Help choosing drive away awning for motorhome

The way I approached it was to consider three things. In order of importance to me:

1. Will it fit the van and do what I expect of it? It must provide a sheltered wind and rain proof entrance to the motorhome accommodation door and be roomy enough to sleep a couple of grandchildren in an inner tent.

2. It must be easy to put up, I have to do it single handed.

3. How often will I use it, this effects the quality, regular prolonged use demands better quality materials. I am a very occasional user.

I intially bought a cheap Suncamp. Not very robust or waterproof in heavy rain and difficult to put up. It require 4 fibre glass pole threading through loops and bending into position. It really is a two person job. I still have it and use it in the garden as a free standing tent.

When I changed motorhomes I bought a Khyam Excelsior quick erect awning. Better quality than a Suncamp. So far this has proved a very sucessful purchase and wasn't much more than the Suncamp.

peedee

If you check the CC and Motor Caravan sites for accessories for sale you will find quite a few M/H awnings for sale at give away prices.

We have two awnings and depending on length of stay and weather we either chose between a light one Movelight XL or the heavier (Much heavier, but stays in place whist our M/home rocks in the wind) Harrison .  The latter is no longer made, but still appears on For sale sites at low prices.

http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Buy-And-Sell

http://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/classifieds/showcat.php?cat=6

http://www.caravanclub.co.uk/caravanclubapps/applications/caravan-classifieds/classifieds.aspx

Rgds

We use a Khyam Motordome Classic. It is very quick to erect, pretty robust and comes in a number a variants including one with sleeping pods. Check out the Khyam web site, it even has videos of it being erected and I can testify that it is possible to erect and peg out in 15 to 20 minutes, the pegging takes most of the time. I am not familiar with your van but the website should help you identify if it is compatible. Happy shopping!

Regards Barry

We have a Royal Blenheim XL which uses just two flexible poles and takes 15 minutes for me to erect on my own and about 10 mins to pack away. We have been very pleased with the size 3m X 3m and weight - 13kg. The awaning was available in two sizes. One for van conversions and one for coachbuilts. I believe the Ultra is now on sale using 3 poles as there is now a canopy at the front. Get hold of one of the standard ones - there is one on offer on ebay at the moment.

Get a Kyham. If you phone them they will advise you. They can be put up by one person but you have to get the right size for the height of your awning rail

I can recommend the Kyham motor dome. 

I would buy the best you can for the money you have.

Canvas types last a lot longer and are far more robust - we have a harrison and its brilliant, has stood up to some major storms even freestanding. However it is very heavy and quite big to store so there is obvious trade off.

It really does depend on how much you want to use it too - we only tend to use the awning if we are on a site for three or more days and/or have someone else staying with us. Otherwise is doesn't seem worth it. We sometimes use a small pop up tent as additional storage if its just one or two nights - gives somewhere to put bulky items or dirty boots without the effort needed to put up an awning.

Another consideration is drying space - all awnings need to be perfectly dry when stored but lighter ones dry quicker and are probably easier if space is limited.

Kyham tents definately have a great reputation

We have also just purchased a high top motorhome which is fitted with a fiamma awning. The fiamma privacy room that fits onto this awning looks brilliant - but time consuming to set up if we are only stopping for a few days - and also needs to be taken down if we want to take the van out for the day. Would we be better off getting a kyham drive away awning instead?

Not sure you would gain anything having never put up a Fiamma or Omnistor privacy awning. Yes a Kyham awning is very quick to erect but fully pegging it down does take time. That said, if I need it, I do put mine up for brief stays with minimum pegging down.

peedee