Erecting a Vango Galli awning

[Davenjo]

I also have the pestering 3 year old! Luckily we can distract her temporarily by giving her a baby to prod.

The Galli feels a lot more like a tent that attaches to the van than our old one, which was very much reliant on the van to stand up. I actually find it easier to put it up without attaching it, and can do this by myself, while it took two of us using the attach first then inflate method. The latter is definitely better in terms of tautness. I did end up moving a few corner pegs etc afterwards, which helped.

When we first put it up we tried to manoeuvre the van into position rather than moving the already pegged out tent, which was a big error, and took ages.

I think all of the more recent Vango drive aways have a similar design such that they free stand well. We always pitch our Kella as you describe but use the Fiamma awning to make attachment easier (roll out a little to attach and then roll back in to tension) but the videos showing attachment to van first do make it look a bit easier so we'll give it a go to compare.

I really like the look of the Galli but, for us, it's far too big - we already only use the Kella if staying somewhere for at least 3 nights. Maybe if we were sleeping out there we might consider it but not lugging 30kg tents around and the faff of pitching/taking down was the main reason we switched from tents to a camper van. Another thing that puts me off is that, at least on the pictures I've seen, there is no door at the back of the tunnel - I use an external gas point on my van situated behind the sliding door and having to walk around the van and/or awning to connect up and when cooking and/or accessing the back would do my head in lol.

 

[Mojo80]

No, there's not a door at the back of the tunnel or at the back of the tent, which is a bit frustrating! It's not that different in terms of pack size though: 78x40x42 vs 78x35x37, but the Galli is bloody heavy (50% heavier than the Kela).

We would love to be able to leave the Galli at home for short trips, but need to find a workable solution for keeping the kids penned in and dumping car seats, buggy etc overnight. Might try windbreaks, a Fiamma and a small tent for "stuff" next year.

 

[Veema]

Kela is ok for short trips...im going to keep it.

 

[Davenjo]

@Mojo80 I feel your pain - fortunately we left car seats and buggies behind a few years back.

 

[DPS]

I ordered mine last night...funky leisure...£669.

Funky Leisure have got some excellent awning deals at the moment.

 

[Colinlp]

Funky Leisure have got some excellent awning deals at the moment.

I know, we were seriously thinking of buying the Galli on Friday night but it was £850 so we shied off but then on Saturday we looked again and there was 30% off so we thought about it for a couple of hours, looked at our own awning which is too short for the van and looked at the hole in the tunnel where the sliding door went through and thought, bugger it. The Kela is mega cheap now too, almost worth buying as a short weekend awning at that price

 

[Davenjo]

My guess is that they (Vango) are having a clear out ahead of the 2018 ranges coming out soon and other retailers will have similar discounts soon - happens every year. Still a good price though whichever way you look at it.

 

[andys]

No, there's not a door at the back of the tunnel or at the back of the tent, which is a bit frustrating! It's not that different in terms of pack size though: 78x40x42 vs 78x35x37, but the Galli is bloody heavy (50% heavier than the Kela).

We would love to be able to leave the Galli at home for short trips, but need to find a workable solution for keeping the kids penned in and dumping car seats, buggy etc overnight. Might try windbreaks, a Fiamma and a small tent for "stuff" next year.

I've just bought a large waterproof zip-up storage bag (think it was for a generator) and put eyelets in the back so I can run a security chain through, put the car seat in, and secure it to a wheel. I bought an awning for when I was away for weekends with my grandaughter, but it turned out all I used it for was to put her car seat in to use the lower bed. The awning's staying at home from now on, was just too much work to put up and take down and this will be much quicker and easier.

No good for buggies etc though, you'd need loads of them. Mind you, storing kids and zipping them up might be an idea

 

[Mojo80]

I've just bought a large waterproof zip-up storage bag (think it was for a generator) and put eyelets in the back so I can run a security chain through, put the car seat in, and secure it to a wheel. I bought an awning for when I was away for weekends with my grandaughter, but it turned out all I used it for was to put her car seat in to use the lower bed. The awning's staying at home from now on, was just too much work to put up and take down and this will be much quicker and easier.

No good for buggies etc though, you'd need loads of them. Mind you, storing kids and zipping them up might be an idea

Ha - might help other campers get some peace and quiet! Good idea with the bag, will look into that as can probably keep the buggy under the front of the bed

 

[Davenjo]

Ha - might help other campers get some peace and quiet! Good idea with the bag, will look into that as can probably keep the buggy under the front of the bed

Another option would be a back rack and/or towbar mounted box or bag - Thule and Fiamma do some.

 

[Colinlp]

Our Galli arrived today, we tried it in the field next door, easy enough to erect but an absolute pain to pack away, no matter how hard we tried we couldn't get the pump or peg bag back into the bag with the awning the way it came so they will have to travel separate

 

[Mojo80]

Our Galli arrived today, we tried it in the field next door, easy enough to erect but an absolute pain to pack away, no matter how hard we tried we couldn't get the pump or peg bag back into the bag with the awning the way it came so they will have to travel separate

Apologies if this is stating the bleeding obvious, but we didn't think to do it the first couple of times: you need to make sure all four air valves are set to "open", then roll up towards the valves. I don't bother trying to get the peg bag or pump in though - God knows how they manage that in the factory!! Ours live under our back seats.

 

[Colinlp]

Apologies if this is stating the bleeding obvious, but we didn't think to do it the first couple of times: you need to make sure all four air valves are set to "open", then roll up towards the valves. I don't bother trying to get the peg bag or pump in though - God knows how they manage that in the factory!! Ours live under our back seats.

They were open and deflated but perhaps they filled up a little again? They have to vacuum pack at the factory surely?

 

[Davenjo]

They were open and deflated but perhaps they filled up a little again? They have to vacuum pack at the factory surely?

You need to do roly polys on the tent to squeeze the air out of the tent as well as the tubes - look a bit of a prat doing it but worth it.

 

[Colinlp]

You need to do roly polys on the tent to squeeze the air out of the tent as well as the tubes - look a bit of a prat doing it but worth it.

We did that, the two of us, we looked like a pair of drunken muslims!
Edit, we were facing east

 

[andys]

It's tight, but it can be done (neck loosened to show contents)

 

[Veema]

No...we could never get the pump back in the caravan awning either...

 

[Andrew]

I've just used my Galli for the first time this weekend. Great awning and I still happy I with it even though I paid the 850. Mrs Scott and I had no chance packing it. I tried to be all logical about the packing method but it quickly turned into a throw it in the van moment.

 

[Fish]

No, there's not a door at the back of the tunnel or at the back of the tent, which is a bit frustrating! It's not that different in terms of pack size though: 78x40x42 vs 78x35x37, but the Galli is bloody heavy (50% heavier than the Kela).

We would love to be able to leave the Galli at home for short trips, but need to find a workable solution for keeping the kids penned in and dumping car seats, buggy etc overnight. Might try windbreaks, a Fiamma and a small tent for "stuff" next year.

would a multiRAIL on the opposite side of the van be of any use? with as you say a small khyan awning? or shelter pod?

 

[Mojo80]

would a multiracial on the opposite side of the van be of any use? with as you say a small khyan awning? or shelter pod?

That could be a good option, thanks