Air Awning choice
Hi, after a breezy fortnight in Scotland I am looking to convert to an air awning. They looked very stable and much easier to erect than wrestling with poles ( I am approaching 80 and one's strength seems to fade!).
I have a Bailey Olympus and have been looking their air awnings in comparison with Kampa. The Kampa roof line looks very stable whereas the Bailey version is a hoop shape. Does anyone have any experience which would rate one over the other? Or any helpful advice would be appreciated. Salesmen will tell you anything to get a sale!!!!
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Good point! I was also going to add that I would like the front windows to drop to a veranda height, replicating the poles that we have on the conventional awning.
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I too am looking to convert, although the number of tubes bursting is putting me off. What I have seen is a lot on sale second hand and the weight seems to be a factor, especially for our seniors.
Perhaps you need to try offering to help someone erect one at a site and get a feel for how feasible it is for you?
I agree that they seem much better in windy weather though
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I have little experience of air awnings having never owned one. We no longer use an awning anyway. A couple of years ago I went to assist a couple on site who were having trouble pulling one through the rail. I got on the caravan steps and pulled it through whilst the other chap threaded the awning into the rail. The weight really would have put me off owning one. Good advice from MDD10.
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We have had two Kampa awnings over the last 5+ years and I rate them very highly. Plus side - easy and quick to erect - especially with an electric pump which I would strongly recommend getting. Very stable in bad weather - the worst we have experienced was 50mph gusts - and a very much reduced risk of damaging the van as compared with poles. I have found the Kampa to be well made and good value for money and an additional bonus is the single point of inflation. The new Kampa range has a double-angled roof which greatly improves headroom inside. Sounds as if the Bailey doesn't have this feature.
Negatives - they are very heavy to get on the awning rail - even after removing the side panels as we do on the new 390 Grande. I carry a set of aluminium steps in the van to help me since its important to be able to get a straight pull along the awning rail. They are also difficult to dry if you have to pack it away wet - a lot of space is needed and it's a big lump! As with all awnings made of impermeable fabric, condensation can be a problem and you have to learn to manage it. A roof lining helps. Some people have experienced pooling on the roof but I have found that if the awning is pegged out properly and the guys tensioned adequately, it isn't a problem.
I wonder if you've thought about a lightweight air awning? We also have a Sunncamp 390 which is very much lighter than the Kampa so much, much easier to get on the rail. Not as big as the 390 Grande but still a good size. Much cheaper but nevertheless, well made. It is also much easier to dry if packed away wet - which is the reason we bought it and therefore tend to use it in winter.
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Thanks for the 'heads-up'. I will certainly have a look at erected units. My interest was sparked off by a chap (white haired but unknown age) who erected his Kampa next door to us. He managed on his own but was meticulous in setting the floor neatly before pumping it up.
The Kampa blurb actually mentions the dual angle roof and hints at it overcoming possible puddling on the roof. A 390 is about the size we were looking for as we would be using it for our long-stay hols in France and the awning is the living area.
At the moment we have a large Isabella full length awning which is becoming a challenge for the lady of the house to hold. I am six foot and have never had a problem pulling the canvas through, but time tells a tale so a lightweight might be the way to go, provided it fills the other requirements.
Thanks again for the info.
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" A 390 is about the size we were looking for as we would be using it for our long-stay hols in France and the awning is the living area."
Have a look at the 390 Grande, then. It's a full 3m deep as opposed to the normal 2.5m and it really makes a massive difference to the available space. I couldn't believe how much more room the extra half metre gives.
I think the Sunncamp is 2.3m deep, so not as much room.
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concur with all of this, for me weight is an issue, once in the bag it is a struggle to get it onto the back seat of the car, dog in boot, and the odd time when i have carried in the caravan it has been a case of stuff it in the door and shut the door. I use a bit of silcone on the awning rail which works for me, it is those wretched lights at awning rail level that cause the problem, getting the leg part of the awning over these needs care or you run the danger of pulling the light off. Been useing a Kampa 390 for 4/5 years now, as i said on another thread would not go back to poles. I think the 390 must be a good 20kgs+ in weight.
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"it is those wretched lights at awning rail level that cause the problem, getting the leg part of the awning over these needs care or you run the danger of pulling the light off."
Rufs - I know I'm stating the obvious (but it wasn't obvious to me to start with!) - have you tried pulling the awning through from the other end?
Our previous Bailey had the lights at the front - and I always fed the awning in from the front - and had the problem that you had - simply because "that's how you always did it!"
Then I realised, there was no reason why it couldn't go on from the back - thus avoiding pulling the legs over the light.
It's the reverse procedure on our new van since the lights are at the back.
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Regarding weight, I checked out the different Kampa versions and the 3metre looks to be the one to go for. I also checked out the weight of our 'lightweight' Ventura unit (our small alternative). That weighed in at 24kg, without poles so the additional 4kg of the 3metre Air Pro 400 looks manageable. the actual weight of the lightweight Ventura poles is quite considerable on their own so we would see a saving overall.
I have use both a length of rope and a metre length of 1/4" steel rod to catch onto the leading edge of the awning bolt rope, giving a better pull angle from the floor.
Only thing now is whether the slight downturn at the front would upset the roof line too much. A good look at an erected awning is a must, but at least I have a better idea what I am looking for!
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We have had a Bradcote air aspire for over a year. The air awning concept is great, much less stressful and faster to erect than a pole based awning. They are a little heavier but between the two of us its not been a problem and we both hover either side of 70. However, we don't rate the bradcote. When we bought it the workmanship was poor and it had to go back for corrective work, which to be fair Bradcote carried out free of charge. But when it rains we end up with puddles on the skirt where water has penetrated. This has been traced to the stitching and we were advised this might happen until the cotton swelled but after a couple of days of wet weather rain still penetrates. The most frustrating aspect though is that the poles that are supposed to hold the awning sides against the caravan don't. No matter what pegging strategy we try a gap always remains.
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The most frustrating aspect though is that the poles that are supposed to hold the awning sides against the caravan don't. No matter what pegging strategy we try a gap always remains.
Kampa have a limpet system that basically are suckers that push through the side flap and stick to side of caravan, it comes with a hole punch so you can put neat holes through the material, it may also work on your Bradcote , it is quite expensive
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"No matter what pegging strategy we try a gap always remains."
Are you sure that you are pegging the corners, next to the caravan, slightly underneath the van, so as to pull the sides close to the van? I have the additional poles for our Kampa awning but have never had to use them - always managing to get a good tight seal against the van, this way.
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The other thing I have found is not to have the back poles extended too much. This has the effect of pulling the cushion away from the side of the van. They are intended as a straight edge for the sealing cushions not a prop like a pole awning.
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If you buy a kampa easy pulley from ebay for about £23 your problems will be solved. I have a Kampa 390 air air awning and also had no experience of caravanning but this pulley system allowed me to pull the awning through the rail quickly and easily on my own. There are utube sites which show you how its done.
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If you buy a kampa easy pulley from ebay for about £23 your problems will be solved. I have a Kampa 390 air air awning and also had no experience of caravanning but this pulley system allowed me to pull the awning through the rail quickly and easily on my own. There are utube sites which show you how its done.
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A family member has one of these £10 from Aldi, collapsible. He lays it on the ground & rolls his awning on to it for moving around👍🏻
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Can't help but notice in the videos they only show it being used with small 2.6 m awnings, which in the case of the Kampa offering is very light ? or at least our friends one is compared against our 3.9m Bradcot.
FWIW, I find a little planning goes a long way to help. before you try to push / pull it through the rail make sure you have arranged it on the ground so it can feed in to the rail easily. I have see so many folk starting off with a pile of folded /tangled awning at the bottom of the rail that gets stuck when feeding through the rail and they have straighten / feed it in at the bottom too get it moving again.
As for stability in winds, they are brilliant. I have only every had to fit the straps to ours once when staying at a coastal site. I also found the heavier ones are far better made which is why we chose Bradcot over the equivalent Kampa.
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Apart from the weight of my Kampa air awning, I have the problem of the ally awning track on my Coachman having the rigidity of a Kit Kat foil wrapper. The awning bead will very easy get stuck in the wrong part of the track ie where the fabric bit should go. I've 'bent it straighter' a few times but it will still easily open the track out if I'm not careful. Never had problems with previous caravan's or awnings.
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strange, i have a 2008 Coachman and my awning track is very firm, I know so because i grazed the caravan on a very unforgiving overhead branch whilst in Spain which closed the awning rail up, devils own job to get it open again but fortunately only the track was damaged, I give the track a good spray with silicone before threading through, found this helps, I also kid myself that is keeps damp from seeping through the seals, well it seems to work, no damp yet
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An interesting YouTube video from The Trudgians on air vs pole awnings.
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Good video, but unlike Dan the outcome came as no surprise, except how knackered one demonstrator, a seemingly fit man half my age, ended up.
Pity they did not include the reverse process and getting them back folded and stowed into the bag(s), again IME the poled would win on overall time again.
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We are in our 5th year of Bradcot Aspire Air use.
Key to successful erection is to follow the destructions. The first time we put it up the other half turned the pump off when it finished its 1st cycle, of 2. It deflated. We could have given up and blamed the awning.
The only difficulty Ive experienced when solo was that the awning rail was full of sealant liberally applied at the circus where the caravan was thrown together. Once cleared its a doddle to pull the awning through single handed. I stand on the caravan step to do so.
Last week we encountered a gap between the van and awning for the first time. We had tasked the teenagers with pegging the awning under the caravan as per the destructions rather than play on their devices. They didn't, we didn't check before switching the pump on. Didn't have any issues with the gap over the whole trip.
As per the destructions the awning corners are to be pegged under the caravan before inflating.
The destructions say the poles are for use in windy/storm conditions. That's the only time we've actually used them. The poles are pegged into the ground for that reason too. A very similar system to the Fiamma Zip awning we had on a MH for 9 years.
Its been an excellent bit of kit thus far, and long may it give us good service.
We packed it last week to half the size of the bag so it now takes up less room in the boot of the tow car, just have to remember how we did it!!
btw I'm in the same decade as one of you.
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(totally unusable)