Air Awnings
I have been thinking of a replacement awning and had pretty much decided on the Kampa Pro Plus 390 having come to the view that the product is mature enough now not to be likely to suffer from leakage. Had a few days away this week and both caravans opposite had air awnings. One a Kampa Raleigh Pro and the other indeterminate. However, the following morning both had sagging sides indicating leaks.
Is there any consensus at all as to how robust they are...based on either Kampa or Bradcott. Don’t want to go down this route to end up being plagued with a sagging awning!!
Many thanks in anticipation
Comments
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I have a Pro Plus 400. If I was buying another awning tomorrow I'd go for a standard pole awning again. The trouble with an air awning is that there's no adjustment for when you're pitched on a slight slope ... and they're heavy to feed through the rail. And they take some inflating.
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We've had a Kampa Air Pro 380 for three years and have just 'upgraded' to an Air Pro 390 Grande. If you're talking about air leaks, then, other than a minor issue with the first one ( easily resolved), we have never had a problem. The awning has been up for up to three weeks at a time and has never needed topping up and has also withstood some horrendous weather, including torrential downpours (without any water leaks) and 50 mph winds. One tip is to make sure the dustcap is secure on the inflation valve because this does act as more than a dustcap and if it isn't tight, can be prone to letting a tiny bit of air out over time.
As far as other comments above, the ladder system on the pegging out points does allow for a fair bit of adjustment on slightly sloping sites and with our air pump, both the 380 and 390 inflate in three minutes. (I've timed it!)
Yes, air awnings are heavy to get on the awning rail but the new Kampa's have removable side panels, so that reduces the weight a fair bit.
A bit of common sense is called for in hot weather. Of course, there's a danger of anything inflated going bang if the heat increases the pressure sufficiently. That's why, in recent weeks I have been inflating ours to 8 psi instead of the recommended 11psi - perfectly adequate to keep the poles firm, but with a margin for safety.
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We have the Kampa Rallye Pro 390 XL and we love it .Yes as has been said it’s a bit heavy to thread through the rail but once that in it only takes minutes to erect.We have it up now at Forfar Lochside which is the fourth time we have used it ,we bought it in April.If I’m honest I don’t think we have properly master the art of getting it 100% right but I’m sure that’s the case with most awnings,and I can never seem to get a pressure reading on our pump so have been guessing how firm to make the poles.Other than that we think it’s great.
Brian & Jo
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I have an Ace Air Pro now in it's fourth season.
The key to ensuring no leaks/sagging is to ensure you peg the webbing straps under the van prior to inflation so the poles sit in the correct position & make sure you inflate the poles to the correct pressure. I've seen lots on sites with poles obviously not inflated enough which result in sagging & pooling on the roof.
We've had the awning up in horrendous weather and had no problems at all, the poles will occasionally bend in extremity high winds but spring straight back into position, I dread to think what damaged a traditionally poled awning would do to the sides of the van in similar conditions.
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I agree. We bought a Bradcot Air 260 as it seemed the best quality for the price. It was fun at first but then the disadvantages started to outweigh the advantages. We missed having anywhere to hang anything in the awning. The condensation was horrendous in winter. As Mollysmummy says, the canvas tends to be very heavy to feed through the awning rail. And it didn't sit well on a slope, or against the caravan. The zips were too close to the chunky air poles which made opening and closing the doors difficult. It was good in the breeze though, as it was so flexible.
We've now sold it on and replaced it with a good old trusty Isabella, which is superb in every way and doesn't take any longer to put up.
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Richard. The ladder system that you mention - are they the black straps on the floor? If so, could you kindly explain how to use them as I find the instructions a bit vague.
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John - no, not those. Those straps on the floor are no longer included in the new models and have been replaced with triangles of material around the front corner poles and an additional pegging out point. The straps were there to position the front poles correctly. The trick is to put metal pegs (so they don't stick up through the floor) through the eyelets in the strap close to the van and this then sets the position of the front poles as the straps are pulled tight. I found them a bit superfluous since the position of the corner poles were really set by pulling the side panels tight and I guess this is why they are no longer included. Once the corner poles are set, then any intermediate poles should be pushed inwards to line up with them and this has the effect of pushing the roof up, thereby eliminating any chance of 'pooling' on the roof.
The 'ladders' I was referring to are the rubber straps / 'ladders' that you use for pegging down. Since they are about 6" long, I have always found that they give you a fair bit of adjustment if you are pegging out on slightly sloping ground. I admit, not quite the scope of a conventional pole awning, but I have found them more than adequate on most sites we have been on. We usually stay on CLs and CS's - so I usually manage to find somewhere to pitch that is reasonably level.
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We ave had a Kampa air awning since spring bank holidays this year and the colour is fading already not pleased at all, considering wether to return it
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Richard. Thanks for clearing that up.
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We have a Vango Verkala. It is heavy to thread through awning rail as it doesn't have detachable sides. If a wind is blowing sideways on, the outer leg on that side bends. There is nowhere inside where you can hang items on. I'd have a poled awning any day. We didn't buy it it came with the van.
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Although I am a big fan of Vango (I still have a Force 10 tent from the 70's!!), I think that's where Kampa score over Vango. Detachable side panels, single inflation point rather than the 3 or 4 that the Verkala has and provision for hanging such things as organisers etc, and roof lining or inner tent from the roof beams. I tend to hang light things such as the dog lead and water filler pipe from one of the isolation valves in the roof. Although we've had ours out on 50 mph winds, I have never had a corner pole bend - it possibly flexes slightly, but that's all. Could it be that you didn't have it inflated to the correct pressure? Or is it that the guy ropes (tapes) on the Kampa prevent this from happening?
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In addition to my original question. Currently on holiday and the couple opposite arrived and set up with a Bradcott 390 sized air awning. Wife was very impressed how easy it looked setting up, but then speaking to the couple, one complaint is that they simply could not get the air poles to fit snugly to the van. In fact there was a significant gap which in hot weather not such a a problem but they said in colder weather it wasn’t great at all. Beginning to think about sticking with poles!
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Kampa have a limpit product whereby you make small holes through the sheet that fits to side of van push through some suckers that attach to the van and hey prestro you have a reasonably tight fit, some people have complained that they mark the side of the van but i have not experienced that, but i have an old van. I have the Kampa 390 been using for approx 3 years, yes it has faded in the sun but in the main it is a good product, but of course you still have to peg out which for me is the hard bit
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As far as I know, none of the Kampa awnings have air poles next to the van and I am struggling to think of any other make I have seen that do. They do have foam pads which sit on the van and the trick is to make sure that they are pegged slightly under the van, thus pulling the pads tight against the van. If this isn't totally satisfactory, there is an option to buy two poles which hold the foam pad securely against the van. That said, although I have them, I have never found the need to use them.
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