after many years of camping we've finally taken the plunge and tinned up with a VW T4 camper-van conversion. We love it and in July we are off round France for a few weeks touring. We've done without an awning so far but feel that we'll need a bit more room when we are away for so long.
Looking for recommendations for a drive away awning...no need for bedroom space...just something quick to put up that will give us a bit more lebensraum. We don't want to spend a lot!
We've been looking at the Khyam Motordome Tourer, the Khyam Compact Driveaway 300 and the Outdoor Revolution Movelite range. We've been putting tents up forever and OH is deeply sceptical about the "quick erect" feature of the Motordome. I'd really appreciate feedback from folks who've used these....especially experienced tenters...to know if it really does make things quicker. Big price difference...the Motordome is almost twice the price of the Compact Driveaway. We've never had much bother with pole and sleeve tents and at least they are simple to fix if you do break a pole.
A mate of ours uses one of the "quick erect" Motordomes, with his split screen vdub..and I must say it does seem to go up fairly easily(..although having never actually used one myself, I have no first-hand experience).
Not an awning I know but if it's just for a bit of extra space/somewhere sit/dump stuff...have you considered one of the Quechau Base shelters?
We've used one for a few years now..and currently we use it as an "awning" against our Hiace camping-van(..and to bridge/seal any top gap, I've just fashioned a cover strip out of an old tent canopy, into a sort of "mini-tarp").
We've seen quite few used against VW and Bongo type vans...
(..and it looks like there's a Decathlon store in Edinburgh, showing 12 in stock ).
I've just put a little photo in our gallery, which'll give you an idea of scale.
There are larger and maybe cheaper "awnings" about but it is soooo easy to put up and to drop again.(..especially after scrabbling about on your hands and knees threading poles through pole-sleeves, putting tents up!).
We're actually considering getting another one...just in case ours dies and they do actually stop making them! (..as a couple of years back, they did seem to stop selling/making them for a season or so...).
We have had 3 Kyham easy erect tents and bought a Khyam Motordome when we first had a VW. They are as easy to put up as they say, but you still have to attach them to the van and peg them out and we found it was too much like having to put a tent up again so we sold it. We also missed the best part of having a camper van - sitting with the side door wide open and watching the world go by
When touring abroad we tend to spend most of our time outside and move on after a couple of days so we use the wind out awning that was already fitted to the van. It is fine for shade and gave a bit of cover from light showers. It's easy to take in/put out and means we can be up, packed and on the road again in a very short time. I'm assuming your van doesn't have an awning but you can get them that attach to the van pretty quickly. Look for camper van sun canopy on ebay.
If we need more cover we take a pop up gazebo as well, which takes less pegging out than the Khyam.
Enjoy your new van and have a great time in France.
Thanks for all the helpful advice. I looked for the Quecha tent back in March and found nothing....so that just goes to show. We also found the Kampa Travel Pod Express...which is very similar...pops up but is actually an awning and has the connecting tunnel...it's the same price as the Quecha at the moment too....unfortunately the OH is also resistant to the pop up business. (It's difficult....we still have an Icelandic and a Niger in our garage...proper tents in his opinion!)
I totally get what you are saying...Chris and Sandra...about the sitting in the van with the door open....that is indeed a pleasure that I'm reluctant to give up. It was one of the reasons that we were considering the Movelite as all of the outward panels can be zipped out to make a gazebo.
We camp all year round so the awning will need to pull double duty as a drying area/step through to stop the van getting wet. On our first weekend away we were caught in torrential rain and just going out to the loo left us with a pile of wet gear and nowhere to put it...as well as getting water in every time we opened the door. We carry a roofbox and bike rack (it's a tandem...only fits on the roof!) so we can't fit a Fiamma awning or suchlike as the roofbar feet are in the way.
Maybe we need a canopy for France and an awning for here! This has really helped me think through what we need though....if anyone else has any input I'm grateful!
And today I've booked our first site in France....excited!!!
We've had a T4 for about 5 years now and bought an Outdoor Revolution after a couple of trips. It was spacious and not too heavy and could be turned into a gazebo should we encounter hot weather [sadly we didn't]. We struggled with the flexible poles when erecting it, other people didn't seem to suffer as we did so put it down to being too set in our ways having had frame tents for a few years. After 3 trips [no rain] we bought a more basic awning like a frame tent with a steel frame and have used it ever since, the biggest drawback is that it's very heavy when wet as it's made of canvas.
We've just bought a Vango Kela airbeam awning and erected it in the garden, it's very easy and quick and weighs in at only 17 Kg.
I would definitely recommend an awning for all the reasons you mention as there is nowhere in a T4 to hang towels or anything else that needs to dry. Being able to leave stuff on site without having to pack the van up is, to my mind anyway, essential and the awning does that.
If you fancy either of our now redundant but fully waterproof awnings make me an offer and we may be able to come to a mutual agreement. In view of your location delivery would likely best be via a courier.
------------- Sent from the home of wormcharming in Devon
still cant see by my khyam motordome classic..used it last week as I was away with kids it being easter ..its now into its 6th year of service and beginning to look its age but still works perfectly and I have never had any problems with it...
like stated before an awning can feel like putting up a tent and I only tend to use mine when staying for a few nights but it does give extra privacy as when its attached you cant see directly into the van...
As for the comments about leaving the door open to enjoy the view, obviously you have never spent time on the west coast of Scotland as your van will very quickly be full of midges.... not a pleasant experience and having an awning fitted prevents this, something I would reckon a base camp wouldn't.. it not being connected directly to the door..... ?
We've spent a ton of time time on the West Coast of Scotland....from Port Patrick to Arisaig and Ullapool....in tents of every shape and size....but I didn't say I'd be sitting with the door open there did I!! I don't think anything stops the midges there....skin so soft might stop the blighters biting but it doesn't keep them away!
We've had a T4 for about 5 years now and bought an Outdoor Revolution after a couple of trips. It was spacious and not too heavy and could be turned into a gazebo should we encounter hot weather [sadly we didn't]. We struggled with the flexible poles when erecting it, other people didn't seem to suffer as we did....
We had an OR Movelite "square" drive-away awning when they first came out..and we found that threading the poles through was a real pain with that.The "shoulders" on the poles seemed too big for the 'sleeves (Also because of these "shoulders", it really took two of you to get to it to "flip upright")...
It was me who said I would miss the big open door, but we haven't yet used our van in Scotland. We tend to stay in the south west or go over into Europe with ours where the 'big door' really comes into it's own for watching sunsets etc. If they are a problem we keep mozzies at bay using candles and a plug in mozzie exterminator.
We Got a JustKampers drive away awning. Brilliant, chuck some ropes over the van for some solidity, put all your gear in it when you go out for the day.
We've got both a Khyam and a a couple ofQuechua Bases.
Although the Khyam does go up quick it still takes time to attach to the van, peg out and put in the groundsheet.
We only user it on longer trips where we are staying put for a week or two, although the space is great especially if the weather is bad.
The Quechuas are brilliant and take minutes to pop up and peg out. We've had two bases for 5 years now and they have stood up to some terrible weather in the Hebrides - other tents were flattened.
We use the Quechuas when we are moving about a lot and they are also easy to transport whilst the Khyam is massive and takes up a fair bit of space.
You can also link them together and we find them really versatile when used with a canopy attached to the van.
The only downside is that overtime they seem more 'flexible' and can move about in the wind more although they have never leaked or been damaged, and they have had a lot of use.
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Topic: Awning for T4?
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I don't think anything stops the midges there....skin so soft might stop the blighters biting but it doesn't keep them away!
