Prima Awning Trial
Prima Awning Trial
Got to Buxton Caravan and Motorhome club site after a short stop off at Bakewell.
We have been to Buxton site before in the summer, it’s a well laid out site, and the facilities are fabulous and clean.
My partner and I are here this weekend to trial the new Prima Deluxe Infinity Air Awning 390. After setting up our caravan, which doesn’t take long (Lunar Delta TR).
And after a cup of tea and lunch I was ready to tackle the new awning, it comes in a large carry bag, and in the bag you will find a pump, pegs, ground sheet, draft skirt and the awning the poles are in a separate bag.
After laying out the awning on the ground and sorting out top from bottom then removing all packaging, I then started to thread the top of the awning along the awning channel/rail. Soon I found the protective foam blocks catching on the outside awning light, so if like me you find yourself doing this task on your own you have to pull and push so much of the awning on then get the foam block over the light and so on until you have it all pulled on.
The last block catches on the awning light, that line’s up with the door on our Lunar Delta but over the window at the rear bedroom, so if I was going to purchase a Prima Deluxe infinity Air awning it would be the 360 instead of the 390.
I then closed off three of the four vents and started to inflate using the pump provided, after a short time pumping the air beams started to stand up and with a pull on the storm straps it was up and fully inflated.
When it came to pegging down the awning I used our own rock pegs as the ones supplied was not strong enough because we was on a hard standing pitch.
The eyelets at the base of the awning together with the elastic toggles just did not work, so I had to improvise, I think Prima need to go back to what they used before and that would cover all styles of pitch and include rock pegs instead of the soft pegs that are designed for grass pitches, if rock pegs was in the bag it would be a case of buy your awning inflate peg down and use.
This awning came with more than enough storm straps, once up it felt strong and secure.
Moving inside I had to inflate six other air beams, these are like a long sausage with Velcro on ether end, once inflated you have to push these in place the first one’s are easy but the last two more difficult.
A better way would be to have these beams connected into the other beams so they all inflate as one, because some people will struggle to push these beams into place.
The poles extend by undoing a thumb screw, there is a spike at the bottom and a flat spade at the top which fits into a small pocket, once in place you then attach the clips to the poles which keeps the wall of the awning in place against the caravan.
The white clips I thought where great, very secure and no need for limpets.
The awning comes with a ground sheet but isn’t breathable so would be a problem at some sites, so you would have to purchase a breathable mat.
The windows are covered with removable covers that unzip then roll up and secured in place with elastic loops and toddles, we thought the window’s let in a lot of light and ventilation, this model didn’t come with a ceiling sheet, we would recommend that you buy one to stop any condensation dropping down the clips are built in place to accommodate the sheet, the mesh over the doors is another plus when it’s hot and you want to stop little unwanted guests in the awning.
As you can see the space above is immense and would be great for families or couples wanting a lot of space, you can also see the covers over the windows that zip down.
When you go shopping for a new awning I would take a look at Prima Deluxe Awnings, they are well made very strong construction, easy to put up this one took me about an hour on my own.
If you haven’t been to Buxton there are plenty of walks in and around Buxton, it will take about 25 minutes from the site, the Pavilion Gardens are a must on a sunny day.
Comments
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I think Air Awnings era has passed me by. We changed from a caravan to a motorhome six years ago and now just use a wind out canopy. Some years ago I did come across the technology when a Dutch neighbour had an open canopy on his caravan and the main support around the front from ground to ground was inflatable. What worries me about these awnings is their weight which seems much more than a conventional awning? Thanks for sharing.
David
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Thank you for feed back David, very often we are only away for the weekend because of work commitments, so speed is everything when setting up then chilling.
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