Air awning more like carry on camping

[Tina2047]

We bought a vango kalari 3 420 Air awning in 2021
Watched you tube channels putting this up
Looked so easy so goes and buys it just under £1000 with carpet
Until we tried putting it up when wee visited Lake district
Couldn't get it on rail was so heavy finally we got that done
Then trying to figure out how the thing went up
In end after 4hrs both of us soaked wet through we got outside blown up and pegged down
Didn't bother putting parts that went on ceiling part as couldn't figure out how they attached so just put carpet down and went to have a cup of coffee
It was then a young couple drove up with a trailer tent me and Michael are sat watching them
This trailer tent was bigger than our awning I'm not kidding they had that up within 30 minutes and me and Michael are sat there shocked knowing how. Long it took us to get the awning up
All that week it rained there tent looked pristine no sagging or anything ours kept collecting water in middle had to use brush to push awning roof up to get rid of water
Didn't stop us enjoying holiday though wellies waterproofs and of we went walking
Learnt one thing though don't go by you tube videos he's been putting awning up for years
Haven't used. It since bought a canopy
But just maybe we will use it again and have another laugh trying to get it to look right
I have bought a Pulley to help us get it on rail
Must say it did look nice when we got it up at first
Though 1st time we have ever put a awning up We did well didn't kill each other laughed later on
What was your first experience putting up a awning

 

[Ferrodo]

A cleaned out awning rail and silicon spray is your friend. You will be amazed to the difference

 

[Beachball]

We use to owned a brand new Vango Capella 220 air we also use a pulley we tried to get ours up the instructions i could not unstand . but lucky for us our neighbours in there van was watching and they came to our rescue and help us they pump it up and i was amazed it was up in 40mins and pegged we thanked them with a bottle of wine .

 

[GaryB]

Careful manipulation of the awning rail entry slot can also help. On ours it was slightly too wide allowing the awning bead to pull along the entire rail rather than feed in through the slot so careful closing sorted that. The entry slots were missing for the awning skirt, again, rectified with no damage.

Air awnings are heavy, especially those that don't have any removable panels. Practice and perseverance are the answer, along with the silicone spray/puller as the others have mentioned. I can have ours up and pegged out in 30 minutes, it'll get easier with practise.

 

[Mel]

So glad you had a good laugh about it. We are not very much better at putting the awning up now than when we started caravanning about 20 years ago. There is always some complication. The weather is always wrong: too wet, too windy, too hot. I end up using my “patient” voice. “Not sure that is quite square dear” . He gets tetchy. Tried our new poled awning the other day. Have put up poled awnings for years. Would the so and so go together…..would it hell. Gave up in the end.
All part of the fun of Caravanning. Got to love it.
Mel

 

[Mr Plodd]

Strange!
We have a Sunncamp 390 air awning. It takes us 4½ minutes from opening the bag to it being fully erected, but not pegged down (that takes another 10 minutrs max) I know it's that long because a chap once timed us (without our knowledge) as he was thinking of getting one and wanted to see how easy or otherwise it was to get erected.
We leave all of the panels in as well. I feed it into the awning rail, then use a step to pull it as Mrs P feeds the rest into the channel. We are both late 60's
We consider it to be vastly easier and quicker to erect than a poled version

 

[Hutch]

Strange!
We have a Sunncamp 390 air awning. It takes us 4½ minutes from opening the bag to it being fully erected, but not pegged down. I know it's that long because a chap once timed us (without our knowledge) as he was thinking of getting one and wanted to see how easy or otherwise it was.
We leave all of the panels in as well. I feed it into the awning rail, then use a step to pull it as Mrs P feeds the rest into the channel. We are both late 60's
We consider it to be vastly easier and quicker to erect than a poled version

We have the smaller Sunncamp 220 Air awning, Lightweight, enough to cover tables and chairs a nighttime. We are not the sort of people to sit in an awning late evening, in jackets,

 

[Raywood]

We have only a small porch awning bought second and but with the instructions with it. We had to think a bit about the poles the first time but otherwise no problems with hat. We did soon realise the plastic pegs were useless on a hardstanding more like concrete though. .

 

[Mel]

When we were seasonal, the folks in the van next to us were older and disabled. One time we helped them put their Air Awning up. Got as far as getting it through the rail when another neighbour rocked up. Clearly as he was a Man, he had superior knowledge and started making sarky comments about the expertise of women and began issuing instructions. Pumping the thing up was taking forever. I enquired if he had closed the deflation valve on the air beams closest to him, as I had done the ones on the other air beams. “Yes!” he snapped. Much pumping and hissing later……
No, I didn’t get an apology.
Mel

 

[Buckman]

We bought a vango kalari 3 420 Air awning in 2021
Watched you tube channels putting this up
Looked so easy so goes and buys it just under £1000 with carpet
Until we tried putting it up when wee visited Lake district
Couldn't get it on rail was so heavy finally we got that done
Then trying to figure out how the thing went up
In end after 4hrs both of us soaked wet through we got outside blown up and pegged down
Didn't bother putting parts that went on ceiling part as couldn't figure out how they attached so just put carpet down and went to have a cup of coffee
It was then a young couple drove up with a trailer tent me and Michael are sat watching them
This trailer tent was bigger than our awning I'm not kidding they had that up within 30 minutes and me and Michael are sat there shocked knowing how. Long it took us to get the awning up
All that week it rained there tent looked pristine no sagging or anything ours kept collecting water in middle had to use brush to push awning roof up to get rid of water
Didn't stop us enjoying holiday though wellies waterproofs and of we went walking
Learnt one thing though don't go by you tube videos he's been putting awning up for years
Haven't used. It since bought a canopy
But just maybe we will use it again and have another laugh trying to get it to look right
I have bought a Pulley to help us get it on rail
Must say it did look nice when we got it up at first
Though 1st time we have ever put a awning up We did well didn't kill each other laughed later on
What was your first experience putting up a awning

That is exactly what happened with our Kampa Air Ace 400 After returning from Scotland we sold it even though we had only used it on 3 occasions. Too heavy, kept collecting water, debatable quality etc. We then bought an Isabella Magnum poled awning and never looked back. Quicker to erect although now about 8 years later it is a bit of a struggle due to arthritis and age. 😃

 

[jimmyg352]

Same here! Had a right chew on a few times with our Kalari 380, doesn't help being short.
I started taking step ladders then bought a Kampa pulley, which helped but I finally gave the awning rail a dose of silicon spray along with the awning bead, now it flies on!

 

[Sam Vimes]

Some twenty odd years ago when we had our first caravan we towed it to Kent for our daughter and son-in-law to use and being kind to them we brought our first poled awning along which we'd never used.

The site was very windy and as soon as my son-in-law and I took the awning out of the bag the wind took the instructions away, never to be seen again. Of course being men we didn't need them....right!

Threading the awning through the rail was a nightmare and we got no further than the first bend. Some kind soul came along... probably after a good laugh....and sprayed the rail with a lubricant and away we went.

We got the cover in place and started to put the rails up and a few pegs in, but something didn't look right. But yeah we're men we must be right.

When my wife and daughter came back from a look around the site and at other awnings, obviously, they told us we'd put it up inside out. So, down it came and up again it went only correctly this time.

I'm sure I heard a lot of sniggering from adjacent outfits.

Twenty odd years on and we still have a laugh at the memory.

 

[izzy]

We have a Vango 280 and put it up pretty much as Plodd does except OH can't help much due to disability so on my own really.
From taking awning and porch section from the car to all up and bottle open is around 40 minutes and I am quite happy with that.

 

[trevormonty]

We have the smaller Sunncamp 220 Air awning, Lightweight, enough to cover tables and chairs a nighttime. We are not the sort of people to sit in an awning late evening, in jackets,

We also have 220, breeze to setup and dismantle, pegging takes far longer than fitting and inflating. Great for coming and going in rain plus storing bikes or outdoor funiture. Small enough that we can dry it in garage if dismantled in rain. Had in some strong winds but dismantled as it was rocking caravan which isn't great for sleeping. Next time I'll do it before we go to bed.

The secret with new awnings and tents is to always erect first time on a nice day and allow plenty of time.

I tend to buy stuff that has youtube videos of the fitting that way know what I'm in for, plus most written instructions these days leave a lot to be desired.