What removable awning/ tent?

[DaveyB]

Hi all.
I am about to have a Reimo multi-rail fitted to my van to facilitate the installation of an awning/ tent. I want a removable item rather than a permanent mount just because it suits us better.
Has anyone got a similar system and tent on their van, and, or, what would you recommend. Thinking along the lines of an airbeam style structure, and one that has both a tent and awning, whereby the awning can be removed and used without the tent would be even better.
Your help, as always, will be gratefully received.

 

[Davenjo]

Early days for us but we like our Vango Kela 3. There is no way to detach the tent from the rest of the awning to give you a simple sun canopy though.

What you could consider to supplement the air beam awning would be getting a cheap tarp and stitching a kador strip to it to use as a sun canopy when not using the awning??

 

[Walski]

+1 for the Vango Kela III (low, naturally!). Not too sure what you mean by tent vs awning but think the Kela is a great bit of kit. Really easy and quick to put up.

 

[Davenjo]

@Walski in this question I take tent to mean the enclosed bit with the groundsheet and the awning to be the open end that attaches to the van.

 

[DaveyB]

Hi all, yes indeed. I have some tents (enclosed structure) that have an open awning on the front of them. In the event that all you want is a bit of shade and don't need the tent part, you can unzip the awning from the tent, leave the tent at home, and just use the awning straight on to the multi rail.

Is the Vango Kela suitable for pitching on paved areas? A lot of the sailing venues we frequent put all of the campervans in their car park areas where there are electric hook ups. Was thinking of just using some lead weights in the tent pockets to hold it down on these occasions' where you can't get tent pegs into the ground.

 

[Roadrunner]

Sorry guys but I'd go for a Kiham Motordome, easy to erect and loads of room inside

 

[Craigsom]

Sorry guys but I'd go for a Kiham Motordome, easy to erect and loads of room inside

agreed, I have one and it is brilliant

 

[Davenjo]

Sorry guys but I'd go for a Kiham Motordome, easy to erect and loads of room inside

Metal poles are so yesterday lol

Seriously, we looked at both ranges and just decided that the Vango gave us what we wanted and continued our affiliation with inflatable tents. That said, we have friends that have recently purchased a small caravan with a rear door and I advised them to go for the Khyam tailgate awning (same style as the Motordomes).

 

[Davenjo]

...also, with @DaveyB requirement for pitching on slabs, I would expect the Khyam with its rigid poles would have more chance of staying upright and where put with weights than the Vango inflatables would. Not convinced either manufacturers would recommend pitching in this way though and/or whether it would work in anything other than a slight breeze.

 

[Chopman]

Have other people had issues with sewn-in-groundsheets (SIG's) with awnings?
We have one in our last tent and it was great, but it seems that some camp sites don't allow them.

 

[Rookie]

Outwell Darlington with fibreglass poles for us. Air beams are to bulky when packed for our liking. Also have traditional tarp with kadar strip for those days when just want a sun canopy.

We have also put in an order for one of these:
Home

You can never have enough kit options, right?

 

[Davenjo]

Have other people had issues with sewn-in-groundsheets (SIG's) with awnings?
We have one in our last tent and it was great, but it seems that some camp sites don't allow them.

We have been camping with SIGs for years without problem, other than being expected to move pitch if staying for more than about 5 nights - if campsites enforced the nothing but breathable groundsheet rules they would exclude about 95% of tent campers as most modern tents include a waterproof/resistant SIG.

I guess the problem sites would be those with narrow hard standing areas bordered by manicured grass where you pitch your awnings - this would mean everyone pitching their awning in pretty much the same spot without giving the grass chance to recover. Our only pitch with the awning had both the van and awning on hardstanding so no issue. Similarly, we were at a caravan club site a couple of weeks ago - had we have wanted the awning out it would have been pitched on the hardstanding so not a problem.

 

[Davenjo]

Outwell Darlington with fibreglass poles for us. Air beams are to bulky when packed for our liking. Also have traditional tarp with kadar strip for those days when just want a sun canopy.

We have also put in an order for one of these:
Home

You can never have enough kit options, right?

It will be good to see how you get on with this when you receive it next year. My initial impression of the Sheltapod was yuk but, since realising it has those big clear windows on it, I have started to warm to it. I still think the useable space in it would be a bit too restrictive for us though. Might wait for the second generation when they have iron out the inevitable faults and/or modified based on user feedback.

 

[Roadrunner]

Metal poles are so yesterday lol

Seriously, we looked at both ranges and just decided that the Vango gave us what we wanted and continued our affiliation with inflatable tents. That said, we have friends that have recently purchased a small caravan with a rear door and I advised them to go for the Khyam tailgate awning (same style as the Motordomes).

Have word, watch this

 

[Davenjo]

Have word, watch this

I did watch the Khyam videos alongside the Vango ones and it was actually one of the things that swayed me towards the Vango!! I don't like any tent where you have to raise the fabric above floor level, and expose to wind, before putting any pegs in the ground to secure it. I can safely set the Vango up myself in strong winds - think I would struggle to do the same with a Kyham.

 

[Roadrunner]

Horses for coures , not keen on tunnel tents and the motordome has a seperate bedroom we slept in . In truth I would not want to put up either in a windbut people buy what suites their need.

 

[Davenjo]

Horses for coures , not keen on tunnel tents and the motordome has a seperate bedroom we slept in . In truth I would not want to put up either in a windbut people buy what suites their need.

Totally agree (apart from pitching in wind which I've already done with the Vango) - our main use is as a changing, storage and drying room for sailing gear and the kit we don't want to put back in the van overnight - Vango ditched the included bedroom with the latest version (can still buy as an extra) which suits us.

 

[Walski]

I bought a motordome sleeper second hand off t'bay. Used it once and sold it to,swap out to the Vango Kela....
Personally I thought the motordome was a right faff to put up. Yeah it's easy to erct the poles as they all spring out but then you've got loads of pegging out to do esp if you want the separate groundsheet.

 

[DaveyB]

Folks, great response to this thread, really good level of information. Reckon I may have to go round a few suppliers to finalise the decision. The main problem we'll have is that the pitching at sailing clubs is not always to the same standard as you'd find on a half decent campsite.