Driveaway Awning

[Nick Swan]

Hi all,

After our first trip away we realise we definitely need a drive away awning for the next adventure.

The chap we bought the van from recommended a Vango Airbeam. Any thoughts on this recommendation or happy users on here?

Thanks
Nick

 

[18hunts]

We use a Trigano Reciffe and are very happy with it.

 

[Bramco]

Vango very good in our opinion.

If you do a search on the forum there are already many posts about the pros and considered of various driveways.

Of course you won't find many members that have tried and used more than one, so all views will be a bit biased.

 

[DavidApp]

We have an Airbeam that came with the vehicle. While I have some concerns about the connection to the awning and its waterproofness, it looks to be ideal and easy to put up. Some have commented that the connection to the awning is a bit of a faff.

 

[DavidApp]

This looks like a useful page:

http://penroseoutdoors.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/connection-methods-for-your-drive-away.html

 

[larrylamb]

We have the Khyam Motordome tourer, very easy to erect and plenty of room to store stuff/ get dressed etc. We don't bother connecting it to the van, can't be bothered and would rather the Cali feel less enclosed. We usually extend our wind out awning up to the Khyam. It depends on the campsite but you could make do with just a tent instead, less money than a dedicated driveway awning.

 

[RedCali]

I agree with Larrylamb, we have a decathlon pop up tent and wind the awning out up to it if it's raining. We like it because its two mins up and five down and it doesn't block the door or view. We can all eat in it and our daughter has her camp bed in there too.

 

[John Richards]

We have the Vango Kela Standard which we bought from BMVS (and got a good deal as a VIP member of this site - excellent service by the way). This is our second drive away awning this year after our original Outdoor Revoultion Movelite Oxygen failed twice in the space of 6 weeks (as previously documented on this site).

Both awnings are very similar in size, attachment to the van and price, but we really do prefer the Vango as it seems a bit more user friendly, practical, and ultimately hasn't let us down (yet).

We use the figure of 8 and kador strip to attach to the vans own awning. This is a bit of a faff as others have stated but once you've done it a couple of times you do get the hang of it. The issue being when you want to drive away in your Cali you need to 'un zip' it then of course re-attach when you return later.

We have found that the Vango has a much bigger access tunnel than the Movelite, ie the section closest to the Cali, and has larger doors at each end of this space for easy access. We use this area as a boot room and it really is handy as a way to keep the inside of the van clean and dry as you always have this dry space to change in and remove wet coats and boots etc.

We use the awning space mostly for storage as we have 2 boys under 4 and so their car seats and general 'stuff' tends to take up loads up space as I'm sure you can imagine!

It is also very handy as a base if the weather isn't too great and you need a bit of dry space outside from the van and a play room for the kids.

Overall we have found the awning very handy especially on longer trips away

 

[pjm-84]

Fingers crossed. I've just bought the Movelite 2.

 

[cleve]

We had a khyam but now have the quechua Base which is so much easier to use & packs away much smaller than most awnings. No hassle attaching it to the vehicle as it's just the right height to meet the edge of the wind out canopy. We strap it to the under side of the bike rack so easy to carry.

 

[LowMan]

Another vote for the Quechua pop up base from Decathlon. It's quickly become are number one accessory. Perfect for when touring from place to place as it takes mins to put up and put down.

Word of warning though. Practice the 'putting down' before setting off, otherwise you'll become the on site entertainment for anyone else around

 

[cleve]

We saw someone walking with a quechua tent across the bridge from La Rochelle to Ile de Re which they'd obviously not been able to get back in the bag! It was like a sail blowing them along!

 

[sapto]

...It depends on the campsite but you could make do with just a tent instead, less money than a dedicated driveway awning.

Good point!

We still got this:
http://marmot.com/products/details/limestone-6p-new

And I think sooner or later we just going to try it out with the Cali-Awning instead of buying a new tentalike.

 

[Willies62]

We have had the Just Campers drive Away Awning and have found it to be excellent. Spacious, weather resistant and tough. Great for a base camp!

 

[Julie Fletcher]

Hi all,

After our first trip away we realise we definitely need a drive away awning for the next adventure.

The chap we bought the van from recommended a Vango Airbeam. Any thoughts on this recommendation or happy users on here?

Thanks
Nick

Hi Nick

Had our California a couple of weeks and we are thinking the same. I camped next to a guy with one yesterday and he highly recommended it.

 

[ChocolateEclair]

Vango very good in our opinion.

If you do a search on the forum there are already many posts about the pros and considered of various driveways.

Of course you won't find many members that have tried and used more than one, so all views will be a bit biased.

We're on our third awning since we took delivery in April!

The first was a Vango Kela II Standard. Fabulous bit of kit, excellent quality, sturdy and 'easy' to put up, BUT, it is big, blocks off an entire side of the van including daylight and view, takes a good 30-40 minutes to fully pitch and costs £500. We used it once and decided not for us (just the 2 of us) so sold it through the for sale and wanted forums on here.

Next was an 'Outdoor Revolution / Gemstone / Blue Diamond Turismo Square Driveaway Awning'. Much smaller, a lighter coloured fabric (so more light in the van), only £95, is square, and all sides open up (so you can configure it in many ways), BUT, takes a while to put up, is very, very fiddly and quality average at best, so sold it on eBay.

We now use a Quecha base seconds from Decathlon. I have to say it's perfect for us. It's out of the van, up and fully pitched in no more than 5 mins. Can be moved around easily once 'popped up' to get it in the right location, has lots of space inside - good head height, is very good quality with lots of vents and 2 doors and is only £125! It contains our outdoor kitchen, loo and various 'stuff' and then it takes no more than 5 mins to put away (now we have the hang of it). The only downside is that if it's very windy it tends to flop over a bit - but always returns to its original position!

I think moreover we've learnt that if the weather is OK to good, the Quechua is perfect. If it's windy we're still sort of OK but take precautions. If it's wet and windy we would just stay in the van - maybe roll out the awning a bit to protect from rain. If it's wet, windy and cold, we're in the pub and just use the van to sleep in!

 

[daz60]

Khyam, every time, one man operation only takes mins to put up, just brought the 2015 model my mate had my old Khyam View media item 484View media item 502

 

[Blue-T4]

Khyam . Easy to put up, easy to put down.
Used it twice and twice we experienced heavy Thunderstorms which it survived without any problems

 

[LynandJim]

We've bought a outdoor revolution xls turismo awning, tried last week to put it up but was so windy we couldn't so came home and put it up in next doors garden. It seems ok but when we went away last week managed with just the roll out awning and two windbreaks.
Think we'll just use the drive away awning when were stopping in one place for a while as it seems a hassle to put up.

 

[Barryjm]

Another vote for Kyham, had ours for 6 years, so quick to erect!


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[Gasgas]

I have a 12 month old purchased from BMVS + cotf 2014 ,for sale used twice last August packed away dry and in excellent condition for sale +£250 collect 5 min M1 j15