My advice would be to wait & see how you use your new MH first, don't assume you need a drive-away awning. The joy of a MH is the speed of it, driving away to the next site & setting up in a few minutes, not adding an hour for an awning.
We have a wind-out awning, and have rarely used it....
I agree with Fiona - we have a Kampa awning and have used it once. If it is wet and cold then we sit inside. We do have a wind out awning and use it all the time in Europe but not in UK.
We also have a driveaway awaning but don’t use it in winter months. It’s quite heavy in transit , but I have to say we do love to use it outwith the winter. We have dogs so it’s great for a bit extra space. We have also taken family away with us and it provides extra sleeping space.
It’s easy to put up once you get used to doing it.
We wouldn’t use it for just an overnight stop however. So it’s allgood advice on thinking how you would use it.
You might use it all the time if it’s where you would do most of your cooking ? Obviously opened up lol
I think you will find the big companies like Vango and Kampa do awnings in varying height joining sections , it’s important to get the right height.
For your height, and ease of securing you migh5 consider throw over straps to secure it at the other side?
Do you fancy poles? Or airbeam? Given the size of your vehicle, it looks like storage of such an awning might be an issue too
Quote: Originally posted by octopusann on 24/2/2019
I'm about to buy a Fiat Doblo microcamper. Can anyone advise me about driveaway awnings that would fit?
The OP may have a much smaller MH than all who have posted saying they don't use an awning.
Hello Octopusann, We have 2 awnings, we had 3 at one time. We gave away our oldest one to our niece. It convinced her that she could do with an awning, and bought a better bigger one.
Fiat Doblo, very nice little van. With an awning I know you are going to enjoy your self.
It is difficult to attach an awning to your Doblo. Without it looking a last minute idea. Convention says it would be best to attach it to the passenger side of the van, in order that the drivers side will always be free to use when both on and when leaving your pitch. However it could 'maybe' be better to attach it to the rear of the van and to open the rear doors into the tunnel that most 'drive away' awnings have. If your Doblo is the standard height of the car and does not have the extra height of the vehicle that a lot of converters/conversions do have/use. I say this because I know that to have an awning for the Doblo is far better than not having an awning at all. Just being able to dress and undress in the privacy of the awning is one of the biggest reasons for having one. It can be used for many things at any time, eating, sleeping, dressing, cooking, and even a portable loo for ( don't laugh ) convenience.
Drive away awnings come in different heights, usually standard and tall. As to whether you have a poled one or an air one is up to you. Remember though that poles do weigh a bit and air needs a pump to fill the beams. Both add weight.
Have a look at the many videos on the internet and watch people actually putting both types up.
Enjoy your campervan, I hope that this will help you make your mind up which type of awning you would be happy with.
Quote: Originally posted by octopusann on 24/2/2019
I'm about to buy a Fiat Doblo microcamper. Can anyone advise me about driveaway awnings that would fit?
Although just having a general "google" (for small drive-away awnings tailgate awnings etc)will bring up ideas and images for starters
(If you go for a tailgate awning, just think about possibly getting the exhaust tail pipe re-routed, so that if you do run the car for any reason- charge battery? for heater?- then the fumes don't pump into the awning. If it can't easily be re-routed, maybe carry a section of exhaust bend, that could slip over the end?).
Apologies. I'd missed the "micro" part of the query. Friends have a "splitty" VW campervan, and rely on the drive-away for storing their bikes, the portaloo (disguised as a seat with a cushion on top), and it reduces the feeling of being cooped up inside.
But... it does take up a lot of room, so the size of the bag might influence the choice of awning too.
Some folk with cars use a Caranex instead of a separate tent.
A couple of years ago I was considering using my CRV to sleep in and was looking for something like the Caranex but obviously was Googling the wrong thing as this never came up.
Back to the camper awning. I don't propose using it for odd nights but from my camping experience, it will be essential for longer stays as the Doblo is tiny. Any experience with different types of awning would be useful. I have an inflatable tent which is easy to put up but much harder to take down and is quite bulky and heavy BUT I need something easy to put up single handed.
Our smaller awning of the 2 we still have (both Vango by the way) Would be fine for one person to inflate and erect.
When you take it out of the bag unroll it and try to remember to roll it up the same way. It is usually unroll and fold out the sides. That way it should be the right way up to inflate more easily.
We have the Vango Idris. They do make 2 of this size and shape the other being the Kela. The quality of the 'tent' material with Idris is not as thick as the Kela. The advantage as we see it is, it weighs less. The awning itself is the same.
Size in height is adjustable ( You would need standard, not tall)Even so, the height of the standard is still adjustable to make a good fit more easily.
That said now we come to size of the footprint of the awning. This is the same for both Idris and Kela.
The full length is 3.7 mtr ( 12ft 91/2 inches ) by width of 3.1 mtrs.
Have a look on any sellers website, find out where you can buy the cheapest. You can also look at how to put them up. Yes I know that all of those you see erecting them, are below 20 yrs old. But those I have seen myself are very good at explaining.
I have never weighed a caranex, but they do look quite a heavy peace of kit.
Good luck in your search.
Thanks for the info on the Idris and Kela. I'm not concerned with putting an inflatable up - I've had inflatable tents for 5 years - but I do find taking it down and repacking much more difficult.
What puts me off these awnings and many others is the sloping front. This lets the rain in as soon as you open it. It took me a while to find a tent with a straight front and it looks like I need to continue searching for a similar awning.
I'm currently considering the Khyam Motordome Tourer quick erect. It looks easy enough to put up - does anyone have experience with taking one down? Its a bit more expensive so I need to get it right!
Ok just looked at the Kela and it looks good. I realise it has side entrances which are upright. I will look into this further, especially as the Khyam quick erect system gets mixed reviews.
Hi again..
I didn't mention it earlier, as it isn't a "proper" awning but we use a Quechua Base Seconds tent against our Toyota festival van (I've a photo in my "Gallery Images", I think?).
It's really easy to put up(and to drop again, once you've got the knack).It obviously doesn't have a connecting "tunnel", but we use a *small tarp to ridge the small gap( *we have sometimes used it without it).
(Over the years, from time to time, they do show as "unavailable" for what ever reason..?)
It is quite a big "disc" to keep stored/carted about, "just in case" but it's probably no worse than a good many awning packs.
Ann, the Kela and Idris are exactly the same size of awning. The only difference is the weight of the material it is made from. Windows, doors, tunnel, foot print all the same. The only difference is the height you can buy both at.
Do you have any camping shops or a dealer near to you, that you could go and have a look at them both. If not the place we bought ours is Attwoolls at Whitminster , Gloucestershire, they do have some great Vango videos on their pages.
Happy hunting, and camping.
We just took the plunge on a driveaway and were advised that the two things which were most important to check were the height range of your awning rail which the driveaway is compatible with and the length of the straight part of your awning rail. Hopefully this helps as you make your decision. We used Quality Caravan Awnings who were very good and we went for an Outdoor Revolution T2 driveaway awning in the end. We got a free carpet too so worth checking out.https://www.qualitycaravanawnings.com/collections/outdoor-revolution-caravan-and-m........
We also considered Sunncamp, Kampa and Camptech driveaways but saw the Outdoor Revolution 2019 models at the NEC and we were pretty much sold on it there!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Awning advice
via mobile 25/2/2019 at 9:11am
