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I have a drive away awning and a sun canopy awning. Latter is very quick to put up but obviously not as convenient as an attached awning
We use the drive away awning a lot when camping with the family.
I have thought about buying an attached awning but put off by costs
Have seen too many awnings either kill themselves, nearly kill someone or damage a vehicle. Saw one ripped from the side by a branch.
In ten years i've seen exactly no awnings kill themselves, someone else or damage a vehicle.
Well, except for that time a storm hit the campsite, the upside down caravans were more of an issue than ripped awnings...
Funnily enough I saw just that happen a couple of weekends ago in Patterdale. Guy (didnt look competent)nearby was pulling the awning out of the roll on the side of his van, the wind caught it and flipped it over the top with attached poles whacking his van several times then bending. Tried to help him but it looked like an expensive mess....
We have a huge blow up awning which is great but as I said above its too much effort for less than 3 nights. I had a Decathlon blow up one which you could sling over the top of the van, didnt have an awning fitment and it was quite good. Sold it when we got this one and regret it a bit. Now looking for a teeny tiny awning just big enough to keep us and the dogs warm of an evening when it gets chilly without us having to climb into the van at 7pm when we get a bit cold...
Hiya,
We use a Isabella Sun canopy attached to the awning rail of our camper van, works really well, rain or shine, so well in fact that we never use our Vango Airbeam Awning because it is too much hassle to use, in comparison.
https://www.awnings.co.uk/isabella-shadow-touring-sun-canopy.html
You can get them for £176 and ours has lasted 4 years with little to no maintenance, We used in Scotland and France with the differing climates. It can handle quite some heavy winds, its too much easy to fold up and store.
BTW we use a pop up tent for storage as between the two far better for two person camper-vanning, now the sproggit has flow the roost 😉
JeZ
In ten years i’ve seen exactly no awnings kill themselves, someone else or damage a vehicle.
It was a classic bit of STW hyperbole that wasn't it?
Wouldn't be without a wind out awning, but, as people have said, you need to keep an eye on weather, both heavy rain and strong winds. That being said they are quick to put out / in and can also be wound out half a meter to protect the door area.
Our proper drive away awning has only been used three times I think. It's quite a lot of faff so only gets used if it's a two night stay or more
I have a tarp/canopy (the Debus one) that can be attached pretty quickly so has been used for single nights or even the odd proper stop (i.e. a lunchtime stop)
I do like the idea of a roll out awning but agree that they don't like very nice. Would be even quicker to use than the tarp
My van is a Kombi with twin sliding doors and I have a c channel rail on both sides of the van. I can put the canopy on either side, which is really handy, and I can also use the awning on one side and the canopy on the other at the same time
The drive away awning is an inflatable Vango job and it's pretty big.
Anyone got a driveaway awning they want to sell?
We're thinking of getting one for our van.
@stwhannah - pretty clear then eh? 😜
FWIW, despite having the drive-away I'm tempted to rig up some sort of tarp that would use the existing channel. Mind you, given my DIY skills it's probably going to be better to just buy one recommended on this thread.
By the time I looked at the faff involved with attached the strip to the tarp, getting one the right size/shape (depends on your van), plus appropriate poles etc, it was easier to just buy one
Which sounds ridiculous considering how many tarps I already have!
Yep. Same story here.
When we had a van we had both a Kyham driveway awning if we were away for a few days and a tarp for overnights and weekends.
We could have got a tarp, got an awning strip sewn on etc. but went lazy and bought a funky leisure one.
It worked fine, quick to slide onto the rail etc. Still works now as a trap and poles now we don't have a van.
I think this is the current equivalent, ours is a blue one to match the old van:
https://www.funkyleisure.co.uk/debus-vw-t4t5t6-sun-canopy--anthracite-grey-6770-p.asp
I had a Decathlon blow up one which you could sling over the top of the van
I have one of these, bought it second hand from FB Marketplace for a couple of hundred quid in as new condition. I've used it a few times and no-one has died or even been mildly maimed.
I think it's the law when owning a VW van (T4 owner here) that you have a ridiculous amount of kit, much of which does the same job!.
As a result, I have an awning rail attached to the van (which actually is a necessity as saves the hassle of dealing with fixing awning of choice to the van). I then have:
Sun canopy - which i use if weather is good and only out for couple nights on my own or with wife.
Khyam quick erect (ooh) awning - which is brilliant, really big and is great to use if family holiday, longer breaks or when may need to use the van.
Smaller Awning - not a drive away but can use for few nights when dont plan to move van and just me and the wife are away.
Watching this topic with interest as I'm after an awning for our high top T4. It's already fitted with a rail. Looking for something to house the family (4 of us). We'll likely sleep in the van, adults on the r&r bed and the kids 'upstairs' but may consider the option of a bedroom in case it doesn't work out!
Intrigued to see peoples set ups as there's so much choice!
In that case you want to make sure that there's a corridor of some sort between the awning and the van, otherwise van-dwellers need to walk past awning-dwellers if they need a pee etc.
when we got our van it came with a Khyam Motordome that the previous owner described as divorce inducing. Haven't used it yet but plan to try it this weekend
Thanks folks, as always. Got a borrowed van with an awning to try next week so that might help inform things. New to us one lands the week after, exciting stuff!
Generally interesting thread, speaking as an active van researcher. We have a T6 booked for next week for our first ever van trip
What I’ve learnt is that awnings are as N+1 as bikes. I assumed you made a choice and stuck with it. How naive