Drive away awning or tent?

[T6Cali#bumble]

Hi all.

We bought our calli in October and are looking to purchase a large awning/tent big enough for family of 4. We are traveling in uk country and abroad. I have heard that drive way awning are tricky to pull up to but like the thought of an awning being an extension to the camper.

What do you recommend?

 

[WelshGas]

Some sites can charge extra for a standalone tent.

 

[T6Cali#bumble]

Thank you WelshGas!

 

[soulstyledevon]

Personally, I would say none.
Just use the Cali and awning. But understand the need for more room. IMO I would have additional tent and wind the awning to the opening.
Less hassle on both erection and daily driving back to camp.

 

[T6Cali#bumble]

Thank you soulstyledevon. This was my thought initially. The kids sleep in the pop top so thought a drive away awnings would feel more secure at night? Hassle free pull up and drive away with a tent is still appealing though.

 

[Digger]

The decision by Decathlon to discontinue the base seconds pop up shelter was a big mistake. It would have suited many.

 

[bxl_lad]

We have one of these:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/base-arpenaz-m-living-area-id_8373958.html
A cheap (and large!) additional storage that can be easily butted up to the van or awning. For this price you can even 'try before you buy' to see how you could use the additional space. Quick to put up and can be used in many ways (rain shelter, storage, additional sleeping space...). They're only single skinned, but have built-in ground sheets and various doors/windows that can be closed/blocked.
For slightly more there is a larger version:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/base-arpenaz-l-fresh-id_8397099.html
and for a little more again, the air-framed version:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/air-seconds-base-xl-inflatable-camping-shelter-id_8358157.html
These prices are way lower than traditional drive-away awnings, though note these don't have vehicle connecting cowlings in the true sense...

 

[Amarillo]

We have a driveaway awning and a safari room. We are very pleased with the snugness of the safari room, but it’s a bit small for a family of four.

Our driveaway awning has had much use, probably up 250 nights out of 375 nights away from home 5 June 2017 to 15 June 2018. It’s fine - but I’m not convinced it is significantly better than a stand alone gazebo.

Compare:

From Winfields, gazebo £400, driveaway £650.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Digger]

We have one of these:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/base-arpenaz-m-living-area-id_8373958.html
A cheap (and large!) additional storage that can be easily butted up to the van or awning. For this price you can even 'try before you buy' to see how you could use the additional space. Quick to put up and can be used in many ways (rain shelter, storage, additional sleeping space...). They're only single skinned, but have built-in ground sheets and various doors/windows that can be closed/blocked.
For slightly more there is a larger version:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/base-arpenaz-l-fresh-id_8397099.html
and for a little more again, the air-framed version:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/air-seconds-base-xl-inflatable-camping-shelter-id_8358157.html
These prices are way lower than traditional drive-away awnings, though note these don't have vehicle connecting cowlings in the true sense...

Pity though the virtually instant shelter was perfect for quick getaway.

 

[B J G]

Factor to consider.
A large multi-person drive away awning needs quite a lot of space for both it and the Cali to park together. Especially problematic on smaller pitches abroad.

 

[MarkVw2017]

We have a driveaway awning and a safari room. We are very pleased with the snugness of the safari room, but it’s a bit small for a family of four.

Our driveaway awning has had much use, probably up 250 nights out of 375 nights away from home 5 June 2017 to 15 June 2018. It’s fine - but I’m not convinced it is significantly better than a stand alone gazebo.

Compare:

From Winfields, gazebo £400, driveaway £650.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Hello @Amarillo . I have the same dilemma, so in your experience as you have done camping all over, if you put a tent up next to the cali, can some sites be awkward about this? We have a beautiful £600 tent which we got before the Cali days (which we got two weeks ago) and would love to keep our tent and combine it with our cali trips but worried about experiencing "thats not an awning, its a tent" comments from the campsite owners?

 

[MarkVw2017]

This is our tent. Can we just set this up next to our Cali on site and class it as an awning or are some sites funny about this?
Seems a shame to sell our tent, it cost us £600, or is there any ingenious way your cali gurus know that we can make it into a driveaway awning?

 

[Selmermkvi]

The Caravan and Motorhome club sites often don't allow tents.
We were once told off for using our awning as a standalone tent and had to attach it to the van to appease the site warden.

 

[Amarillo]

Hello @Amarillo . I have the same dilemma, so in your experience as you have done camping all over, if you put a tent up next to the cali, can some sites be awkward about this? We have a beautiful £600 tent which we got before the Cali days (which we got two weeks ago) and would love to keep our tent and combine it with our cali trips but worried about experiencing "thats not an awning, its a tent" comments from the campsite owners?

Much will depend on if you book a pitch or pay by the space you take up. Across Europe different sites charge by different criteria.

Spain seems to be particularly bad for charging for each bit:
Pitch small
Pitch medium
Pitch large
Shaded
Good view
Fair view
Poor view
Adult
Child
Tent small
Tent large
Vehicle up to 5m
Vehicle up to 6m
Vehicle up to 7m
Vehicle over 7m
Pet small
Pet large
Hookup 6amp
Hookup 10amp
Hookup 20amp
Showers
Washing up water

 

[Drpps]

I recently bought a used Decathlon base seconds with the inner tent from the usual auction site. Used it properly for the first time last weekend and it was perfect especially for those 1 or 2 night stops. With children we wanted somewhere to sling the clobber/car seats on arrival and or the loo. We were set up and had cooked dinner and were drinking wine within 45 min.

We also have a vango galli 2. Great for long summer trips to the coast with surf boards and bikes but although it only takes 10 minutes to inflate it takes an hour to put out the guy lines! It also takes up half the lower boot. Quite like the drive away aspect as it gives a room for the loo in the join. Lining it up to reconnect is a knack helped by some ground markers. The fact that it runs along rather than out from the van helps it fit the pitches too.

Having now used both I suspect the Galli will only be used once a year for the big trips as the Quechua is perfect otherwise.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Drpps, how fast is your erection...?
I can get mine fully up in less than 5minutes.
Shame decathlon isn’t selling it anymore. I’m sure I read somewhere another company was now making and selling it?

 

[leightonjthomas]

Regarding the use of driveway awnings and tents in the UK I have an email from CMC dated August 2017:

Thank you for your enquiry, we have no problem with driveway awnings. Many of our members use them it does help with storage and saving you pitch while out for the day. Make sure you do book a pitch with awning space, you may also erect a tent for extra accommodation provided your main outfit is occupied and you are within you allocated pitch area.

We look forward to seeing you soon,

Kathy

Email Support Team
Caravan and Motorhome Club
East Grinstead House, East Grinstead, RH19 1UA
+44 (0)1342 318813
www.camc.com

We have a Decathlon Air Seconds Inflatable Shelter. No problem in UK or France but had to pay extra in Italy.

 

[Drpps]

Drpps, how fast is your erection...?
I can get mine fully up in less than 5minutes.
Shame decathlon isn’t selling it anymore. I’m sure I read somewhere another company was now making and selling it?

I can get the quechua up in 5 minutes and it then stays up for sometime....

Wrestling the kids into some semblance of usefulness, getting the dinner on and sitting back with glass if wine in hand without having throttled one of the above charges. A little longer!

 

[Drpps]

Regarding the use of driveway awnings and tents in the UK I have an email from CMC dated August 2017:

Thank you for your enquiry, we have no problem with driveway awnings. Many of our members use them it does help with storage and saving you pitch while out for the day. Make sure you do book a pitch with awning space, you may also erect a tent for extra accommodation provided your main outfit is occupied and you are within you allocated pitch area.

We look forward to seeing you soon,

Kathy

Email Support Team
Caravan and Motorhome Club
East Grinstead House, East Grinstead, RH19 1UA
+44 (0)1342 318813
www.camc.com

We have a Decathlon Air Seconds Inflatable Shelter. No problem in UK or France but had to pay extra in Italy.

Thats a helpful email thanks.

 

[B J G]

You could use this awning to bridge the gap to the tent.

https://www.towsure.com/sunncamp-swift-van-canopy-260-1

 

[T6Cali#bumble]

That's great! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences all! Cheers!

 

[Embomaggiepie]

We have a Vango airbeam driveaway awning. We thought we would only use it for long breaks away, but it is so quick to put up and down that we always use it now. We are a family of four (2 adults and 2 children) and we just need the space. After a few trips, we’ve now perfected aligning the van up to the awning, hardly takes any time.

 

[Blue Yonder]

The Caravan and Motorhome club sites often don't allow tents.
We were once told off for using our awning as a standalone tent and had to attach it to the van to appease the site warden.

I believe it is because of camp site insurance / fire regulations. That is if the tent is not attached to the van it is then deemed to be a separate dwelling and must be at least 3 m or perhaps 6 m from your campervan. If it is clearly not a tent in which you cannot sleep in, e.g. a shower tent with very small footprint. then you should have no problem.

 

[PaulMilton]

I use a blow up awning for anything over 3 days- otherwise it’s not really worth the bother.

Whatever else you do, don’t question how long it takes people to put up their awnings- I seemed to iritate people by suggesting that it takes longer than people admit!

Part of my point about setting up is that once you know you’re taking your awning you take more stuff that goes in your awning. So it’s not just the time it takes to erect the awning, it’s the organising it too. But this is a point worth bearing in mind. (I reckon full set up for me is 30 to 40mins- erecting the tent and organising it)

 

[Esandar#1]

Hi all.

We bought our calli in October and are looking to purchase a large awning/tent big enough for family of 4. We are traveling in uk country and abroad. I have heard that drive way awning are tricky to pull up to but like the thought of an awning being an extension to the camper.

What do you recommend?

We wondered the same... and bought a Kyham Driveaway Sleeper (new for about #250 a couple of years ago in a Jan sale) https://www.khyam.co.uk/drive-away-...veaway-sleeper-2017-reconditioned-model-p1459

It is a very versatile bit of kit as it does attach to the van, so becoming the proper 'Driveaway awning'. It can be set up as just an extra big covered space or you can insert the sleep zone section which can be used to sleep up to four extra kids. The downside is it is still quite bulky and so we only take it away if we expect inclement weather or think we are going to be away on one site for more than (say) two or three nights. It is relatively easy & quick to put up / take down. We've done two three week summer tours to Europe and decided NOT to take it, which was a correct decision given we were heading to southern Europe and warm climes. What we have fashioned instead is a simple lightweight solution that we can attach to the the sun awning (made from some Gazebo / Marquee side panels) which we have used when we had proper rain on those summer adventures or simply wanted some extra space and privacy. The downside to having the awning out is that if it gets very windy I get nervous that it could act as a sail and thus result in damage to the awning, but if the weather is that bad we'd simply wind it it in and push all our large plastic storage boxes under the van. Photos are in St.Tropez and Croyde respectively.