Awnings Drive Away Or Not To Drive Away

[Fatwheels]

heres is my dilemma I've just bought my first MH so we can have weekends away with the kids but here is the problem the kids are foster kids aged 15. 12 and 9 and are 2 girls and the Middle one a boy they are brother and sisters . But as they looked after they are not aloud to share rooms with us when sleeping we get round this by having a curtain separating the rear lounge (we're we will be sleeping) from the rest of the van the youngest will sleep above the cab and the plan is for the other 2 to sleep outside in the awning .so here's the question is it better to get sides fitted to the wind out awning and get 2 tents to put inside so they have 1 each or should I buy a split room drive away awning for them

 

[MattR]

I would be tempted to buy a standalone awning with pop up tents or a tent that will accommodate them and provide shelter if you / your other half needs to take the mh to go shopping and the rest of your party want to stay on the site.

 

[Voyger1010]

so here's the question is it better to get sides fitted to the wind out awning and get 2 tents to put inside so they have 1 each or should I buy a split room drive away awning for them

I have both, a fiamma 45 zip awning with the zip in sides, which I have not used apart from once, reason if you want to take motorhome off site(to get groceries or visit places) you have the trouble of taking it all down and then putting it up next time you return. I also have Movelite xl stand alone awning/tent , which means that when I leave site I can just leave the stuff in it , zip up the door and go off which suits us if we take the grandkids with us . Movelite do a number of versions including a family one, Have a look on Amazon,
hope it helps

 

[MattR]

I don't have any experience with Movelite but this alternative is 3m x 3m and less than £150.



We have a Sun day tent but the sides do not reach the ground so it is not so cosy. I wouldn't get one like that again.

 

[Reallyretired]

If its just for sleeping I would just get a couple of pop up pup tents. They can be pitched under the roll out awning for extra shelter and can be pitched in seconds. They can even be put away quickly once you get the knack. A lot cheaper than other alternatives. In my experience kids love them.

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[Minxy]

Hi Fatwheels - welcome to the fun house!

Personally I would get a drive away awning and a couple of the quick pop-up single skin tents, that way you can quickly put the tents up on a night as 'sleeping pods' and in the morning put them away so that the awning can be used as extra living space, I wouldn't bother buying the proper inner tent sleeping 'pod' as it is expensive and takes up a lot of space (you may be lucky if you get a second hand OR which includes it though).

Outdoor Revolution Movelite awnings are very well made and will last (we've had several models - changed to suit the different MHs we had) and have never been disappointed with them. We've seen cheaper ones from other manufacturers and the one above looks like a copy of an OR one, and whilst the Hydrostatic Head at 4000 is high, I suspect that the way it is made isn't anything like as good quality, for example it doesn't have the extra securing straps (called storm straps) which the OR has which makes it much more secure.

The only alternative which we think is of the same high quality as the OR ones is our currentl one, a Sunncamp Companion 300, which we bought new last year however due to us not actually stopping in one place long enough to use it/wild camping, we've only put it up in the garden to see what it was like! It is a very, very well made awning and has a HH of 5000 which is very good and high quality so you might want to look at these too ... but due to our being unlikely to use it we may be selling it if you're interested!

 

[grasscutter]

If its just for sleeping I would just get a couple of pop up pup tents. They can be pitched under the roll out awning for extra shelter and can be pitched in seconds. They can even be put away quickly once you get the knack. A lot cheaper than other alternatives. In my experience kids love them.

Agree with the pop up tents but I know some sites will want to charge for two extra tents and the costs will escalate.

 

[Neilfg]

We have the small but tall Vango Kela Air driveaway awning, this has a sleeping compartment (we have not used it) and built in ground sheet, survives all winds and weather, works very well. Easy to put up and take down although the pegging out takes just as long.

We use it if the weather is wet as a room to dry dog etc.., we normally only stay on a site for 2 or 3 nights, but even then we use it if necessary. The driveaway aspect works, only used it once but it was easy. It can be a bit dark in the awning (black material), and some of the seams do need treating with water repellent after a few uses but it has really shown it's value in some awful weather (wind and rain), where we have seen others blown about.

We looked at the Vango and the Oxygen, just preferred the Vango seemed better made, if looking again would check them all out especially the Kampa. We did consider a safari room but we were mainly concerned about having the awning extended in high winds and rain, it also seemed more of a faff to put up and no driveaway.

Good luck and enjoy the MH.

 

[jonandshell]

To be frank, it sounds like you bought the wrong van.
There are designs out there where the rear bedroom/ washroom separates by a door to provide total privacy from the rest of the van. This also offers total privacy for all when changing and showering.

Our van offers a closed off rear double, an overcab double closed off by a curtain and a lounge double in the front, all within a 7m length. There is also a garage for storage, although when fitted with a camping bed, this has also served as another 'bedroom' at times! !!!!!

I know this does not help you now, but it is worth noting for future purchases.

We own a Move lite XL awning which is used on extended family outings. I believe there is also a version of this which has an additional sleeping pod on the side.

The awning has been OK and seems of decent quality.

 

[Fatwheels]

To be frank, it sounds like you bought the wrong van.
There are designs out there where the rear bedroom/ washroom separates by a door to provide total privacy from the rest of the van. This also offers total privacy for all when changing and showering.

Our van offers a closed off rear double, an overcab double closed off by a curtain and a lounge double in the front, all within a 7m length. There is also a garage for storage, although when fitted with a camping bed, this has also served as another 'bedroom' at times! !!!!!

I know this does not help you now, but it is worth noting for future purchases.

We own a Move lite XL awning which is used on extended family outings. I believe there is also a version of this which has an additional sleeping pod on the side.

The awning has been OK and seems of decent quality.

I understand what u r saying about maybe the wrong van originally we were going to buy the Comanche with fixed bed at the back in a separate room which would of given us the privacy but the kids still need to be separate from each other so 2 would of still of need to be in tents in the awning and as we won't always be away with just the kids but friends to we thought it would be a bit of a wasted space when in the company of other people's so we opted for the u shaped rear lounge

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[Minxy]

Agree with the pop up tents but I know some sites will want to charge for two extra tents and the costs will escalate.

Hence why I suggested they go in the drive away awning as 'sleeping pods' ...

 

[Minxy]

heres is my dilemma I've just bought my first MH so we can have weekends away with the kids but here is the problem the kids are foster kids aged 15. 12 and 9 and are 2 girls and the Middle one a boy they are brother and sisters . But as they looked after they are not aloud to share rooms with us when sleeping we get round this by having a curtain separating the rear lounge (we're we will be sleeping) from the rest of the van the youngest will sleep above the cab and the plan is for the other 2 to sleep outside in the awning .so here's the question is it better to get sides fitted to the wind out awning and get 2 tents to put inside so they have 1 each or should I buy a split room drive away awning for them

I've just been thinking about this again ... first - have you contacted your foster official (or whatever they're called) and checked if this sleeping rule is definitely a requirement when 'on holiday' as it seems very strange that they would insist on it in a purpose built MH with a rear lounge/bed, a dinette bed and overcab bed ...

However, reading what you've said again, it appears that the 'barrier' curtain is already an acceptable way to create a separate 'room' for you therefore I can't see any reason why they can't all sleep in the MH so long as they have privacy/barriers from you and the boy from the girls so ....

• you sleep in the rear with the curtain across
• the boy could sleep in the overcab with a curtain across
• the 2 girls could share the dinette double bed for which I'm sure you could sort out some kind of removable curtain arrangement to give them privacy as well (expanding shower curtain poles would do the trick).

This surely would be the obvious and easiest solution?