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Hi we are about to pick up our VW T5 camper van over the weekend, we could do with some advice about awnings. Checked out a few web sites, but we are unsure which brand / type to buy. Any advice would be welcome.
Depends on what you want to do with it. We had a VW T3 and used a Navigator awning I think, basically like a big tent attached to the sliding door which we could drive away from. We now have a coach built MH and have used a Kyham pop up one which was very good but we've moved onto a traditional caravan type of awning which we think is great, still can drive away from it.
"Just Kampers" sell some VW specific stuff. Don't rush in have a good look round and think about what you need it for, storage, eating, toilet!
Hi Kindog and welcome to the forum.
As Vannyy has said it depends on what you want to do.
if you just want a sun canopy type like the one in Vannys avatar then theres a wide range to choose from.
With these you just unwind it and sit underneath with a glass of the vino.
If you do get one of these you can add a safari room or a tent type awning to this to make an extra room as well later.
These can always be retro fitted after you have bought the van so if I were you I wouldn,t rush iinto buying one just yet especially as we are coming into winter...unless you plan to do a snowbird and go to spain for the winter LOL.
Silly thing is a lot of people who have awnings (me included) dont use them that often. I have hardly had mine out this year. My main holiday was in france/germany and I used "aires" and so awnings are a no no really (will explain if you dont know) and last weel i was in cormwall with a bit of wind blowing (didnt i pick the wrong week).
Anyway let us know what you want to do with it and we can try to give you more info if you want.
On the other hand, the first thing we do when we stop, is put out the awning. Keeps the sun off when its hot and allows a pause to open the door when its raining.
There are some VW specific awnings made but the two most used are made by Fiamma and Omnistor, the latter being slightly more robust.
Welcome and enjoy all!
Alan
Silly thing is a lot of people who have awnings (me included) dont use them that often. I have hardly had mine out this year.
Welcome to the forum Kindog
Phill beat me to it. We are just the same as him.
I was going to say, "Don't spend your hard-earned until you have gained a bit of experience and know for sure what you really want."
Most motorhomers' garages and lofts are full of "must have" goodies and gadgets that were used twice then discarded, for whatever reason.
You can (and will) get loads of advice on here, but there's no short cut to personal experience, and only you know what motorhoming habits you will develop.
We got our T4 Westy in 2007. From time to time I have been looking at awnings, especially the drive-away type, and thinking about buying one. Considerations that really seem to matter to us are:
1. It would take up a lot of storage space in the van and when we are on our continental trips of about 3 weeks duration there isn't much space to spare (we need it for our purchases to bring home!);
2. Finding a shady pitch on a hot campsite has never been too difficult;
3. We got used to sitting outside without a "roof" anyway;
4. We have camped in mountainous places where a big gale can blow without warning out of a clear blue sky, and the thought of that happening when we are exploring off-site and not able to take down the awning is worrying. We have seen caravan awnings damaged by these sudden high winds.
So, having managed for 4 years without an awning we probably never really needed one anyway. Your needs may be different especially if there are 4 of you. But it may be a good idea to try doing without, before you spend a lot of money on a brand new awning.
You could also look at the specialist VW T4 / T5 (and also Bongofury) forums because there are a lot of threads there about various awnings for campervans like yours.
Before we got our big white box motorhome we had a VW T25(T3) fore about 5 years.
We never had an awning but had a storage tent so that we had somewhere to put a lot of the stuff that gets in the way inside the bus once you set up at a campsite.
We used to put our bikes, bike stuff, wetsuits, bodyboards, chairs, tables etc. in it to make living in the van a bit easier. It also helps to keep your pitch at a campsite.
We never felt the need for a full awning.
As others suggest it might be an idea to try your new van out a few times to get an idea of what you want.
We had one like this Utility Tent not form this supplier but of this type.
Enjoy your new bus whatever you do.
As someone else said check out the Just Kampers website for a mine of stuff that you will think you can't live without but will curse everytime it falls out af a cupboard when you stop.
______________________________________________________________ Amusing signature to follow if we ever think of one.
Thanks to EVERYBODY for their replies. We've seen the drive away awnings and the makes that we have looked at are Fiamma and Omnistor, but we will look at Kyham too. We are concerned about the amount of room they will take up inside the camper. We are really first-timers at this. We were wondering what happens if we only have an awning attached to the van, park up in a site somewhere (which we assume means paying for a pitch) but then want to go off exploring. While we are away, can we "lose" our pitch? Or is it held for us, once we've paid, for a certain amount of time? (Or do we put a towel down on the space, to reserve it??? )
Also, we are thinking along the lines of a chemical toilet so we need a little compact one (not much room to store). The idea of a storage tent sounds very good, but on the security side of things, what do you do when you go out to explore the area? Are they safe to leave on site? Or is it a risk you take? There's only the two of us and the dog (maybe we should leave her on guard - so she can lick a potential burglar to death). Plus we thought of getting a canopy plus sides to give us some wind/rain protection, but haven't seen anything like this for sale so far.
Thanks again everyone. No doubt we will be back again and again with more questions! and YES!!! we are excited!!!
Security of stuff in a tent or awning is something you have to live with I think.
We used to lock the bikes together but apart from that you have to assume that other campers, who are after all in the same boat, are fairly honest types. We've never had a problem, so far anyway.
The drive away awning would keep your sport as would the storage tent. You can also put up a little sign in the space where your vehicle would be parked in case someone is too stupid to realise you need that space (it happens).
In my experience the more stuff you can get out of the living area of the campervan and into cupboards or outside the better living in the van will be for you.
Enjoy it anyway.
______________________________________________________________ Amusing signature to follow if we ever think of one.
We had your predecessor VW with a Khyam tent attached to the side when on site so that your open side door opens straight into the tent/awning. As GWS says the more you can keep out of the van, the better. You will find that once your bed is extended, access to some of your internal storage is difficult so the tent is really useful, and found that after a few goes could reverse accurately onto the connecting flap maiming Mother-in-Law consistently in the process.( You ask her to guide you back) the tent's also useful to store the industrial quantities of fly squash remover you'll need if, like most people, your Mother in Law travels face forward strapped to the roof rack.
Have a great time, but look at a lot of options before you spend your money, when you've sorted what style of traveller you are.
Pete
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