Hi everyone want to talk limpets?!
Does awning have to have hole/eyelets already in material as know Kampa has them on but we have a vango airbeam
Thanks
Limpets, I believe are for fixing sides of awnings ( to stop them flapping) to either caravan or motorhome. In my opinion not very good at either or even stopping a draft.
Please tell us what sort of 'van' and the name of the awning you have. It will then be very easy for us to help you.
I've got them for my Kampa awning, they do seem to work quite well, BUT, life is full of 'buts', they are rather too fragile, you can EASILY break them by the slightest over tightening in fitting, and I've had them break in strongish winds when they come under too much strain from wind buffeting awning. Rather too pricey to be considered a disposable item in my view!
You do need holes (8.0-8.5mm dia) in the awning vertical draft flaps to fit them. Kampa (now Dometic) used to sell a rather overpriced hole punch to allow use with other manufacturers awnings normally supplied without the holes in the draft flaps. I've made extra holes (with a hot soldering iron) in my Kampa awning to avoid Limpets on the window which my awning crosses.
You can buy identical but unbranded ones slightly cheaper that the branded Kampa ones from a number of camping outlets (look on eBay), and I believe people have used similar suction cups from other sources, IIRC one being Ikea, but with only a quick look, I couldn't see anything suitable. Seem to recall a thread on UKCS a while ago discussing them, may be worth trying to search for it.
They ONLY work on clean smooth surfaces, so NO textured caravan walls, and DON'T fit over any graphics/stickers, they tend to lift them and/or discolour them - permanently damaging them.
It all depends what the caravan or motorhome's side's surface is like. Many new caravans and motorhomes have a completely flat surface so the suction limpets will stick wherever they fall on the awning vertical flaps. On older caravans and motorhomes the surface may be rippled or if it's like mine it has grooves horizontally from front to back so it's a shot in the dark exactly where the limpet holes will fall on the surface. On our Kampa porch awning there are 4 limpet holes which 2 of them fall on the flat surface and the other two don't so we use the Kampa telescopic poles instead which shuts out the draughts from top to bottom plus leaves no round sucker marks like limpets can sometimes do.
Your Mohican is a quite a bit larger than our Imala.
We have 2 Vango air awnings and I personally consider the brand to be the best.
We have taken to not bothering with "attaching" either awning over the last few years. We have decided to use them both (not at same time) as stand alone (this would end your 'how to')
We now erect the awning (use a footprint to put it on) as free standing. You can place it lengthways (side on) or facing away from the van, depending on pitch size. Remember at least one door near to habitation door. It is best to roll up the tunnel end to prevent flapping.
Most of all enjoy you van, you can use the awning to doze in, even in the rain.
Simple!
Under no circumstances buy or use Limpet fixings for Awnings/vans.
They are about as useful as a Chocolate Fire Guard.
Like a lot of unsuspecting people, I bought a Kampa drive away kit complete with a fabric strip, perforated to take six limpet shafts on one side and a kedor bead on the other. There were three lengths of the plastic figure of eight connecting pieces.
I have a Vango Faros Low Awning and a VW Caddy Maxi life van.
I used the awning twice in the Lake district in early Autumn and most recently in Snowdonia, on the coast at Fairbourne.
On the third trip, it blew quite hard one wet night and four out of six of the Limpets failed. The threaded shaft just sheared away from the sucker.
This caused me to struggle in the dark and wet trying to do a makeshift lash up with bungie cords tied off on the roof rail velcro tapes.
The set up rattled so bad I could not sleep and next day I drove to Dolgellau for some guyline cord that cost me twelve quid.
The Limpets are NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE and you SHOULD NOT BUY THEM.
Frankly, I am amazed Kampa still import such utter rubbish.
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Topic: Limpets
via mobile 10/3/2022 at 4:25pm
