Campervan driveaway awnings
We've been thinking of buying a driveaway awning to give us a bit more space and leave the bed up during the day when we stay in one place for more than a few nights.
However, I started to wonder about regulations the CC and other sites have about using breatheable mat/carpets in the awning. This is because all of the driveaway awnings that would work well with our campervan have sewn in waterproof groundsheets. One of the ways around this is to get pitches with hardstanding and protect the sewn in groundsheet from being ripped by putting it on top of a breatheable mat we already have.
My question however is, would the CC and other sites not let us pitch a driveaway awning on; 1-grass pitches 2- hardstanding pitches.
Thanks
Comments
-
The rather ambiguous site rules say -
"Please protect the pitch grass by lifting your groundsheets and side flaps of awnings, tents or annexes at frequent intervals or as required to by site staff."
You'd be OK on a hardstand pitch but, on grass, 'frequent intervals' is open to interpretation so I guess it would depend how many days you intended to stay. Not very helpful, I know, but perhaps a call to the warden before booking would answer your question. Unfortunately, we can’t book a choice of pitch surface.
0 -
Grass pitches and non breathable ground sheets are one of the main culprits of non available pitches on sites , because the pitch , after just a few days may have to be taken out of use to be rested for a week or more or even unable to be used again, the site rules are there in the hope that members understand the reasons
0 -
Thanks for your replies Tinwheeler and JVB66. You are both saying things that I've been thinking about. As much as a driveaway awning would be good, the cost is likely to be prohibitive if there are a number of sites that would not allow them to be used. In fact the only CC place I've seen one used was at the Carsington Water site in June 2018, on a hardstanding pitch. This was well before I got to thinking what a good idea they may be, otherwise I'd have gone and had a chat with the owner.
Back to the drawing board I think.
0 -
Sorry it’s not much help but someone else may have other ideas or JK the warden may show up later.
0 -
We have a drive away awning by Khyam that has a bucket groundsheet that fits in separately so you can choose if to use it or not. Another thing to consider is that due to the new pitching rules we now find that our awning will not fit the pitch so we are now considering if we should change to a caravan awning such as a Kampa Rallye. it depends on the size of your unit and if you intend to drive away.
0 -
Why do you need a groundsheet ? Many years ago bought first breathable ,to replace old one . After a fortnight took it up pulled half the grass with it !! Obviously we al use more common sense now ,and i find strips of groundsheet where you walk turned around keep the grass fine and its easier to pack away . Also same applies to h/s
0 -
At the weekend we were on a C&MC site and got chatting to a couple who had a camper van and a driveaway awning.
They said they only used grass pitches because the gravel ones punctured their sewn in groundsheet. The driveaway awnings are very deep though so I can see that on some sites you would breech the fire safety margins.
0
