There was a casualty of collapsed awning during the recent stormy weather where I am staying at present.
It was an air beam awning on a caravan on a seasonal pitch and the owners were nowhere to be seen.
They were probably informed about the collapse by the site office and came to pump it back up before leaving again.
Don't they realise the tubes are made of plastic and permeable to air, which means they will lose pressure over time and risk repeat collapse even without the help of strong winds?
The awnings not affected are all solidly built metal poles Isabellas that are well-tied down.
Not this flimsy air beam one!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
at least with an air awning the poles arent flailing around damaging either the owners caravan or that next to it. but the info will clearly state that they arent suitable for seasonal useage, so that leaves it back to the owners not caring one bit!
Not too many people are educated in material sciences, so unlike you and me, are oblivious to the permeability of plastic airbeams etc. and their inclination to deflate over time without any actual fault being the cause! More should be made of this in instructions, but I guess for most people, the awnings are never up long enough for it to be an issue as a slow process. Obviously seasonal use is a different situation.
My Kampa air awning has survived an un-forecast squall, that battered just about anything vaguely rigid into total submission! It flexed and warped alarmingly, but bounced back into shape, anything 'poled' was not so lucky and suffered damage! The ONLY things on site that escaped damage were the airbeams!
Poled or Airbeam, the manufacturers ALWAYS advise not to use in extreme winds. That's fine if you are forewarned of it's approach, or it's already blowing and you decide not to erect, but when it catches you out, it would probably be quite reckless to attempt to take it down! It's a huge sail area, that is more than capable of catching enough wind to lift you off the ground and thrash you around like a rag doll if you hung on - I've seen that happen with a friends tent and his teenage daughter lifted clean off the ground, she had the presence of mind to let go before she got too high or 'thrashed'!
When I was away a couple of weeks back, I spotted an air awning on a neighbouring pitch looking very 'soggy' and partially collapsed as I came back from a dog walk. Every other time I saw it after that, it was fine, sometimes people just don't inflate them enough! It's a risk with airbeams.
Reminds me of our trip to France in 2021, we were stopping at our last campsite in St Martin Des Besaces and were pitched next to a caravan that had a really nice Isabella air awning, in the four days we were there, we never saw the owners and I had spent most of the first two days telling my Mrs how nice the awning was and that they were good awnings, we had a bit of wind and rain on our 2nd night there and when we woke up, the awning was on the floor.
First thing my Mrs said was "thought you said they were good awnings"
I finally gave in and bought a canopy type awning with steel poles not much over 100 GBP without a SIG, as I struggled to find fully enclosed awning with SIG with metal poles or a mix of fibreglass and metal poles within my budget.
Lots of air beam type ones costing a lot more than I am prepared to spend currently.
It is supposed to be quick to put up and take down; time will tell if that is true when I go for my 8-night trip back to the cider pub for a function next month in early October 2025.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
DK, my Sunncamp Swift 260 SC poled awning used to be available in a tall version for campervans I believe. Near identical to your canopy but with the front wall and side doors to make it a proper awning.
Sadly Sunncamp seem to have moved to airbeam versions only which is such an unnecessary step, the two side telescopic poles and the single roof fibreglass pole are SO SIMPLE to fit, there is NO advantage in the airbeam, only disadvantage, combination of usual airbeam risks plus a hefty price premium!
Their Swift Verao Air Van 260 Tall seems to be the closest current model, but it's well over twice what I paid for my awning maybe 3 years or so ago! - Such is the penalty for an unnecessary airbeam!
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 09/9/2025
DK, my Sunncamp Swift 260 SC poled awning used to be available in a tall version for campervans I believe. Near identical to your canopy but with the front wall and side doors to make it a proper awning.
Sadly Sunncamp seem to have moved to airbeam versions only which is such an unnecessary step, the two side telescopic poles and the single roof fibreglass pole are SO SIMPLE to fit, there is NO advantage in the airbeam, only disadvantage, combination of usual airbeam risks plus a hefty price premium!
Their Swift Verao Air Van 260 Tall seems to be the closest current model, but it's well over twice what I paid for my awning maybe 3 years or so ago! - Such is the penalty for an unnecessary airbeam!
It is still available, and I did consider it. However, apart from one less pole based on what I could see in the photos of the listings, and a front door to make the top section complete, it still does not have a SIG, for perhaps another 70 GBP more, and weights more than what I had purchased.
Hopefully, mine will suit my needs, and I shall find out during my next trip in early October 2025.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Not many awnings have a SIG DK, with so many gaps on the fit to the vehicle, under it being the biggest, they are rather pointless in many respects as not achieving a bug proof (or even 'creature' proof), waterproof, or draft proof solution. In fact they can be a disadvantage - if rain blows or leaks in through any of the numerous points, you can end up with puddles of lying water collecting on a waterproof membrane. I think people using loose waterproof membranes (tarps) as flooring in ordinary awnings have found that to their cost.
I've had mini rivers running through my awning on a number of occasions, the breathable 'carpet' just lets it drain away, and it dries up of it's own accord.
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 09/9/2025
Not many awnings have a SIG DK, with so many gaps on the fit to the vehicle, under it being the biggest, they are rather pointless in many respects as not achieving a bug proof (or even 'creature' proof), waterproof, or draft proof solution. In fact they can be a disadvantage - if rain blows or leaks in through any of the numerous points, you can end up with puddles of lying water collecting on a waterproof membrane. I think people using loose waterproof membranes (tarps) as flooring in ordinary awnings have found that to their cost.
I've had mini rivers running through my awning on a number of occasions, the breathable 'carpet' just lets it drain away, and it dries up of it's own accord.
Got you and makes sense.
The ones with SIG that I was looking at are drive away awnings like this one:
However, I could only find ones with fibreglass or air poles and cost a lot more than the canopy one with metal poles that I have bought.
All the photos in the listings for drive away ones I have seen have the awning pitched on grass and not hardstanding.
Just watched a pitching video of mine for the low version and it only has one set of poles - fibreglass in the middle, connecting to the metal one on the sides, looks easy enough!
I shall be attaching mine to the wind-out awning.
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Driveaway awnings need to act more like tents when the vehicle is detached. Friends use them as kitchens, sleeping areas etc. rather than sitting out areas as most of us do with our caravan awnings, so some need to 'seal' it up to make it 'creature' and water tight.
Mine has the single 'hoop' pole of telescopic steel side poles and fibreglass across the roof, SO easy and simple to set up. There is really very little tension in it until you extend the side poles to tighten the roof.
We have to remember that an additional MH awning (most have wind-out ones) travels inside the MH, taking up valuable space & even more valuable weight; a caravan awning can go in the car boot or roof rack, I believe. It’s a major factor to consider & DK’s awning (on another thread) looks to be an ideal compromise.
Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 10/9/2025
We have to remember that an additional MH awning (most have wind-out ones) travels inside the MH, taking up valuable space & even more valuable weight; a caravan awning can go in the car boot or roof rack, I believe. It’s a major factor to consider & DK’s awning (on another thread) looks to be an ideal compromise.
Awnings can be a bit of a liability regardless of caravan, MH or camper, the larger and certainly Airbeam ones can be 'monsters'! My fairly modest Kampa 330 airbeam weighs in at a not insignificant 20Kg (and a fair bit more when wet!), so I've no intention of lifting that over my head to get it on a roof rack (high roofed car in my case, so over my head to reach!)! It's also pretty bulky, so gobbles up a sizable chunk of boot space! It goes in the caravan as the most practical space to transport it, albeit taking up payload capacity! I can sympathise with camper owners with restricted 'luggage' space.
My Sunncamp 260 awning (very similar to DK's) on the other hand, weighs under 7kg and packs up to a size little more than many fancy fold up camping chairs. Now that I do have options where I can stow it, but again it goes in the caravan as that's were the vacant space and spare payload tends to be.
Whenever people ask for advice on choosing an awning, they rarely seem to have considered pack weight and bulk, nor transport needs! It's only after the wise have advised them do they suddenly realise it's a serious factor to take into account!
For me personally, the following will come out of the van as being surplus to requirement when I have my new canopy awning:
- Kampa Draught Skirt (used once)
- 3-sided Isabella windbreak (used twice)
- Fiamma Sun View XL 300 (used twice)
- Canopy over the barn doors at the back of the van (unused, and might keep)
Weight is not an issue for me as I go camping on my own with just the dog.
I am kicking myself for spending and wasting money for the above items though, especially the Isabella windbreak and Fiamma Sun View.
Hey ho!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
Off topic alert, however, I just bought a set of solar and USB rechargeable lights to be hung on the newly purchased canopy awning!
DK
------------- Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest & Play!
- 2027: ? NL+DE+FR
- 2026: FR+DE
- 2025: 17/77
'24: 10/49; '23: 9/47;'22: 8/46; '21: 9/34
* Ex-tenter
* Treat life events like a dog: if you can't eat it, play with it or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away!
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: Air Beam Awnings
via mobile 04/9/2025 at 12:12pm
