Can you help with the search for the perfect awning?

[kipperman]

I have searched through the awning poll - but nothing stands out! We spend a lot of time in France and for shoulder seasons would like an awning with sides ( as opposed to a plain sun shelter), poles and not airbeams and no ground sheet. Not bothered about it being driveway.

We did get a Reimo Hispaniola last year, but frankly the quality was total sh£$^e and any significant rain we had to push up the canopy to prevent pooling of water. Usually at 2 in the morning. Thankfully the Mistral ripped it apart and gave us the excuse to bin the jeffing thing.


TLDR: any recommendations for an awning that is poles not airbag ( less volume and weight), no groundsheet and decent quality that will last more than a few nanoseconds?


Cheers

Roddy

 

[roadtripper]

Have you considered just a separate tent? It's usually the connecting to van but where compromise has to be made for rain shedding.

 

[CAB]

Just posted on another thread, Quest??

Or too big and heavy?

Quest Screen House 4 Pro Shelter

The Quest Screen House 4 Pro is best selling pop up shelter on the market, not only is it quick and easy to set up but there are now multiple optional extras which can be added onto the shelter. It is still the simplest, quickest, easiest and best gazebo

www.attwoolls.co.uk

 

[T6ChrisO]

Just posted on another thread, Quest??

Or too big and heavy?

Quest Screen House 4 Pro Shelter

The Quest Screen House 4 Pro is best selling pop up shelter on the market, not only is it quick and easy to set up but there are now multiple optional extras which can be added onto the shelter. It is still the simplest, quickest, easiest and best gazebo

www.attwoolls.co.uk

I'm liking this!

 

[True Romance]

I'm liking this!

Love ours. Take it everywhere including Europe. Super easy to put up and take down. It has stood up to some pretty serious winds without any issues. Only negative is its long when packed away so make sure it will fit in your van.

 

[T6ChrisO]

Love ours. Take it everywhere including Europe. Super easy to put up and take down. It had stood up to some pretty serious winds without any issues. Only negative is its long when packed away some make sure it will fit in your van.

Thanks for that, helpgul video. Looks a similar length to the Joolca Ensuite I have (when packed away)

 

[AeonMach]

I have searched through the awning poll - but nothing stands out! We spend a lot of time in France and for shoulder seasons would like an awning with sides ( as opposed to a plain sun shelter), poles and not airbeams and no ground sheet. Not bothered about it being driveway.

We did get a Reimo Hispaniola last year, but frankly the quality was total sh£$^e and any significant rain we had to push up the canopy to prevent pooling of water. Usually at 2 in the morning. Thankfully the Mistral ripped it apart and gave us the excuse to bin the jeffing thing.


TLDR: any recommendations for an awning that is poles not airbag ( less volume and weight), no groundsheet and decent quality that will last more than a few nanoseconds?


Cheers

Roddy

I can’t tell whether you just want a decent awning…

…or whether you want a more modular simple sun canopy style awning but with the option of sides?

But if it’s the latter the you can get *modular* canopy awnings.
ie. you get a simple canopy awning and then can add sides and even a front.
For example:

Outdoor Revolution Cayman Sun Canopy Bundle Options – Camper Essentials

The Outdoor Revolution Cayman Sun Canopy is a sunshade designed to slide quickly into the mounted awning rail or channel on your vehicle

camperessentials.co.uk

The issue is it ends up being as expensive as a drive away awning (which you can just roll up sides etc).
But it’s arguably more flexible and if the majority of your camping is sunny and warm then you’d just be able to use the light canopy without all the weight etc. So it might suit your particular needs.

(Can’t vouch for the quality of this but they’re a good brand. I think eg Outwell do similar.)

 

[kipperman]

@CAB - thanks for the suggestion but the memsahib thinks too small at 2.4x2.4 and previous incarnations were the more generous 3x3m.

@AeonMach - Our first canopy was the Reimo Palm beach which was just an awning - but just too cold without the sides - but that looks interesting. My main concern curiously might be price - I'm not sure how much quality you are going to get for sub £100!


Thanks to AeonMach we found this possible contender on the outwell site - has anyone any experience of this?

Cayman (F/G)

BEST VALUE MODERN LIGHTWEIGHT POLED FAMILY DRIVE-AWAY AWNING The excellent value lightweight Cayman F/G pole and sleeve drive-away awning remains the most popular, upper entry-level small family weekender on the market. With just 2 fibreglass poles used to create the main body of the awning it...

www.outdoor-revolution.com

I see you can get poled or air - Can anyone tell me an advantage of these airbeam awnings - they just seem to be more bulky, need pumping up and I presume get punctures? Or is it just a fad?

 

[CAB]

@CAB - thanks for the suggestion but the memsahib thinks too small at 2.4x2.4 and previous incarnations were the more generous 3x3m.

@AeonMach - Our first canopy was the Reimo Palm beach which was just an awning - but just too cold without the sides - but that looks interesting. My main concern curiously might be price - I'm not sure how much quality you are going to get for sub £100!


Thanks to AeonMach we found this possible contender on the outwell site - has anyone any experience of this?

Cayman (F/G)

BEST VALUE MODERN LIGHTWEIGHT POLED FAMILY DRIVE-AWAY AWNING The excellent value lightweight Cayman F/G pole and sleeve drive-away awning remains the most popular, upper entry-level small family weekender on the market. With just 2 fibreglass poles used to create the main body of the awning it...

www.outdoor-revolution.com

I see you can get poled or air - Can anyone tell me an advantage of these airbeam awnings - they just seem to be more bulky, need pumping up and I presume get punctures? Or is it just a fad?

They do a 6 as well .............

Quest Screen House 6 Pro Shelter

The Quest Screen House 6 Pro is best selling pop up shelter on the market, not only is it quick and easy to set up but there are now multiple optional extras which can be added onto the shelter. It is still the simplest, quickest, easiest and best gazebo

www.attwoolls.co.uk

 

[shropschris]

Love ours. Take it everywhere including Europe. Super easy to put up and take down. It has stood up to some pretty serious winds without any issues. Only negative is its long when packed away so make sure it will fit in your van.

How long is long , I keep looking at thease ,wondering if it will fit our needs

 

[cgtmiles]

@CAB - thanks for the suggestion but the memsahib thinks too small at 2.4x2.4 and previous incarnations were the more generous 3x3m.

@AeonMach - Our first canopy was the Reimo Palm beach which was just an awning - but just too cold without the sides - but that looks interesting. My main concern curiously might be price - I'm not sure how much quality you are going to get for sub £100!


Thanks to AeonMach we found this possible contender on the outwell site - has anyone any experience of this?

Cayman (F/G)

BEST VALUE MODERN LIGHTWEIGHT POLED FAMILY DRIVE-AWAY AWNING The excellent value lightweight Cayman F/G pole and sleeve drive-away awning remains the most popular, upper entry-level small family weekender on the market. With just 2 fibreglass poles used to create the main body of the awning it...

www.outdoor-revolution.com

I see you can get poled or air - Can anyone tell me an advantage of these airbeam awnings - they just seem to be more bulky, need pumping up and I presume get punctures? Or is it just a fad?

I have a poled cayman and I think it’s great, not too big, not too small, quick to pitch (although needs a lot of pegs so this does depend on the pitch a bit) and drys out quickly. We have a sun canopy but will likely pitch this now for anything more than a single night.

We had an air awning last time round and I didn’t get it either. One downside of the poles on this is that I’ve found some corrosion in the connecting sleeves on the poles which I’m not overly happy about and their customer service argued that was to be expected using them in the uk climate! It’s not the most expensive awning I’ve bought, in fact it’s one of the cheapest but it’s still more expensive than any of the tents I own (one of which is getting on for 30 years old and none of those have corrosion on the poles. But despite this I would still buy this awning if I had the choice again.we also have the annexe which attaches to the back giving 2 berth (or one daughter) sleeping accommodation without losing any space in the awning

 

[cgtmiles]

Additionally, I think most of the people in here are looking for the perfect awning, very few achieve it so maybe some compromise or downgrading of expectations will be needed

 

[Rioja John]

I recently gave my quest 6 pro to my daughter to use in her garden as we holidayed in the Isle of Wight this year and we had a few days of high winds and the domed roof kept collapsing during the night with the wind pressure in the end I had to take it down as it became quite unstable.I have now bought a Berghaus 300 air awning which is much better quality and fixes to the awning rail a lot better than the quest 6 pro.

John.