started to go moldy in places after 4 uses in 3 months. I did put it away a little bit damp, but not especially.
5. Because the sides are angled inwards, if you open the door when it is raining all the rain comes in.
Cost >£200 and not worth it IMO. I'll be shifting it on next year ad getting an airbeam.
We have a motordome sleeper, similar to mattbee but with a sleeper pod.
Really good, easy to errect and once you've done it a couple of time, very easy to do the whole driving away/re-coupling thing.
Vango Kela Airbeam here. We don't use it loads but impressed when we do. It's easy to put up and take down and the Airbeam range has expanded significantly since we bought ours. In response to your questions:
1. You don't need awning rails but we have them and use them. It's possible to put straps right over the van but pros and cons for each. The fig-8 stuff is a neat and strong way of attaching.
2. When you drive away it zips closed and the excess 'roof' that covers the porch space between the tent and van can be rolled up to stop it flapping around. If it's windy you can then peg out a couple of strong lines to re-tension it where the van was previously holding it but its not necessary. On return you have the man challenge of getting the van back into the exact same position. The section that links to the van is the whole cross section of the tent so we often only partially unzip ours to make more of a door.
There will be plenty of people our there who've hammered an Airbeam more than us though so not the best qualified to comment.
With the Khayam the main tent bit can be sealed whilst still attached so no draught.
We got a skirt thing from Just Kampers that clips to the wheels and blocks the wind coming through.
Had it up in 40 mph plus winds with no bother.
We use the Decathlon one linked. It doesn't attach to the van, but works well as a shelter/storage space and is dead easy to erect/take down. Not being attached gives a bit more flexibility as to how we position things on a pitch. We've just done 2 weeks touring round Belgium with plenty of heavy rain and it was absolutely perfect.
We used a Khyam Motordome Sleeper too - same as the one above but with the sleeping pod. Same situation here as well - 4 of us (kids aged 6 and 3) and for a couple of nights or if we're travelling light and moving about, just a tarp type awning is great. Any longer though and the Khyam goes with us and its as easy as others have said to put up. The only bad thing I've really read about Khyams with the quick erect system is that the plastic 'knuckles' can break but a) you get spares and b) you'd have to be pretty ham fisted to do that.
With regard to attaching it, I cringe at the thought of straps over the van on the paintwork. Wouldn't work for us anyway with the pop top but we've got a Reimo multirail on the side of our van. 10 seconds to pull the kador strip out and another 30 seconds to undo the rolled up tent side and zip it up. Really efficient.
We looked at Airbeam type awnings and discussing it with the guys in the camping shop, apparently they don't pack down any smaller or weigh much less so I couldn't really see how the few advantages outweighed the massive cost difference.
We have one of the Decathlon Base Seconds mentioned above. We initially had a standard awning that fitted the van but it took ages to put up which seemed stupid when you have a camper van. I tune we used not twice before giving up. I think the Decathlon tent is probably the best thing I have ever bought. It really does take seconds to put up and take down. So you really can rock up at a campsite and be sitting with a beer in 5 minutes. If we are going away for more than a weekend we just take a normal family frame tent but usually the popup gets used as well as a store for the bikes and kids car seats, etc.
We use that Decathlon pop-up tent too. It's really good and takes no time to erect. Remember to buy the separate floor for it to keep everything dry.
The only problem, albeit minor, is that it takes a bit of effort to get it down, folded up and back in the bag but you'll work it out eventually (watch out for it unexpectedly popping back up when you're trying to fold it).
Overall, it's a great bit of kit.
The customer photos on that webpage are pretty good.