Awnings

[Mamma J]

Hello
Buying an awning for my beloved MH. Drive away or not? Got 2 dogs and just need an awning to pop them in to dry ext.
Any suggestions please
Muchos Jo

 

[HalfFullorHalfEmpty]

We have two dogs and bought a driveaway awning for our PVC years ago. I can count on one hand the times we have used it. We never got the hang of erecting it quickly and I always felt we could use a session with Relate afterwards!

We found our wandering hounds just got tangled in the guy lines/fabric too, when we had their leads staked down on site.

I think in the future I will be looking at an attached awning, even though they can be a little spendy. Probably another 'horses for courses' feature, though! Good luck!

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

Hello
Buying an awning for my beloved MH. Drive away or not? Got 2 dogs and just need an awning to pop them in to dry ext.
Any suggestions please
Muchos Jo

I bought an inflatable awning / shelter which is a stand alone unit from Decathalon. Comes with removable groundsheet and can be opened at each end, one end having a extended canopy and poles, the other a wrap over type extending porch arrangement.
Our van has a VERY high awning rail, and I could not afford a wind out type, and a drive away seemed an awful lot of faffing, not to mention the need to use step ladders to get the awning into the channel.
Size is 250cm by 250cm and height inside around 2 mtrs at least.
Single point inflation point and has a clear screened window and side door.
It’s part of the Quechua rangeand is a cross-over between a day shelter and an extension to a medium sized tunnel tent.
You can even sleep in it, it’s that good.
Not light at nearly 12kg but packs down well, and with practice you will get it back in its bag!
One other reason I went for this arrangement was that on a 6m pitch, with our van being 2.75 m wide and this at 2.5m wide , we fit in under the maximum width on the one pitch.
However, on some sites I guess the “Colonel Blimps” of site wardens will have something to say, if not even allowing it, but then they are the sort who don’t even like campers of any type!
Worth a look. Price around the £215 mark.

 

[Wombles]

Some ideas here https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/forum/threads/drive-away-awnings.220989/#post-3953712 - the Quest screen house is probably the most popular https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/foru...ew-developments-for-2020.206780/#post-3727744

 

[GAVLAD]

Have you thought of/considered an Event Shelter? Coleman do two sizes complete with side panels/doors.
I had a drive away awning.
The problem was when we returned from ‘driving away’ it was a pain getting the van lined up so that the roof part which connected from the awning to the side of the van was never as good fit as to what it was before we drove off.

We now have a blow up Kampa awning as we changed vans.
Plus side is it’s massive and flexes with wind.
Down side is it weighs a ton, takes up half of garage and when windy, the sides blow away from van sides and if raining, can let water in at van sides, into awning.

If you are on a budget, you could just buy a small tent.

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[Mamma J]

Thanks people. I think I will get a fixed awning. Expensive Dogs bed at over 600 quid. Getting ready for our first trip since lockdown. Saturday Morning off to the Malverns

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

Thanks people. I think I will get a fixed awning. Expensive Dogs bed at over 600 quid. Getting ready for our first trip since lockdown. Saturday Morning off to the Malverns

The decathalon inflatable is not £600.
Are the dogs to sleep in the awning, cos that’s a whole new area on security and a stand alone awnings’ suitability.
When you say fixed awning, do you mean a canopy and safari room?
Only trying to help and not criticise in any way.

 

[Captain Yoghurtpot]

And Ithink the quest pro 4 pop up shelter with pre attached sides is around 250 to 260 pounds.
£ 600 must be for a drive away awning.
Don’t forget to budget for the stress councilling sessions possibly needed afterwards due to trying to realign the awning when left on site for a time and on your return.

 

[Mamma J]

It's an awning that fits onto the canopy.. as shown In photo. Think its the best option . Very secure and sturdy

 

[Speve]

We went through all the options before committing to one and in the end bought a Kampa air 260 inflatable and it works a treat with our two dogs we do only put it up when staying for more than a week, we travel down to Spain for winter and usually base ourselves in one place for a month at a time so it works out well we also take our car with us so don’t need to move the van whilst on site.