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We are 6 weeks into our Europe Road Trip and have decided to stay for 4 days at a fantastic site at Natterers See near Innsbruck. We are contemplating putting out the safari room as there is some rain forecast but are worried about whether it is safe to leave it out if the wind picks up.
The awning is a Fiamma F45, if that means anything! We have put the safari room up before when it has been windy but did not sleep well due to the flapping and worrying that the whole thing was going to blow away.
It would be really useful to have erected as we have our 9 month old son with us and the motorhome doesn't really give him the space to stretch out and play. What are your thoughts and experiences with safari rooms?
I have read through numerous threads on the site but can't seem to find a clear answer for the weather limits for the safari room. Your help would be most welcome. I have added a poll to get some general opinions.
Maybe this is one of the reasons many people seen to be changing from this type of safari room to ones like the Sunncamp etc.. Where you can have the wind out awning rolled in but still have some outside covered space..
All we ever did with our Safari room was carry it about or leave it in the garage.. The sunncamp we use quite a lot.. AND I GOT MINE FOR £75 OFF EBAY ... Bonus..!!
______________________________________________________________ Steve Tonks...
Yes, but you need a proper tie down kit that attaches to the uprights on the outside. If you are trying to erect in windy conditions, put some pegs in first, then you will be able to stop it flapping about too much. Hope this helps
Mike
I was on Lake Garda 2 years ago where we had a windstorm, I had my Fiamma 4.5 Meter out, and I had to hang on for dear life to stop it blowing over the top of the Motorhome, I had 2 sets of Storm Straps, pegs and rope tying it to a treee and this were not effective enough, I was caught between attempting to take it down and risk it getting caught in the wind or just hang on, which I did for the next 8 hours.
Never used it again, and never would.
Bought myself the windstoppers from Lillypad Leisure and use them, slightest fear of wind all comes down in seconds now, and I wind the shade in every night and I can sleep soundly.
Paul.
______________________________________________________________ Add Life to your day´s, not day´s to your life.
My answer to the question is "dunno"...it's subjective down to the degree of wind exposure.
Couple of observations on the previous posts though:
To add to the preventative measures, I'd add that using a Tension Rafter Pro gives a lot more rigidity and stops flapping far better than the standard model. This is in addition to tie down kit, not an alternative for.
In terms of being caught by the wind, a lot of the danger is where the wind gets under the canopy - presumably with a safari room fitted there's less chance of that happening.
we have just bought a pair of rafter tie downs, I think that is what they are called, fit on the front rail of the awning, supposed to be stronger than the older type.but can you have these and a safari room together.
we have just bought a pair of rafter tie downs, I think that is what they are called, fit on the front rail of the awning, supposed to be stronger than the older type.but can you have these and a safari room together.
cabby
Cabby,
We have a safari room and we use these tie downs with it. All you have to do is cut two sections of the front piece of the safari room and slid the tie downs in when you put the front on. We didn't cut a piece out just 2 slits to take the tie downs and the front of the safari room bends down slightly. Don't know if I have explained this very well but hope it helps!
Had the same decision to make ourselves , we had one night with storm lashings and never slept a wink worrying about every move and noise, following day we approached the site owner who let us move so the wind was on the back side of the van, still put the storm lashings on, but slept a lot easier!
napoleon
We have had an Omnistor 5000 Safari Room and Canopy take off in strong wind. It went over the top of the van tearing away from it carrier. It smashed the drive shaft of the satellite dish which was folded down and smashed the status aerial.
This was a sudden surge of wind in the very early hours of the morning, which was just a breeze when we went to bed. We had it fully tied down with over rafter strap and ties on the legs. The wind was too strong by the time we realised, to be able to take it down. So we just had to try and keep it pegged down without success.
We used its replacement (8000 model) is Spain this winter for 5 months. After the first incident we were very worried about the same thing happening again but got used to it with time. This time I had it tied down to a tree and the car trailer as well as the over rafter tie down.
We again suffered some damage when a strong wind blew the end wall off its stop in the cassette and tore the canopy about 6 inches at the point where the side rafter stops being attached to the canopy. We had it tied down so well it also tore the window glass from the canvas a little (about one inch) on that end.
The other problem we have is that rain tends to gather on the roof despite one leg being set shorter than the other, in thunderstorm downpours.
We have looked at free standing awnings but due to the height of the van door the suppliers are reluctant to say one will fit.
We had a Fiamma Privacy in a gale lest year. It turned out to be quite stable, but was very worrying. Shook the van badly and the noise was terrific. I was too frightened to take it down and was also frightened by leaving it up.
Now got rid of the Privacy and like others use windblockers in fine breezy weather and a porch awning when the weather promises to be more inclement.
Gerry
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