Which Awning??

[Richieboy64]

Awning Gallery And Poll

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...

www.t6forum.com

@Richieboy64 try this

Perfect, many thanks

 

[Matt1234]

Hi everyone
I’m after a Fiamma awning or similar which requires no drilling to the van. I was thinking of a f45s but don’t really know which one to buy.
Any help would be appreciated
Thanks.

 

[JOG]

F45s is a great bit of kit!!!

 

[BoroBoy]

Fiamma or Thule windout awning? What are your thoughts/ ptrferences on these 2 makes?

 

[slybacon67]

Hi all i am new to campervans but after many years caravanning and camping i want to buy a drive away awning for my T6 conversion. I have kind of made my mind up on the Kampa Action awning but cant decide on the air or poled version , the air is looks more stable and poss easier to put up but is heavier and bulkier to store in the van ,the poled is cheaper lighter and less bulky but i am concerned about scratching van with poles whilst putting it up and also how stable it is compared to air. Anyone got another advantages and disadvantages of both that i am missing , i have sourced both on ebay and its only £65 differance so not to concerned about money as i set a £500 budget limit. Also happy to look at any other recommendations you may have .
thx in advance

 

[thuderace916]

Air every time… quicker to put up

 

[EAN]

Air every time… quicker to put up

As long as you remember to close off all the valves; otherwise you’re pumping away like an idiot.
Did that yesterday with my Vango Agora and it’s “single inflation point”; didn’t know it had multiple “single inflation points”
Luckily I was just in the garden trying it out, or I would have been the on-site entertainment act.

 

[cgtmiles]

To me air is just not worth it. I don’t see it being any quicker to put up or more stable but it does make an awning very heavy and big when packed. And it’s more difficult to get it packed away neatly (apart from anything there’s no poles to wrap the tent round! ).

We have just come back from our second trip with our new outdoor revolution cayman f/g poled awning and I think it is the best combo of everything we have had before. And both me and the wife agree it’s even better for being the poled version

 

[cgtmiles]

As long as you remember to close off all the valves; otherwise you’re pumping away like an idiot.
Did that yesterday with my Vango Agora and it’s “single inflation point”; didn’t know it had multiple “single inflation points”
Luckily I was just in the garden trying it out, or I would have been the on-site entertainment act.

I remember years ago watching my mate blowing up an airbed while a bit worse for wear for about half an hour before he realised he hadn’t put the bung in. Even funnier as he didn’t even make it all the way into the tent when he went to sleep and nowhere near the airbed!

 

[stu3467]

Personally I prefer poled .I have had air awnings and they are quick to put up (but not that much quicker) ,however they are heavy and bulky and the one I had took longer to put away due to squeezing all the air out of the bladders ! I found that I would start folding it away thinking all the air was out ,then realising there was still a bit in one section would have to unfold it again to allow the air to get to the valves .For the advantage of cost and weight I now prefer poled versions .Only my opinion but I hope it helps ?

 

[EAN]

Personally I prefer poled .I have had air awnings and they are quick to put up (but not that much quicker) ,however they are heavy and bulky and the one I had took longer to put away due to squeezing all the air out of the bladders ! I found that I would start folding it away thinking all the air was out ,then realising there was still a bit in one section would have to unfold it again to allow the air to get to the valves .For the advantage of cost and weight I now prefer poled versions .Only my opinion but I hope it helps ?

Air is so much heavy and bulkier; I was surprised by how much.
However, I do like not having any poles near my van.
Just did a 2nd “put up and take down” practice of my Vango Agora airbeam.
9mins to put up, but 20mins to pack away (In ideal conditions; no wind and soft ground)
Folding is an art and my pump still hasn’t found it’s way back into the bag due to lack space.

 

[stu3467]

Air is so much heavy and bulkier; I was surprised by how much.
However, I do like not having any poles near my van.
Just did a 2nd “put up and take down” practice of my Vango Agora airbeam.
9mins to put up, but 20mins to pack away (In ideal conditions; no wind and soft ground)
Folding is an art and my pump still hasn’t found it’s way back into the bag due to lack space.

Just had a look at what the Kampa Action pole version looks like ,it is very similar to mine with either fibreglass or carbon poles I fit my poles into the sleeves away from van then just stand up before pulling towards van to fit to kador strip. I can see the issue if they were steel poles that might accidentally fall against van which I agree would definitely put me off a poled awning .However these poles are probably lighter to handle than the air tubes in an inflatable so u would have to be pretty unlucky to do any damage to your van .

 

[G00seman]

I've only had poled awnings, including one of each of the older Outwell ones: Country road (had 2 of these, they're really good -pic below),



Outwell Mountain road - lose a lot of space in the slope front (below)



and California highway - just Massive!.

Currently have a Vango Cove 2 - perfect lightweight, for 2+ nights away (Outwell Gazebo for 1 night) and the awning faces the same direction as the van.. (practice run on the drive, below)


I've been in some challenging weather (wind and rain) and would always go for poled. From what I've seen the Airs are great in sunny perfect weather but tend to blow flat and sag causing puddles in the great British summertime.
As for the time it takes to put up.. You still have to fill it with the gear so you may save 20Mins over 1-2hrs, but if you're away camping what's the rush ? you can take it easy and have a stubby or two while you work.

Good luck with your search

 

[cgtmiles]

Just had a look at what the Kampa Action pole version looks like ,it is very similar to mine with either fibreglass or carbon poles I fit my poles into the sleeves away from van then just stand up before pulling towards van to fit to kador strip. I can see the issue if they were steel poles that might accidentally fall against van which I agree would definitely put me off a poled awning .However these poles are probably lighter to handle than the air tubes in an inflatable so u would have to be pretty unlucky to do any damage to your van .

I move the awning slightly once half up anyway to get it aligned properly but normally connect to the van first and put the poles in from the van side to avoid issues. Could definitely do it well away from the van first although positioning the missus in between the poles and the van helps take away the worry!

 

[slybacon67]

To me air is just not worth it. I don’t see it being any quicker to put up or more stable but it does make an awning very heavy and big when packed. And it’s more difficult to get it packed away neatly (apart from anything there’s no poles to wrap the tent round! ).

We have just come back from our second trip with our new outdoor revolution cayman f/g poled awning and I think it is the best combo of everything we have had before. And both me and the wife agree it’s even better for being the poled version

my caravan experience told me a lot of sites dont like awnings without breathable ground mat , this is why i like the kampa as it has a removable ground sheet , are campsites still like this or is it okay to put any groundsheet down.

 

[cgtmiles]

I’ve never had any issues and I always use a footprint too. Most tents/awnings have a sewn in groundsheet now don’t they?

 

[cgtmiles]

C&CC say you should lift the groundsheet occasionally I think. Never seen anyone do that though

 

[Bav]

I've no experience of awnings, but I've used poled and air-beam versions of the same tent (large 8/10 man tents, just for the 4 of us ).

My observations are that the air-beam version was a lot more forgiving in high winds - by which I mean that it could be blown almost flat (given a strong enough wind), but it would simply recover it's original shape without any signs of damage. Poled tents in the same conditions would likely get utterly destroyed.

Also, no need to worry about a snapping pole with an air-beam version. Admittedly, if you get a puncture, it can be a lot more problematic to fix than simply buying a replacement pole, but in my experience the likelihood of a puncture is negligible.

 

[stu3467]

Its a tricky question to answer i'm afraid ! There are pros and cons for both types ,it will probably just come down to your instinct when you buy .If you don't mind paying a little bit more for the air awning and the extra weight isn't an issue then go for it !! It takes a bit longer to put away but what's the rush? Unless its pi$$ing it down

 

[Susan]

Hi there, I have the poled version of the Kampa Action awning. I got it a couple of years ago, at a time when I really needed an awning and there were none to be had anywhere due to Covid and other supply chain issues. So I didn’t give it much thought, I was just delighted to find an awning, any awning, air/poled - it didn’t matter at the time. We have since bought a Vango Galli but find we still prefer to use our Kampa Action because it is smaller but not too small for a family of 4. Some of the pitches we have been on wouldn’t have been big enough for our Galli. And the Kampa Action is fairly quick and easy to put up. I Love the fact that there is a clip in groundsheet as we have been to campsites that insisted on a breathable groundsheet. I have never had any issue with the poles hitting off the van. I was at a campsite last year where I saw someone with the Kampa Action Air which had collapsed in strong winds whilst our poled one was still standing, but to be fair, we could have been in a more sheltered pitch. What I like about the Kampa Action poled is the pack size, the weight, the awning size, the clip in groundsheet, and the ease and speed for taking up and down. It was perfectly waterproof for the first two years, and then after two years it started to leak a bit so I fabrisilled it and it was grand then. What I don’t like about it is the way the main opening faces to the side rather than to the front of the van, unlike the Galli. And I don’t think there is any mesh/net covering on the door - but i could be wrong there. Also, I think the air version has two extra guy ropes at the front of the awning, which would give more stability than the poled version. We had some issues with the central bracing pole in the roof; one of the issues was that we had difficulty keeping it fixed in place as sometimes it would fall down, especially in strong wind and heavy rain, so now we use duct tape to tape each end of the roof pole into the little pockets that the pole goes into in the awning roof - we do this every time we use the awning now, which has helped the stability and rigidity of the roof immensely. I did split one of the awning poles on one occasion but i had no problem getting a replacement. If i had to choose between the Kampa Action air or poled I would be happy to go again with the poled version. I hope that is of some help