Roll out awning, adding side and front panels

[Candapack]

Opinions please.
Are they easy to erect or a right faff?
Do they add any stability in windy conditions?
Do they use up a lot of space when traveling (and weight)?
Have you bought them and never use them, or would you not be without them?
Look forward to hearing from y'all.

 

[Mikeco]

Bought the Fiamma privacy room for our PVC mainly to use in Spain which we did last year. They say 20 minutes to put up but I would say nearer 2 hours.

 

[Chris]

We used to have an Omnistor safari room.

It used to take about 30 minutes to erect including pegging out.

It was heavy though.

Only worth it if you are staying somewhere 7 days plus I would say.

I wasn't conscious of it adding any stability. It was strong though and withstood some heavy storms.

 

[Sundowners]

Great if you are parked up for a while. Husband hates putting it up especially in the cold as the rubber is not so subtle. VERY sturdy in the wind as long as it is pegged down well with decent sized pegs. Once up, ours almost doubles the living space of the van. We have had it up in some awful storms, it has weathered well. We do have a van with the weight and space capacity to carry it though. We don’t put it up in the summer here in Portugal as would be too hot, but have it up all winter and have done the last three years. It takes a good hour, as there is a lot of pegging out to do, that’s the longest part of the job, once you have worked out how and in which order to do it. Ours is an Omnistor.

 

[NorthernSands]

We have Fiamma ZIP one on our old MoHo. It didn't take that long to put up and was useful. Sometimes we just used one side as a wind break. We loved it, especially when staying somewhere for a few days, such as the Beautiful Days festival last year. It always seemed stable enough, but we never left it out in high winds, though it did put up with a lot.

Out new van doesn't have one, which makes us sad.

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[Paddywack]

I think there is a difference between the full on awning room and the separate panels in terms of time to put up. We could put ours up in 15 minutes, although in the early days was nearer 40 mins until we worked it all out.

It makes a hell of a difference to being able to using the awning when its windy.

If your wind out awning is a Thule then I have a set for sale in the classified section to fit a PVC. Lovely

 

[tonka]

Take a look on many of the selling sites, always some of these awning sides and fronts / safari rooms for sale. Often stated as bought new and never used . They are great if you are pitched for a while, even more so in bad weather. Everything has a weight implication, dont think these are considered light.

Look at any rally field now and you see more and more of the "pop up" type shelters being used. Ok you have a gap between the van door and the pop up but no great hardship.

We have one of these..

 

[NorthernSands]

Paddywack Not a PVC. We'd need a >2.6m drop. It's also a pre-Thule Omnistore. Shame.

 

[DavidG58]

Bev loves ours, but it was virtually a condition of stay motorhoming or not, we have a minimum 2 night ruling to use it not though

Ours is the Omnistore full safari room, with side roof beams that clamp the roof fabric

Very stable in wind and rain provided well pegged down as said above

Yes it bulky and heavy but we have a large garage

Once up, about half an hour for us now we are more practiced ? I must admit I do like it, our Hymer has very little lounging area, we can get 12 sat in our safari room on recliners , just need to allow for extra gin ?

 

[jezport]

We use and sell our awning panels, they are fast to fit and are fully waterproof.

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[PeteH]

I had one on an 18 Foot R-V Awning. Used it in Spain overwintering and the likes of Americana where we where at least 4 days (Marshals). Took at least and Hour or longer, to erect Needed a Short Stepladder to attach the Sides to the Roof. But once up was a great addition giving much needed space for "Entertaining" with the bonus advantage that spilled drinks etc where NOT on the R-V flooring!!. Even had a Gas Blower Heater, (not exactly H&S approved) one winter on a New Year rally!. We blamed the headaches on the volume of alcohol!. Never took it down even during the worst of gales, just threw a "Span-strap" over it. But was it Noisy!!. Worth it`s weight during our "self build" too where it was used, over a 2 Year period.

 

[DavidG58]

good point about the step ladder, I am over 6' and we carry a step up which I need for the side beams, it also makes an extra bench in the awning

 

[Robert Clark]

We’ve got a Thule Sun Block panel
Slides into place in under a minute
Keeps the glare of the sun out
Doesn’t obscure the view
Let’s in natural ventilation
Quick and easy to roll up for the night, whilst still attached to your awning

 

[PhilG]

All of the Safari Rooms are just too spindly to be anything other than shower or sun protection. We had a proper GH Awning on our PVC, weighed 100kg at least with all sides and extruded poles, would never come down once it was up, now we have a Fiamma 7m awning and a 4x4m EZ UP. Everyone's needs are different but general opinion is that they are a faff

 

[JFD]

We had a 3m Fiamma Zip awning with sides and front, that came with the MoHo. We put it up once, to see if it was any good, and decided it wasn’t!

It took about 2 hours to put up, but we didn’t have any instructions. It was pretty draft proof, certainly, but it was just too ‘tent-like’ for us. The three panels weighed a lot, and took up too much storage space, so we gave them away eventually!

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[Candapack]

Thanks all. On balance, I think we'll manage without, but see how we get on with just the roll out and a separate windbreak.
Partly because we don't have a lot of space, 6m PVC, partly because we don't often stay in one place long enough to make t worthwhile. Even when we do, we tend to use the van as transport.
The Thule sun block is a possible though.
Happy travels everyone.

 

[Mikeco]

Thanks all. On balance, I think we'll manage without, but see how we get on with just the roll out and a separate windbreak.
Partly because we don't have a lot of space, 6m PVC, partly because we don't often stay in one place long enough to make t worthwhile. Even when we do, we tend to use the van as transport.
The Thule sun block is a possible though.
Happy travels everyone.

If yours is a Fiamma awning I will be selling the one we bought last year, only takes 5 minutes to put up.
If you fancy one that let me know.

 

[GAVLAD]

We had an Omnistor Safari room. It took me ages to put it up and like what others have said, it weighed a ton and took up too much room in the garage.
We sold it and then bought a Kampa Air awning. I used to put it up on my own and it would take me 20mins. A great bit of kit. But, the bag weighed about 30kg (it’s an 8.7m van so awning was biggest).
I’ve decided not to take it to Italy this year though and based on the fabulous posts that Robert Clark has posted, I have just bought a Thule 4.8m sun blocker so will take that instead.

We have a Coleman event shelter which I think is great. I’m considering taking that but not 100% yet.

 

[Paddywack]

I'm surprised everyone keeps saying how bulky and heavy they are? The Thule G2 panels we have aren't, indeed compared to the Vango Hexaway we've got for the new Van they're probably half the weight.

I can though vouch for the sunblocker - great piece of kit. We would take it along with the panels to keep options open.

 

[GAVLAD]

Are you mixing the safari room with the G2 Panels?

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[NorthernSands]

Our Fiamma ZIP safari panels and poles are not heavy. The laughable 'garage' in the old girl, however, is tiny, so it did take up some space. We still managed to fit in a full sized BBQ (flat packed) large inflatable kayak (with pump, padals and seats), waste and fresh water containers, tools and so on. With bikes on the back we were still under limit (overall and rear axle) with a max weight of 3100KG. A safari room in a modern van should be a non-issue. We loved ours and will miss it. It did take half an or so to put up, but well worth it for a longer stay. It was an extra room and meant we could stay sat out for longer with biting things around, or when the weather was not so good. If you tend to stay for a few nights often, then I highly recommend one.

 

[Coolcats]

Opinions please.
Are they easy to erect or a right faff?
Do they add any stability in windy conditions?
Do they use up a lot of space when traveling (and weight)?
Have you bought them and never use them, or would you not be without them?
Look forward to hearing from y'all.

Just added to our awning 3 Thule smart panels from Rose Awnings, I mention Rose because we have found their help and customer service 2nd to none. All three panels easily store along with the support bars.

 

[Abacist]

We inherited a Thule 6m safari room when we bought our N + B Arto 88F.

I put it up for the first time ever in Bude last week. I didn't find the instructions very user friendly and consequently did not clamp the roof panel into the top side rails - you definitely need a step ladder as our van is 3 meters high and I'm just over 6 foot tall and even standing on a chair could not adequately reach all the fittings near the van though could reach the front which is lower. Hopeless trying to clamp in after the side and front panels have been added as everything becomes immovable. You certainly need 2 people to put it up.

It is a substantial bit of kit but the other drawbacks are that it will probably prevent you opening the garage door when it is up, the down supports nearest the van probably need to be height adjustable and about 6 inches longer for our van as they barely reach the ground.
The front down support makes opening one of lounge sliding windows very difficult.

It is reminiscent of our Isabella caravan awning in the it takes an age to put up and peg out but once up it would probably withstand a gale. Easy to take down however once you know how it went up.

An awning skirt was provided but no apparent means to attach it to the van. We also had a bag of curtains for it but didn't bother.

Last minus point it seemed to have a slightly unpleasant plasticky sort of smell which I thought might go after being up in the fresh air but it didn't! I suspect it might have been once before by the previous owners as it was in pristine condition.

I wouldn't use it again unless it was going to be up for at least a week and we had the company to justify its use.

They are useful to keep stuff in on site without having to put it all away in the garage when you go out or at night.

 

[Abacist]

We inherited a Thule 6m safari room when we bought our N + B Arto 88F.

I put it up for the first time ever in Bude last week. I didn't find the instructions very user friendly and consequently did not clamp the roof panel into the top side rails - you definitely need a step ladder as our van is 3 meters high and I'm just over 6 foot tall and even standing on a chair could not adequately reach all the fittings near the van though could reach the front which is lower. Hopeless trying to clamp in after the side and front panels have been added as everything becomes immovable. You certainly need 2 people to put it up.

It is a substantial bit of kit but the other drawbacks are that it will probably prevent you opening the garage door when it is up, the down supports nearest the van probably need to be height adjustable and about 6 inches longer for our van as they barely reach the ground.
The front down support makes opening one of lounge sliding windows very difficult.

It is reminiscent of our Isabella caravan awning in the it takes an age to put up and peg out but once up it would probably withstand a gale. Easy to take down however once you know how it went up.

An awning skirt was provided but no apparent means to attach it to the van. We also had a bag of curtains for it but didn't bother.

Last minus point it seemed to have a slightly unpleasant plasticky sort of smell which I thought might go after being up in the fresh air but it didn't! I suspect it might have been once before by the previous owners as it was in pristine condition.

I wouldn't use it again unless it was going to be up for at least a week and we had the company to justify its use.

They are useful to keep stuff in on site without having to put it all away in the garage when you go out or at night.

Just found my post from the last time I used our safari room. I have to use it again soon! How does anyone else clip the roof material into the top side rails given the height involved?

 

[Ridgeway]

We’ve got a Thule Sun Block panel
Slides into place in under a minute
Keeps the glare of the sun out
Doesn’t obscure the view
Let’s in natural ventilation
Quick and easy to roll up for the night, whilst still attached to your awning

View attachment 317390

Snap, adds enough: privacy, wind break, rain break and shade all for the 1min it takes to set up. Also does add some stability to the awning as the panel has 4 pegging point.

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[DavidG58]

Just found my post from the last time I used our safari room. I have to use it again soon! How does anyone else clip the roof material into the top side rails given the height involved?

Our solution is a ‘step up’ decorators small platform , aluminium and makes extra seating in awning

 

[Abacist]

Many thanks David!