First time tin tenters :-)
Hi everyone,
We’ve been club members for a year now and recently acquired our first caravan - a Bailey Pursuit II.
Our journey began with camping, then progressed to camping with a trailer, and finally, we rented a motorhome last year. Now, we’re all set for our first caravan adventure!
Last summer, we had an incredible time exploring Scotland with the club. It was an absolute blast! Back to the caravan.
We don’t have an awning, so we’d greatly appreciate any suggestions for one. We also have a young and excitable Cockerpoo; does anyone have any tips for having dogs in your caravan? We have two preteens who will be in 68cm wide bunks - sleeping bags not a preferred option. what bedding options do people recommend?
Thanks in advance!
Comments
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If you caravan in the UK then I think you cannot avoid getting an awning. Air awnings now seem to be the default purchase and having owned one I can see why. They are only a little quicker to put up, heavier to drag around the awning rail, but very quick to take down.
If you plan on camping abroad in the summer then I would go for a sun canopy. We actually have two, a Fiamma Caravanstore on the back of the van for protection of bikes, airer, second fridge and an Isabella Shadow on the door side for eating in the shade. These are lightweight and quick to set up.
For the preteens, ours went into pup tents around the ages of 10 and loved it. They slept on a blow up mattress and had a single sheet and sleeping bag which they used as a duvet for cooler nights.
For the dogs, buy a heavy metal spike and attach the lead to it. When it's hot they will probably go under the van.
Colin
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”If you caravan in the UK then I think you cannot avoid getting an awning.”
Oh yes you can! We managed perfectly well with no awning after trying one and selling it. It’s personal choice but they’re not called “divorce in a bag” for nothing.🤣
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Welcome, yes you do not need an awning but for a family of 4 and a dog it will give much more living space. Its a personal choice. For sleeping you could also consider Duvalays, these are cross beween a sleeping bag and a duvet and come complete with a memory foam base. easy to stow away and use.
peedee
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I'm inclined to go along with @eribaMotters on this one - especially with you having a dog. We seem to have a lot of 'clutter', which if it wasn't in the awning would either have to stay in the car or be out in the inevitable rain and look untidy - or even cluttering up the van! Things like shoes, walking boots, wet jackets (over the back of a chair), dog's food box, bag of vegetables, somewhere to store the BBQ, bag for recycling items etc etc etc.
We have a small table on which sits the electric griddle which we use for cooking, particularly if it's likely to smell the caravan out! So - we find an awning almost essential.
Two things to think about - what size - and what type. My advice would be to go for a large porch awning. Saves any hassle about getting a full awning exactly the right size. Try to make sure it doesn't end down a window because you obviously won't be able to open that window and it could scuff the plastic over time. Having had poled awnings in the past - and I would agree with @Tinwheeler that they are a 'divorce in a bag', and in recent years we have opted for an air awning which - despite the weight of some - are much easier to erect - especially if you invest in an electric pump.
We currently use a Sunncamp Air 390 - which cost less than £400 when I bought it new nearly 10 years ago and has given good service and is still going strong. It is lightweight and easy to slide onto the awning rail and with us both being in our mid 70's - that's an important consideration. I doubt that will be a consideration for you though - so a heavier one might be a better bet. We used to have a Kampa Air 390 but eventually found it too much of a struggle to get on the rail and sold it.
Another thing that I consider important is the ease of being able to dry it at home if it has to be packed away wet. The Sunncamp is easy to dry whilst the Kampa - being made of much heavier canvas-type fabric as opposed to the lightweight nylon of the SC - took ages to dry at home.
Another consideration for me is that with an air awning - in strong winds, there is far less likelihood of damaging the van. We've had both air awnings up in 50mph winds and whilst, in a gust, they may bend and buckle - sometimes alarmingly - they just spring back and there's nothing banging against the side of the van.
Finally - a word about canopies etc. We have a Thule 4.5m canopy attached to our van - but be aware of payload in your van and whether or not you have the capacity to fit one. Takes about 5 minutes to wind out and peg the poles down and attach storm straps etc. We sometimes use it on it's own if the weather promises to be dry and it really is the simplest solution. We have a Thule Veduta awning which attaches to the canopy. A very spacious, durable, versatile in terms of opening windows etc and extremely well made awning which no doubt will last for years. Two drawbacks, though. Firstly the cost - and secondly the weight of the various components which, whilst I am sure you would not find a problem, it is for us and if I'm honest - at our age, I wouldn't have bought it had I realised just how heavy it was.
We only tend to use it if we are going to be on site for two weeks and in dry weather!
Hope this helps. Apologies for the long post!
Richard
PS - Welcome to the forum😃
Sunncamp Air 390
(Christmas lights optional!)
Thule Canopy
Thule Veduta awning attached
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When our two boys came with us we had a full awning and as they got a bit older one of them slept in an inner tent rigged inside the awning. As they flew the nest we experimented with a porch awning but came to the conclusion that it was more bother than it was worth. Should add we didn't have a dog which may well be a deciding factor in the should we or shouldn't we. In the end we had a Fiamma Caravanstor which fitted in the awning rail and was left in place all the time and used when required. Then we had two motorhomes, both with Fiamma wind out sunshades which suited us for simplicity. Going back to when we got a porch awning I did sometimes regret that we didn't buy one of the Isabella "not quite a full awning" but bigger than a porch.
David
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We have had three girls and although our caravans were a bit bigger than yours we only ever had a Bradcot porch awning which we purchased second hand. We did not have the dog and we would probably have bought something bigger if we had though.
What you buy might depend more on how long you intend having the caravan before changing. Awnings are made to fit the caravan and if you change the caravan the awning will probably not fit the new one. You can sell it but you will lose a fair bit on it. My feeling would be buy the largest porch one that will fit and do not ignore second hand as there can be some real bargains out there.
When choosing a make the basic answer is you end to et what you pay for, so if you tend keeping it for several years get the best you can afford.
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@ANOTHERCARAVANNER - another tip re dogs - get a Cool Mat - you can see ours in the photo of the canopy - the blue thing. When it's really hot, Meg loves to lie on it. They're only about £10 from places such as B&M Bargains and the like. We find they only last about a year until they go 'flat', but at that price, it's a small amount to pay to keep pooch happy!
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If you have children and a dog an awning has its uses, but once our children left then our awning left too. Ten minute caravan arrivals and spur of the moment departures became the norm for us. A dog would have delayed us too so we never went there. Rapid travel with an Eriba was the priority. Hitch up and go.
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We've had a full awning when we were taking the full set of kids when they were younger, a porch awning with a frame, and now we just have an air one very similar to @richardandros, same make but probably a bit smaller, a 200 number rings a bell, which we bought a number of years ago and it's lasted very well under heavy use and really a big +1 to everything they posted.
We only put it up now if we are going to be on site for some time and/or there will be more than two of us and/or the season/weather forecast.
No doubt the larger the awning the greater the 'comfort' for your stay in all sorts of ways that have been already discussed but time and effort does play a part in the decision making process as well as in our case age as well. If the club did a 'well put up your awning service' we'd certainly use it.
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"If the club did a 'well put up your awning service' we'd certainly use it."
@Cornersteady Oh - I wish😃
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Thanks @eurortraveller @richardandros @Wildwood @DavidKlyne @peedee @Tinwheeler @eribaMotters for the useful information! I must admit that getting a divorce in a bag doesn’t sound appealing. I think I’ll order the Duvalays instead.
I'm thinking that with the dog, a sun canopy would be a simpler setup, with an awning that fits that. We’re going to look at some awnings and canopies this weekend and hopefully make a decision. However, the point about weights is intriguing, and I feel I’m beginning to obsess over it! Our current tow car (though I’m considering upgrading it) has a payload capacity of 480kg. The caravan has a weight upgrade, so it has a payload of 208kg. If I’ve calculated this correctly, the total weight is 688kg. However, we need to subtract 100kg from the car’s payload for the caravan tow ball download. So, in reality, we have 588kg of stuff, people and pooch. That doesn’t seem like a lot, considering we have to take it all.
Any tip / suggestions for saving weight?
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@ANOTHERCARAVANNER One obvious way is to replace steel gas cylinders with Safefill cylinders. I did this to save weight in our last van (Bailey Barcelona) but with this one with a payload of 365kg it's not so much of an issue.
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If you have a roll out sun awning another way of doing it is having a smallish separate tent as a place to store things e.g. a quecha inflatable - you can pitch it so that it joins the awning but it leaves you with the space next to the caravan to sit out in and you still get the views and daylight when you're in the van itself. The kids can gravitate to sleeping in the tent as they get older, and it's easier to change as your needs do. You can also find a lighter one if weight is a problem. This solution might with better with a campervan or motorhome, when you don't need an additional space on your pitch for a car.
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Your lightest canopy of quality will be the Isabella Shadow. My 3.6 with two sides [from another supplier] and poles weighs in at about 8kg.
I also carry a chart of weights that may be use. It soon adds up. When away for 4 to 6 weeks we typically run at about 1350kg with a max allowable load of 1500kg, so a healthy spare allowance for bringing goodies home.
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