advice on awnings (1 Viewer)

[patricia the newbie]

I came on my first rally in Newbury and you all made me very welcome, thank you all.
my problem is my little blue Berlingo car is too small really, some of you suggested a side awning as my tailgate awning was too cold for me at night . I would love a bigger van ( wouldn't we all } but wondered if an awning or maybe a micro type caravan like a go pod might be an answer?
Your help would be appreciated

 

[Richard n Ann]

We used to have a Freedom Microlite LE nice wee van, & they don't usually leak because they're all fibre glass. 620kg. There's usually a few on eBay but lately they seem to be fetching silly money.

 

[rosalan]

The discussion opens several little compromises. I Googled Berlingo and looked at the many 'Images' of Berlingo's with attachments and thought. If you tug a little caravan, you will have more space, possibly warmer than the Berlingo is now but using Aires in France or 'Wild' camping you would be seen as a car and caravan, which is generally not acceptable.
If you carry an awning, your available storage space will become even more limited.
Your best option in WINTER months, as I see it would be to fit a warm external blanket at the front screen to insulate from the worst cold. In the summer, your external awning could become a place of comfort from over-warm nights and you may not need to carry so many clothes allowing a tad more space for an awning.
As for the size of your vehicle, I can understand where you are coming from. My first 'van' was a Mini Traveller onto which we attached a home-made tent extension. Three of us toured Turkey and at that time I was unaware of bigger vans. We had a great time and honestly had enough space. Now two of us sometimes feel cramped in 7.2 metres of motorhome. Perhaps we just got bigger ("No dear! I don't mean you!").

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[patricia the newbie]

Yes, I can see that a compromise is needed, I didn't know wether to ditch the rear tailgate awning and go for a bigger side awning. The only problem with the tailgate awning I have, is my van has a ramp that takes up available floor space in the awning, this van carried a disabled person before it was converted. I'm glad you've made me aware of the drawback to towing things, I never thought of that.

 

[patricia the newbie]

I do have a silver screen for it, it's just I was surprised how the cold at night seem to seep onto the van, one night I took the awning down, packed everything away and closed the tailgate and was much warmer, but of course, there was even less space

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

Instead of a proper side/drive-away awning, another option is a utility tent with tunnel. Something like the Outdoor Revolution Outhouse XL Handi. I've got a proper drive-away awning, but still find myself using the Handi more. It'll give you extra space to store stuff and packs up really small.

My main concern though is the height of the Berlingo - if it's much lower than my high-top Doblo (2.2m) I suspect the tunnel won't work very well. I also wonder how tight it'll fit to the side of the Berlingo compared with your current tail-gate awning, which could be an issue if you want to leave the side-door open overnight - so far I've always closed the side or back doors depending on where I've attached the tent. The groundsheet is separate as well.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[patricia the newbie]

Thanks for that idea, looking at your picture,my Berlingo is quite high, although I think I should go to somewhere where they'll give me advice, so that's a possibility, I'll look at that,thank you

 

[Wombles]

We have one of these Link Removed - if you can handle the colour ?! Pops up in seconds & once pegged down it is resistant to even high winds It's tall enough to stand in & has two zip out doors & mesh windows. Know that some pitch these against their vans so almost like an attached awning but that depends if it would fit with yours. We use one for more living space & a second as a sleep pod when needed as they butt together so almost link & lining up the open "doors" makes one longer pod. It packs down into a bag so easy to store & carry - like most pop-up items there is knack to folding it back up but instructions are on the bag label & plenty of YouTube videos & once mastered it's just a few minutes.

<Broken link removed>

 

[Spidey]

We have a quest screen house that is great

http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/quest-sp-up-screen-house-4

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[patricia the newbie]

I have just looked for the height in my handbook, its 1.81 to 1.86 excluding the roof rack bars

 

[Wombles]

If you might be considering the Decathlon green monster - here's the sizes
<Broken link removed>

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

I have just looked for the height in my handbook, its 1.81 to 1.86 excluding the roof rack bars

The says "Rear Cowl Height Range: 180cm - 240cm", so that aspect looks OK.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[patricia the newbie]

Thanks everyone for your help, having looked at a local supplier's awnings I ended up with the Outdoor Revolution Outhouse XL Handi and I sold my tailgate awning to a couple as I was in the car park, result!!.
The only thing is I have realised I will need assistance with pitching the awning so, I am hoping you wont mind me asking for help?

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

Yikes......no turning back now

 

[patricia the newbie]

When I say asking you for help, I mean the wider funster community. I practiced putting it up with a friend yesterday, that's when I realised bi will struggle on my own.
I am going to twin lakes in France with the group. Do you manage to pitch on your own?

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[wizzer59]

When I say asking you for help, I mean the wider funster community. I practiced putting it up with a friend yesterday, that's when I realised bi will struggle on my own.
I am going to twin lakes in France with the group. Do you manage to pitch on your own?

Welcome
I'm pretty certain you will find loads of help once you get to Twin lakes, funsters won't leave you to struggle

 

[1_man_and_his_dob(lo)]

When I say asking you for help, I mean the wider funster community. I practiced putting it up with a friend yesterday, that's when I realised bi will struggle on my own.
I am going to twin lakes in France with the group. Do you manage to pitch on your own?

I meant no turning back for you......selling the old awning, etc.

Yes, I pitch it on my own. On a couple of occasions somebody has seen me fighting the thing when the wind has picked up, and helped out, and I've been to meets in the past where people have turned up to help before I'd even unpacked it all

I doubt I've ever set it up as quickly as the manufacturer reckons, but once I've sorted out fixing the poles into the 4 corners (the trickiest bit) I tend to take my time and faff about making sure the lines are all tight numerous times.

 

[patricia the newbie]

Thanks folks, your all wonderful

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Minxy]

I've put up the Outdoor Revolution Movelite awning up on my own before today ... when hubby was 'gassing' and left me to it! The only bit that needs any assistance is to get the tunnel slotted into the awning on the van as it can be fiddly if you are using a fixing kit (Kador strip and 'figure of 8' plastics strips) as the bits move all over the place whilst your trying to do it! If you aren't going to attach it, or can do it without the fixing kit, it should be doable on your own.

 

[rosalan]

Minxy Girl.... what a woman!

 

[patricia the newbie]

Respect lol

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Minxy]

I should add that I've put up lots of different types of awning and loads of tents, too numerous to mention, so my experience in doing so is probably quite a bit more than most, but there aren't too many different 'types' of awning structure so a lot of the ways to put them up are very similar.

I have to admit though that one we got was a challenge! It was a Khyam Motordome Classic, the type with the legs that stay attached and it looks like a 4-legged spindly spider in a skirt when not erected ... this makes it very easy to put up as you just need to 'snap' the legs into place and then peg it out ... BUT ... for some reason the previous owner had decided to dismantle it and taken off ALL the legs etc so working out what went where and how was 'fun' especially as we didn't have a diagram or instructions, it was bad enough putting the legs back on but trying to work out how the guy ropes went on was a flipping nightmare! Once it was all back together it was a breeze to put up in less than a minute (plus pegging) and take down was even easier ... why on earth the previous owner took it apart beats me ... must have been a masochist!

Unfortunately the 'tunnel' was too low for our camper so we sold it on for a nice little profit!