Advice and recommendations re drive away awnings please

[John Drake]

Starting to look for a drive away awning for our new van but we are clueless. How do we attach the awning to the van? Do you need to attach it to the van ?
Recommendations for an easy to set up awning would be appreciated, the easier to set up the better ?

 

[roadtripper]

It's an oft discussed subject - a good place to start might be this large thread gathering folks views from the various awnings they have tried:

Thread 'Awning Gallery And Poll'

12 Sep 2019

In keeping with the other gallery information topics, here is one for Awnings. Please post a picture of your awning and include the following information if you can;

Make and model (Bold and Font size 6)
approx cost
suppliers
list any extras in your photo.

{Photo of awning}

As usual, we'll keep it tidy and add new models to the Poll as they appear.

• Loz
• awning driveaway awning
• Replies: 224
• Forum: Camping & Campsites

• 

But in a short summary drive aways are fine, but consider if you need it attached at all.

If you are going to be leaving site it might be simpler to just have a tent pitched closely to the van, especially if you are looking for an easy setup. With a drive away the non-easy bit is getting the van and awning lined up again when you come back, especially if you don’t want the connecting tunnel to sag and water potentially pool.

To attach to the van you will need some form of awning rail, and a figure 8 Kador strip. You put a thin strip of material in the van's awning rail and attach the figure 8 Kador strip to that, putting the awning itself on the other side of the figure 8. When you want to leave you just pull the figure 8 strip out (and the thin strip attached to your van) to disconnect.

When looking keep in mind that an awning described as "drive away" will likely not come with these extra pieces, you'll need to add those. The descriptions just means it's self standing and not reliant on the van for support. Many folks choose to use that design of awning but never bother using it "drive away"

Example drive away kit:

Debus Universal Awning Drive-Away Kit - TWIN 6mm to 6/4mm

This Debus Universal Twin Drive-Away Kit has dual 6mm 4mm kador beading on the vehicle connection side for compatibility with Mulitrails, VW

www.funkyleisure.co.uk

 

[Salty Spuds]

Starting to look for a drive away awning for our new van but we are clueless. How do we attach the awning to the van? Do you need to attach it to the van ?
Recommendations for an easy to set up awning would be appreciated, the easier to set up the better ?

My #1 recommendation for drive away awnings is…..don’t.

 

[The Flying Scotsman]

My #1 recommendation for drive away awnings is…..don’t.

Exactly what I was going to post
Unless you’re spending weeks at a time on a site then they are pointless. Take a while to erect and dismantle. Got to be stored dry etc.
Take up a load of room to transport everywhere too.
They are probably THE most listed items in the for sale section besides wheels.

 

[JLDD]

Exactly what I was going to post
Unless you’re spending weeks at a time on a site then they are pointless. Take a while to erect and dismantle. Got to be stored dry etc.
Take up a load of room to transport everywhere too.
They are probably THE most listed items in the for sale section besides wheels.

While I agree with all of these negatives, I think if you're spending more than a few nights in one spot and can accommodate the typically huge package (roof box?), particularly in uncertain weather (= UK at any time of the year) they are definitely worth having.

I think of ours as like a highly advanced 3 sided wind break in fine but breezy weather (enjoying the rays via the open porch). The vestibule section attached to the van is a handy place for a porta-potty and kicking shoes/wet gear off before entering the pristine interior of the van (or not, as is the case with my van). And they're pretty easy to drive back onto pitch if you leave the levelling chocks in position when you leave for the day, and slacken all of the guy ropes/straps off to give a bit of wiggle room on the van position.

Having said all that on a 3 week trip round France and N Spain last september we didn't take it at all as we didn't intend to stay anywhere long enough to make it worth it and assumed the weather would be good enough to not warrant it. Horses for courses

 

[T6 Syd]

We camped in tents for many years before getting the van, so don't mind the effort of putting one up if staying on a site for a few days. We have both a drive-away and a standalone tent - the latter is a large 6 person tunnel tent with a footprint much bigger than the van! The extra space including sleeping area is useful in our view, but we were used to the large tent to start with! We don't bother attaching the drive-away to the van, I find a couple of poles and guy lines can be used to hold up the tunnel section and the van can be parked close enough without having to be as precise as if attaching the awning.

Why do we have both? Package size and usage, the choice depends mainly on where we are going and for how long. Be aware that some sites treat awnings and tents differently. It has looked like we could be charged twice if using a tent - the charge for a van includes an awning but there may be a separate charge for a tent, sometimes even for a pup tent - the latter, a relatively cheap and simple pop-up two or even 4 person tent, can be used for storage outside the van to free up internal space.

Air tents/awnings can be easier to put up and can be more robust in some circumstances, but are bulkier and heavier packages and generally more expensive.

I agree that they are often listed for sale as people don't generally get to try them out in real life to work out what they want from one, or whether they do indeed want or feel they need one. Or, family sizes and holiday use change over time.

Good luck!

 

[Captain Quick]

As others have said, driveaway awnings are a pain to put up and take down, especially in bad weather and in my view not worth bothering with unless you’re staying for more than two nights on the same site. However, the upside is that they provide useful additional living and storage space and possibly a place to sleep in good weather, so for longer stays they’re really valuable. They also provide an additional level of privacy. We use a Vango Fistral which is a decent size and opens out facing the same way as the van so you don’t look out at your next door neighbours.

For short stays though, we use a Debus sunshade awning that, like the Vango awning, is fitted into the Reimo Multirail that runs along the roof above the sliding side door. We use this to sit and cook under and with a couple of wind breaks provides a reasonable amount of privacy. It takes less than ten minutes to put up and unlike the Vango, weighs very little and takes up minimal space. You pays your money as they say.

 

[Ayjay]

We're more or less the same as @Captain Quick but usually don't bother with the driveaway awning unless it'e a UK trip and we're spending at least 4 nights in the same place otherwise it's not worth the egg (ours is a Vango Kela). We also use a Debus but that alternates with a Kiravans Railsail depending on how the mood takes us (they use the same poles and fit in the same bag). I made some sidewalls for the Debus which are useful if it's rainy or windy. We generally do a couple of 5-6 week road trips across Europe each year and after lugging the driveway around for two of them without using it, we just don't bother anymore and it leaves a lot of extra space for other stuff.

 

[borat]

I’m personally mostly a fan, but I think like others it depends on the trip. We quite often do festivals where they make a lot of sense due to the tunnel and ability to have a toilet in there at night (Without risk of randoms taking advantage!), plus the storage and extra shelter / chilling space. We have separate toilet tent and basic sun awning for short trips. 2 Drive-Away awnings - both vango air beams as they are very good. One smaller one and a Cove, which is great if we plan to be somewhere for a few days. I can now get the smaller one up in 10 mins, prob a little more to take down.
I do agree that regular detaching and attaching is a pain. I keep meaning to look at a quicker option that just hooks on somewhere without needing as much accuracy like the Kador strip does, but so far we havent done any trips where we’ve been to and from enough for it to be a problem.

 

[tommy_t6.1]

We have different awnings for different uses. There's no one size fits all! I'd love a wind out awning but think they look a bit too much stuck to the side of the van.

4 nights or more we use our large Kampa air tent.


2-3 nights we use our Kampa air trip awning:


Days out or single nighters we use our Stitches&Steel air canopy:

 

[Qnapper]

When we first got our camper like most we when for the "Drive away thing" - we used it for 3 weeks and found it a pain in the bum...... by the time we put it up both of us were pissed of with each other not doing things in right order etc etc...... Then there was the drive away thing trying to line the van back up to the thing......... each day we went out...
This was it:

We still have it, but it was a pain and took up to much space. So we went for the awning thing and have not look back. Takes about 5 minutes to put up and same for packing away. The space need........ well role up fits under/side of seat ready for next stop.
This is it:

We do have another one now that has triangular sides that give us some privacy it need or wind break. Would never go back to a "drive away thing"

 

[GUMY]

While I agree with all of these negatives, I think if you're spending more than a few nights in one spot and can accommodate the typically huge package (roof box?), particularly in uncertain weather (= UK at any time of the year) they are definitely worth having.

I think of ours as like a highly advanced 3 sided wind break in fine but breezy weather (enjoying the rays via the open porch). The vestibule section attached to the van is a handy place for a porta-potty and kicking shoes/wet gear off before entering the pristine interior of the van (or not, as is the case with my van). And they're pretty easy to drive back onto pitch if you leave the levelling chocks in position when you leave for the day, and slacken all of the guy ropes/straps off to give a bit of wiggle room on the van position.

Ditto. We started off with a drive away (Vango Kilda from GoOutdoors) and it nearly lived up to its reputation as the divorce maker on its first outing- although we laughed a lot too . We now have a system worked out and manage to put it up in about half an hour. Also putting it away has become quite routine and easy. Repositioning the van after "driving away" is now quite easy too after a bit of practice - I put a couple of rubber mats by the offside tyres, move the van, then put a couple of pegs in place of the mats, and on return, put the mats back (removing the pegs just in case!) The trick is not to have the tunnel section too tight to the van to start with, otherwise it can be a b1tch to reattach.
The tunnel (or vestibule) is definitely useful for kicking off shoes and leaving other paraphernalia.
We cook and eat in the awning.
Packed up it's definitley the largest and heaviest single item on board, but it fits easily on the RIB seat rear shelf:





We wouldn't be without it for 2 or more night stays.
However, we did then also get the Debus canopy, for 1 nighters, or if it's p1ssing down.
Both use the awning rail on the side of the van. The packed up drive away bag fits in the driver's footwell if we're using the Debus.

 

[borat]

Debus air with sides and front on its way to me and will be trying it for a 2 nighter over 2 sites this week. Will see if me and the mrs are still friends at the end lol. She’s a fan of the drive away but also isn’t the one who does most of the work putting it up and packing it away!