Vango Varkala or Outwell Ripple?
Hi
I'm looking to buy a medium sized inflateable porch awning and have narrowed it done to either a Vango Varkala III 360 (not Connect version) or an Owtwell Ripple 380SA.
Has anyone got experience, good or bad, of either of these two awnings or manaufacturers?
Thanks,
Graham.
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Hi Graham,
I can't comment on the Varkala but I did buy a Vango Kalari 2 for 2018 with the add on sleeping extension.
This is my 1st awning so have no comparison but I would say that the air beams are really easy to put up and do create a surprising amount of rigidity. Don't believe the hype about 20 min setup though....I think reality is about 45 - 60 mins if doing it on your own and pegging everything down.
A few points though: -
- It's blooming heavy and whilst I can do it on my own, if you have any frailty then you'd need some help. I'm 35 years old, 6 ft and no health issues and I find it quite difficult moving it about.
- There's a fabric loop which is to help you pull the beading through the rail, on the 1st attempt of trying this I ripped it off. To be fair, I was giving it a good old yank with pretty much all of my strength so think this was user error really.....I realise that I should have been more patient in threading more of the awning into the rail from the bottom 1st before trying to yank it all across.
- However, one of the beams developed a puncture on the 3rd use. Can't see anything that i did to cause this as it was fine for 2 days and then just dropped quickly. It wasn't one of the main beams, just a supporting beam which you put in place as bracing.
Those early issues did take a little shine off the new purchase and I sent it back for repair which was dealt with swiftly. However, time will tell if build quality is an issue or whether I was just unlucky with that beam. Overall, the awning materials are great and I'm really pleased with the purchase.
Shame I can't offer a comparison but perhaps others will.
Thanks
Mike
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Thanks Mike, thats really useful.
I don't expect anyone to have both and be able to give me a direct comparison (but never say never!)
It is however great to hear what individuals experiences are with either manufacture so as build a picture of quality and customer support.
G
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We have a Vango Verkala 280 airbeam, which we are going to get rid of, as it is the most user unfriendly awning we have ever owned. It is extremely heavy and is a two person job (we are OAPs) to put through the awning rail. Each beam has to be blown up separately, as does each of the 4 separate cross beams, so that makes 7 blow up points. If it is windy, and the wind is sideways on, it will make the leg on that side bend inwards, even though the leg is blown up to maximum setting. Also because the cross beams are only velcroed on, they pop off in a wind as well. It takes about 15 mins to blow up, it still has the same pegging out as a conventional awning, so add another 30 mins to get it occupant ready. We are going to get a Kampa rally pro poled awning. Friends have one, and that does go up quicker .
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We have a Valkala 111 360, its the only we have used except for a small porch awning. We find it good, it takes two to get it thru the rail and then is single handed, each individual beam is pumped separately which imo is better, if you get a puncture you can I guess still use the awning as the whole thing wont deflate. We are still relative newbies, but have had the awning up in some nasty winds with no problems when others have unfortunately had problems with either poles or blow up jobs.
If we needed to would we get another one, yes we probably would.
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Hi all, I'm thinking of changing over to a Vango Varkala 3 280 Air Awning too. I've read a few posts and air awnings are clearly heavier than poled versions but I guess it's not hard to understand why. We currently have a Royal Wessex 260 pole awning but it becomes a fiddle to erect as all the different poles you have to assemble takes time and some dexterity!.
PATMAU - which version (1,2,3) of Varkala awning have you got? I wonder if they've improved with the latest version. Also, at £449 it seems a lot more reasonably priced that the Kampa awnings which are probably a more premium model but not within our budget.
Regards,
Andy.
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Just as an alternative, have you looked at the Sunncamp range? We have a Kampa Air Pro 390 Grande which we bought this summer - excellent quality and benefits from the single inflation point - unlike the Vango - but as others have said, it is very heavy to get on the rail - even with the side panels detached.
However, because the Kampa is a pig to dry if we bring it home wet, a couple of months ago. I bought the Sunncamp Air 390 for use in the winter. Much, much lighter to get on the awning rail and much easier to dry. Whilst it does have a single inflation point for the main air beam, there are three roof poles that do require separate inflation but it only takes seconds with a 12v pump. I got ours for £350 in an end of season sale. It's the second Sunncamp awning we have had and I am pleased with the value for money and quality.
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Thanks for your advice, I'll investigate and come to a decision soon.
Cheers, Andy.
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Hi MH, we have a 2016 Varkala. It didn't survive Storm Ali in September. It was the first awning on the Lauder site to give up the ghost. At one point (and this was before the storm was at it's worst) it completely bent and was pressing against the side of the caravan and we couldn't even open the caravan door. Eventually we managed to force the door open but in so doing, it caused the awning to rip on the feed in edge of the awning rail. This happened at 8.30a.m. in the morning, Storm Ali didn't do it's worst until midday. Of all the awnings on the site the one that remained standing to the end was an Isabella poled porch awning, the steel poles of which the owner had guyed as well as the awning. Goes to show, modern innovation doesn't always outshine the old.
I should also add, that the 2016 was a replacement for a 2015 Verkala that had to be replaced by Vango as there was a manufacturing fault in the material and the awning discoloured. It went a dirty brown colour. It wasn't easy to get them to admit it was a fault so I don't rate them as a company for customer service.
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