Experience with low Kela or small Outdoor Rev airbeam awnings

[Verity]

Thank you. Was tempted to get a larger size for little extra cost but really keen to minimise pack size and weight so this may very well fit the bill.

It's really light and can be packed up reasonably small. The great thing is that it comes with an enormous bag, so if you can't be faffed to pack it up super neat when you're packing up to go home, you can still get it in the bag and then do it more prettily later. It was blowing a hoolie when we broke camp on Sunday, and we just shoved it in the bag and legged it!

 

[Grey one]

Just to make sure, yours is the 225 and not the 250? I think your original attachment to the placed you purchased was for the 225 but in the video it looks bigger than the 225.

 

[Verity]

Just to make sure, yours is the 225 and not the 250? I think your original attachment to the placed you purchased was for the 225 but in the video it looks bigger than the 225.

No - it's definitely the 225. Cost £385, which at the time seemed expensive, but it's great and so easy to put up I'm glad I spent the money now!

 

[Grey one]

No - it's definitely the 225. Cost £385, which at the time seemed expensive, but it's great and so easy to put up I'm glad I spent the money now!

Great. Looks more than big enough for my needs and at 10kg won't take up too much space. Thanks for your time. Ordering now and getting a carpet thrown on for the £385!

 

[Grey one]

We used the awning this weekend. It was extremely easy to put up - it will ordinarily take about 10 mins - we might have faffed a bit this time as it was new. My husband has taken a time lapse film of it going up. We didn't bother attaching it to the van as the view was too lovely and we were just using it for storage and to put the loo in. I guess it would be another 5 mins or so to get it attached to the van. Here's an ordinary pic for now, and I'll try and upload the vid when my husband has sent me a link.

View attachment 21159

Verity,

I bought that Sunncamp and it's just right! It's not big but it does what's needed. One question re attaching it to the van. I used a 'Kador' strip (6 and 4mm I think). One side fits exactly in the van awning rail channel. The other side fits very easily into the figure of eight, so easy it is perhaps 4mm or so smaller in diameter. It does however appear to stay in place as the slot in the figure of 8 is narrower. My question is, did you notice that and, if so, does the canopy stay in place despite the sloppy fit? I appreciate you may not have attached it that way other than in practice.

I assume that if it does not stay in place one would either need a larger diameter Kador Strip on the canopy side or a smaller figure of eight?

I have spoken to Sunncamp but await the response and am hoping to use it this weekend. Gareth

 

[Verity]

Verity,

I bought that Sunncamp and it's just right! It's not big but it does what's needed. One question re attaching it to the van. I used a 'Kador' strip (6 and 4mm I think). One side fits exactly in the van awning rail channel. The other side fits very easily into the figure of eight, so easy it is perhaps 4mm or so smaller in diameter. It does however appear to stay in place as the slot in the figure of 8 is narrower. My question is, did you notice that and, if so, does the canopy stay in place despite the sloppy fit? I appreciate you may not have attached it that way other than in practice.

I assume that if it does not stay in place one would either need a larger diameter Kador Strip on the canopy side or a smaller figure of eight?

I have spoken to Sunncamp but await the response and am hoping to use it this weekend. Gareth

I have to be honest, we've only used it the once so far and didn't attach it to the van, so I can't comment as yet. Can you let me know what Sunncamp say if it's useful! Thanks.

 

[Grey one]

I have to be honest, we've only used it the once so far and didn't attach it to the van, so I can't comment as yet. Can you let me know what Sunncamp say if it's useful! Thanks.

I spoke with Sunncamp and to be honest they could add little. They could not pass me to someone who had actually attached one to a van. Lots of staff appear to have have erected one but not attached one. They did comment their awning attachment kit (6mm and 4mm) was the one they sell. I have subsequently bought a 6mm-6mm Kador Strip and the fit in the figure of eight is perfect. Loose enough to slide in but tight enough to prevent it pulling out or, to an extent, sliding along in heavy winds. On balance I think either will do but the 6mm on each end gives a little more confidence.

 

[Verity]

I spoke with Sunncamp and to be honest they could add little. They could not pass me to someone who had actually attached one to a van. Lots of staff appear to have have erected one but not attached one. They did comment their awning attachment kit (6mm and 4mm) was the one they sell. I have subsequently bought a 6mm-6mm Kador Strip and the fit in the figure of eight is perfect. Loose enough to slide in but tight enough to prevent it pulling out or, to an extent, sliding along in heavy winds. On balance I think either will do but the 6mm on each end gives a little more confidence.

Thanks for that. We'll probably give it a go and try to attach it in a couple of weeks when we're meeting some friends for a camp - they've got a dog, so we'll probably put the awning up so the pooch can be close to us but not marauding all over the van.

 

[GillianC]

I spoke with Sunncamp and to be honest they could add little. They could not pass me to someone who had actually attached one to a van. Lots of staff appear to have have erected one but not attached one. They did comment their awning attachment kit (6mm and 4mm) was the one they sell. I have subsequently bought a 6mm-6mm Kador Strip and the fit in the figure of eight is perfect. Loose enough to slide in but tight enough to prevent it pulling out or, to an extent, sliding along in heavy winds. On balance I think either will do but the 6mm on each end gives a little more confidence.

Thanks for that info @Grey one . Would you mind posting a photo when you have it joined to the van please?

 

[Taff7996]

Complete airbeam novice - it took me 20 minutes to put up the Kela low on my driveway - not pegged out.
2nd attempt, it took me 15 minutes to put it up in a thunderstorm, pegged out but woefully badly.

Packing it wet and getting it in the bag is mildly difficult, but as it will need to be dried out then packed properly, it is not a big problem.

I tried to repack it small in the garden after it had dried out. I sucked the air out of the airbeams with the deflate end of the pump, but somehow air kept getting back into the airbeams, and I couldn't pack it as tight as I would have liked. A problem to resolve another day...

I really do think that with practice, 10 minutes for putting up and pegging out is very achievable. It is a very useful extra space.

Just bought a vango Cruz,
Practiced putting up in garden, the thing i found to help packing and getting all of the air out of the airbeam, manually turned the inflation valve to the open position,
As you roll up the awning it allows the air out
Must remember to turn valves back to closed position before trying to attach adaptor to inflate next time you use it

 

[Grey one]

Thanks for that info @Grey one . Would you mind posting a photo when you have it joined to the van please?

Forgot about a picture! Overall there is a great quality of materials, zips etc and its just about big enough for two to cook and eat in if required. In respect of attaching it, I attached to the side door and would comment:

1. You need to position the base about 1 meter or so away from the vehicle in order to allow the tunnel door to fit correctly. Nothing worse than pegging out and then having to change the position of the base!
2. At the same time think about how the awning is positioned along the door opening side. Too far towards the front or rear of the vehicle and the tunnel can get in the way of the sliding door.
3. Check you can open the sliding door with the tunnel fitted as the door obviously ends up proud of the vehicle side.
4. I used the 6mm - 6mm Kador strip and think the extra tightness in fit is better than 6mm - 4mm (it was very windy). The figure of eight does tend to move along the Kador strip from time to time.
5. The figure of eight ends up in a position where it rubs against the top of the sliding door as the door opens. I got over that by winding the awning out about one inch thereby moving the strip well away from the door. Not ideal.
6. The three short figure of eight strips have two joins when pushed together. Those joins would let water into the tunnel area in heavy rain.
7. Perhaps the only really significant issue is that the tunnel is designed to fit a range of vehicles, many much taller than the Cali. I ended up with quite a lot of slack in the roof of the tunnel. There are straps on the inside that allow the slack to be pulled in but it does not look a bespoke fit. You can usually mount the tunnel over a roof but that's not really possible on our raised roof. I did see there was a magnetic awning attachment kit from Outdoor Revolution which may offer a way to attach to the metal vehicle awning cover. I will research that.

All in all though, great bit of kit and the same issues no doubt exist with other models.

Any tips when you try yours will be appreciated.

 

[Granny1]

We tried ours out in the back garden using the washing line and the Velcro straps. Just had to get used to the kador strip when we used it the first time.

 

[Amarillo]

Practiced putting up in garden, the thing i found to help packing and getting all of the air out of the airbeam, manually turned the inflation valve to the open position,

It took me three uses to work that out! I'm hopelessly incompetent when it comes to things like that...

 

[Amarillo]

6. The three short figure of eight strips have two joins when pushed together. Those joins would let water into the tunnel area in heavy rain.

I keep blu tack in the van for that. So far untested, but the leak observed twice in the rain.

 

[Flood51]

soulstyledevon in his piece on Cali Kids camping with babies put me onto the Quechua Base Seconds. A pop up shelter 2m x 2m goes up in less than a minute before you peg it down and folds up just as quickly. Brilliant for storage or a camp kitchen. £145 from Decathlon. We use it more that the curtain awning that zips onto VW awning. Doesn't attach to the van but a very useful addition.

 

[Verity]

Forgot about a picture! Overall there is a great quality of materials, zips etc and its just about big enough for two to cook and eat in if required. In respect of attaching it, I attached to the side door and would comment:

1. You need to position the base about 1 meter or so away from the vehicle in order to allow the tunnel door to fit correctly. Nothing worse than pegging out and then having to change the position of the base!
2. At the same time think about how the awning is positioned along the door opening side. Too far towards the front or rear of the vehicle and the tunnel can get in the way of the sliding door.
3. Check you can open the sliding door with the tunnel fitted as the door obviously ends up proud of the vehicle side.
4. I used the 6mm - 6mm Kador strip and think the extra tightness in fit is better than 6mm - 4mm (it was very windy). The figure of eight does tend to move along the Kador strip from time to time.
5. The figure of eight ends up in a position where it rubs against the top of the sliding door as the door opens. I got over that by winding the awning out about one inch thereby moving the strip well away from the door. Not ideal.
6. The three short figure of eight strips have two joins when pushed together. Those joins would let water into the tunnel area in heavy rain.
7. Perhaps the only really significant issue is that the tunnel is designed to fit a range of vehicles, many much taller than the Cali. I ended up with quite a lot of slack in the roof of the tunnel. There are straps on the inside that allow the slack to be pulled in but it does not look a bespoke fit. You can usually mount the tunnel over a roof but that's not really possible on our raised roof. I did see there was a magnetic awning attachment kit from Outdoor Revolution which may offer a way to attach to the metal vehicle awning cover. I will research that.

All in all though, great bit of kit and the same issues no doubt exist with other models.

Any tips when you try yours will be appreciated.

Thanks Grey One - when we take ours to Scotland in August for The Boy to sleep in, we'll take these notes with us so we get it right!