rp272 Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 We are new to motorhoming having just taken delivery of an Auto Trail Delaware after 4 years and more than 20,000 miles of towing a caravan. We have owned many different awnings from small to large and understand how these fit to a caravan. Obviously a motorhome awning needs to stand on its own four feet so to speak. Many of the ones on offer seem 'lightweight' and made of nylon which I know to my cost rot with more than a modicum of UV. I think in these enlightened time they might be called 'biodegradable' but this is not a desirable trait in awnings. I am looking for something a bit more substantial and have seen adverts for Ventura (Isabella) Freestander and Outdoor Revolution Valley Lodge both of which appear to be sufficiently strong and well made. I have yet to see either model actually attached to a motorhome and been able to talk to the owners who should be able to give the best advice. How easy is it to reconnect the awning after a day out and how good a seal can be achieved around the van. I have looked at instructions from Ventura but the pictures look as though the 'back' cannot be made secure when away for the day! I certainly don't want any stray dogs sheltering inside. We had planned to visit the Shepton Mallet show in January but this has now been cancelled and NEC is a bit far for other than the big October exhibition. Another thing are thermal windscreen blinds. External blinds seem to be the answer from what I have read both 'Silver Screen' and 'TailorMade' were both mentioned favourably. Are these suitable to leave on overwinter? I'm not sure how waterproof they are. I would welcome any advice or suggestions. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtiff Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 we have tried many ideas this is what suits us. external silver screens work best as prevention of heat transfer. what ever make. they are waterproof, ask the colony of ants who set up home in mine while we were having storms in tariffa. just bung them in the bag when you move the interior cannot rot as it is polyester. We use a windout awning when suitable weather but if it gets wild we wind in the awning and fit a porch awning to it in the groove on the outside edge take 10mins up or down and enables us to have cover when weather is bad. We did try a drive away once but got fed up with trying to get a good seal. which never met the bosses expectations(she who must be obeyed) can be viewed in cornwall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 As you have only just got the motorhome, I'd suggest you stay your hands a while longer, until you have used your van enough to see if such an awning still seems important. You seem to be inclined to view using your motorhome in much the same way as you have used your caravan. I think this may change with familiarity. With caravans one tends to head to a destination and then set up camp for a relatively extended period. Hence the time spent in setting up and pegging out an awning becomes time well spent, and one tends to expand day to day living into the awning. A lot of, if not most, people, tend to find that they move at much greater frequency when using motorhomes. Mainly, this is because one no longer has a car as a runaround, so one tends to explore more locally, stopping here and there at places of interest, instead of choosing a central "base camp" from which to radiate out to the places of interest. I would suggest it will take a few trips before you have arrived at your motorhoming modus vivendi, and that once you have you may begin to ask why on earth you ever bothered with erecting awnings! The further point is that with a motorhome you have just the one vehicle, within which you must carry everything. Awnings of whatever type are bulky, relatively heavy (think payload!), and a pain if they have to be transported wet. Hence the more normally fitted wind-out type awnings on motorhomes. These are in general less robust than caravan awnings, but they can be enclosed, if required, with front and side panels to achieve something of the same usability. However, this still requires a degree of setting up and pegging out. To some extent, your choices are likely to be influenced by where you go. In UK, where it is often windy and not infrequently cool and damp, a full enclosure may make sense - so long as you stay put for long enough to benefit from the time and effort of erecting the awning. However, if you intend heading south across Europe, you find it is generally drier, warmer, and less windy, and that the one hour time difference adds to evening daylight, so that sitting out is more agreeable than sitting in an enclosure. So, it is a very personal "lifestyle" influenced choice, but very few motorhomers indulge in full awnings, or in stand alone awnings. We all differ in our preferences for how we organise our daily lives, so the experience of others is not that much help in choosing unless one also know the person giving the advice. So, I say wait a while, get a few trips in with your van, see how you use it, and then decide whether, or what, to add to it. Could save you quite a slab of cash! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Having been a tugger for over 20 years before buying our first Motorhome 4 years ago please take note of what Brian says. As you get more used to the Motorhome way of life you will probably not spend that much time in one spot, we find we rarely spend more than 4 nights in one place 1 or 2 nights being the norm. We certainly wouldn't want the hassle of putting up a separate awning, we have a wind out awning on the van but the amount of times we find we can use it (due to wind conditions) I really think it was a waste of a 1000€. Silverscreens/Taylormade, Silverscreens are a bit thinner & lighter than Taylormade better for touring. I had Talormade but recently changed to Silverscreens. Yes you can leave them on at home they will last 3 - 4 years of constant use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Strachan Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Hi Roger, Welcome to the forum, I can only echo Brians very good advice, take your time and see how you use your van. We are on our second van now and us our wind out awning whenever we can, but thats just our style of living, outside most of the time. We eventually went for Silver Screens, totally waterproof a great product. Enjoy and use your van over the winter too. Cheers Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepe63xnotuse Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Yep..another vote here for the "Hold off buying awnings yet" approach.... Within a few months of buying our first van,we'd bought a drive-away awning(sold without being used) ,a lightweight porch awning(very handy,still used until recently),a simple "tarp" type canopy(again handy,still used today) and had a Fiamma windout fitted(...which turned out to be the biggest van-related waste of money, we've had.. *-) ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9GYN Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 rp272 - 2012-12-17 7:55 PM We are new to motorhoming having just taken delivery of an Auto Trail Delaware after 4 years and more than 20,000 miles of towing a caravan. We have owned many different awnings from small to large and understand how these fit to a caravan. Obviously a motorhome awning needs to stand on its own four feet so to speak. Many of the ones on offer seem 'lightweight' and made of nylon which I know to my cost rot with more than a modicum of UV. I think in these enlightened time they might be called 'biodegradable' but this is not a desirable trait in awnings. I am looking for something a bit more substantial and have seen adverts for Ventura (Isabella) Freestander and Outdoor Revolution Valley Lodge both of which appear to be sufficiently strong and well made. I have yet to see either model actually attached to a motorhome and been able to talk to the owners who should be able to give the best advice. How easy is it to reconnect the awning after a day out and how good a seal can be achieved around the van. I have looked at instructions from Ventura but the pictures look as though the 'back' cannot be made secure when away for the day! I certainly don't want any stray dogs sheltering inside. We had planned to visit the Shepton Mallet show in January but this has now been cancelled and NEC is a bit far for other than the big October exhibition. Another thing are thermal windscreen blinds. External blinds seem to be the answer from what I have read both 'Silver Screen' and 'TailorMade' were both mentioned favourably. Are these suitable to leave on overwinter? I'm not sure how waterproof they are. I would welcome any advice or suggestions. Roger I haven't read all of the thread so sorry if I'm covering old ground but If I could give the benefit of my limited experience:- Drive away awning we now find that it is easier to throw tapes over van as trying to reach to fasten to awning is a bind!! also when returning to site you need to position the van exactly to enable reconnection Screen covers :- I have been advised, by Silver Screen, that it is not recommended to leave the screens on over winter. I have internal pleated blinds so have made internal side and screen covers from insulated foil (B&Q) These can be fed behind frames on side screens Hope this helps Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 As we have been motorhoming for 20 years ;-)................ have a traditional heavy awning..........and a wind out awning ;-).................and we use both.............sometimes together :D The advantages are many, we tend to use the drive away when onsite for a week or more, and the wind out when in motorhome mode B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I would agree with Brian's advice and add that you have quite a substantial motorhome so in practice you,will find that leaving it on site is better than driving it away for days out. We used to take ours out sometimes when we first had it but soon got fed up with that. About the only times we take it out now is to visit friends who may live near where we are staying. Don't forget that bikes will extend your range without moving the motorhome and you could like us make extensive use of public transport, especially if like us you have bus passes. Talking about bus passes if there is any MEPs out there reading this how about bringing in regulations making our passes valid in all EU member countries? We use the wind out awning with the addition of a sun screen that quickly slides into the rail and is fixed with just five pegs and five bungee cords. Thanking you in advance. A poor pensioner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 rp272 - 2012-12-17 7:55 PM We are new to motorhoming having just taken delivery of an Auto Trail Delaware after 4 years and more than 20,000 miles of towing a caravan. We have owned many different awnings from small to large and understand how these fit to a caravan. Obviously a motorhome awning needs to stand on its own four feet so to speak. Many of the ones on offer seem 'lightweight' and made of nylon which I know to my cost rot with more than a modicum of UV. I think in these enlightened time they might be called 'biodegradable' but this is not a desirable trait in awnings. I am looking for something a bit more substantial and have seen adverts for Ventura (Isabella) Freestander and Outdoor Revolution Valley Lodge both of which appear to be sufficiently strong and well made. I have yet to see either model actually attached to a motorhome and been able to talk to the owners who should be able to give the best advice. How easy is it to reconnect the awning after a day out and how good a seal can be achieved around the van. I have looked at instructions from Ventura but the pictures look as though the 'back' cannot be made secure when away for the day! I certainly don't want any stray dogs sheltering inside. We had planned to visit the Shepton Mallet show in January but this has now been cancelled and NEC is a bit far for other than the big October exhibition. Another thing are thermal windscreen blinds. External blinds seem to be the answer from what I have read both 'Silver Screen' and 'TailorMade' were both mentioned favourably. Are these suitable to leave on overwinter? I'm not sure how waterproof they are. I would welcome any advice or suggestions. Roger rp272 Welcome to motorhoming and this forum I am sure you wikk enjoy both. Have a look at this link http://www.windblockers.net/ They are easy to fit and remove to your wind out canopy, are light weight and compact to stow away. They fill most needs of most motorhomers, they are cheap enough to buy to see how you get on with them and if they don't work out for you I would think you could easily sell them on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Oh yeah :D...................forgot about Windblockers ;-).....................we have them to.........excellent bit of kit B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Completely agree with Brians advice, the two ways of doing the 'hobby' are normally quite different in practise, either way is just as enjoyable. We used caravans for over 25 years before we got our motorhome so we had a 'caravan mindset' and duly went out and purchased a full size stand alone awning that we thought we would need as we did with the caravan. We used this on one occasion and it has been in our spare room at home since, some 14 years, actually better have a look and see what condition it is in! So far as use is concerned, it is easy you just erect the awning and attach the joining cloth to the van, in our case to the wind out awning front. When you want to leave you disconect the joining cloth and zip up the rear opening, the whole rear in our case, and it becomes a frame tent in effect. You drive away and when you return you park back into a similar position that you left and unzip and roll up the rear entrance and reconnect the joining cloth, very simple. However as others have said, instead of staying in one place for a week as we did with the caravan and use our car to travel out to view the sights and return to our base each night , we view the sights nearby useing bikes, public transport (not recommended really) or mark one legs and then travel on to the next area of sights we want to see, finding a suitable stopping point. Realistically this actually cuts down on the 'motoring' you do because you don't keep going out and then returning! Unlike others we make good use of our wind out Fiamma awning and find this is completely adequate for our needs, we have blockers, sides and front, but appart from trying them for fit have never used them, they are in the van in case we do though. As the Fiamma is so easy to wind out or in that is all we use. To be fair we rarely stop in the UK and spend most of our time touring Europe mainly France, where there is a much more free and easy attitude to motorhoming as well as being far cheaper and never having to book up anywhere is a delight. I would hang fire on the stand alone myself and see whether you really need one! Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel wood Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Colin Leake - 2012-12-18 7:11 PM Talking about bus passes if there is any MEPs out there reading this how about bringing in regulations making our passes valid in all EU member countries? This would be wonderful but I think totally unrealistic. In the UK they can only be used on local buses in the country of issue, let alone in other UK countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leake Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 Listen mate we are talking EU here so it simply does not need to be realistic to be passed into legislation. Some one once told me if you contact the Scottish tourist board before going on holiday they will issue you with a limited period bus pass. We've never bothered as the sites we tend to stay on in Scotland tend not to have bus services so I've no idea if this is true or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terryW Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I would also say hold off until you know how you are going to use the van. We converted 5 years ago on retirement and still use the van like a caravan. We like to combine both touring and a good rest on a comfortable site. We tend to turn the journey to and from into a tour stopping at places that interest us for a day or three and then pitch up with an awning and all the kit for a nice long break. But that's what we do and you need to find out first what suits you. As far as actual drive-away awnings are concerned we had an Outdoor revolution type that suited us for long stays in the summer but planning a long stay in the Winter we have now invested in a Valley lodge. We haven't used it yet but a trial fit went well except we discovered that the section you use to close the awning off when you drive away only zips up one way, from the right as seen from the inside. That can be a problem if your door is at that end and you want to partially close the gap off. (hope that makes sense). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 Colin Leake - 2012-12-19 7:00 PM ...Some one once told me if you contact the Scottish tourist board before going on holiday they will issue you with a limited period bus pass. We've never bothered as the sites we tend to stay on in Scotland tend not to have bus services so I've no idea if this is true or not. As mel wood advised earlier, a 'senior citizen' concessionary bus pass issued in one UK country applies (as a generalisation) only to travel within the country of issue. The terms and conditions vary, with Scotland's scheme seeming to have the most latitude. To the best of my knowledge, no UK country issues FREE concessionary travel passes for visitors/tourists, though travel passes of various types can be purchased. For example: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/prf90d13c35ce741008d5f4736d0e192/details.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rp272 Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 It was my first time on this forum (I had tried others) ... Thank you to everyone who responded with a range of very useful and helpful suggestions. We have now decided not to rush in to the purchase a drive away awning. After careful measurement we might be able to use our lightweight porch awning that was bought for the caravan and which has almost no resale value. When I actually got the tape measure out I was amazed to find that the awning rail was much lower than I imagined. We are still in 'caravan mode' and probably will be for a while. It is our intention to tour more but do not rule out some lazy wintersun in 2013/14. Again thank you all for your advice. kindest regards Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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