Air inflatable awnings

[myrddyn]

Hello All,
Just found this forum today and have already posted about a dodgy door lock and the fact that the forum saved me a load of money by telling me how to fix it.
Now, I'm looking to save more money!
We bought a Bailey Senator Indiana last year and a size 15 Dorema awning. I was never sure about the full awning and sold it as it would be a lot of clonk to put it up. We only do weekends and just want something that we can throw up.
I have been looking at air inflatables. They seem to get good press but my main fear is the wind. We are on quite a windy site and it would need to be sturdy.
Can anybody share their experiences and recommend a brand please?
I don't want a full awning, a porch or half awning would be fine, just somewhere for the dogs and a glass of wine!
Thanks.

 

[Sproket]

There are a lot of manufactures who are now producing air awnings, we have the Kampa 330pro air and we were well impressed last year when we were away when it was very windy, the air awnings just flex with the wind ... but anyway have a look at the links below to see what's about ...

Kampa air awnings.

Sunncamp air awnings.

Vango air awnings.

Outdoor Revolution air awnings.

Dorema air awnings.

Bradcot air awning.

 

[Surfer]

Hello All,
Just found this forum today and have already posted about a dodgy door lock and the fact that the forum saved me a load of money by telling me how to fix it.
Now, I'm looking to save more money!
We bought a Bailey Senator Indiana last year and a size 15 Dorema awning. I was never sure about the full awning and sold it as it would be a lot of clonk to put it up. We only do weekends and just want something that we can throw up.
I have been looking at air inflatables. They seem to get good press but my main fear is the wind. We are on quite a windy site and it would need to be sturdy.
Can anybody share their experiences and recommend a brand please?
I don't want a full awning, a porch or half awning would be fine, just somewhere for the dogs and a glass of wine!
Thanks.

We have the Kampa Air Ace and it stands up to wind just as good or better than any other awning.

 

[Mel]

Hi we have a Kampa Air Awning 390. We had it up the week before Easter in Gale force winds. The newspaper headline said "97mph winds batter North Wales". The van was rocking so badly that I seriously wondered if it would tip. At 2.30 in the morning we took the awning down but this was only because all the pegs but the tie down had been pulled out. Otherwise the awning was intact. If the awning had poles what would have happened was the poles would have collapsed as the awning lifted and smacked into the van. Far better to have the Air awning.
Mel

 

[myrddyn]

Thanks. Kampa are sounding like a reliable piece of kit.

 

[DeliDave_]

We've got an Indiana as well and got rid of our dorema full awning,changed to a 3/4 length Isabella which goes up very quickly and with storm straps iss incredibly secure.We can see out of the front window and have loads of ropom inside without any windowss being obstructed.All the panels zip out so it is light to put up the shell and add the panels.We put an air awning up belonging to Sir Roger and whilst we liked it it was one piece and very heavy.Also used the handpump which nearly killed Sir Roger and me til my good lady linda came to the rescue.If anything gets broken almost all dealers here and abroad keep Isabella spares as well,no posting off for spare.

 

[Surfer]

We've got an Indiana as well and got rid of our dorema full awning,changed to a 3/4 length Isabella which goes up very quickly and with storm straps iss incredibly secure.We can see out of the front window and have loads of ropom inside without any windowss being obstructed.All the panels zip out so it is light to put up the shell and add the panels.We put an air awning up belonging to Sir Roger and whilst we liked it it was one piece and very heavy.Also used the handpump which nearly killed Sir Roger and me til my good lady linda came to the rescue.If anything gets broken almost all dealers here and abroad keep Isabella spares as well,no posting off for spare.

We use an electric pump with a 12v 7amp battery so no issues.

 

[pmyo]

Hi, I've recently purchased the Sunncamp Air 390 Plus.

Not used it on a site yet, but had it up in the garden. Seems like a very good quality product. Nice design, good material (150 ripstop) 5000m HH. Build quality seems solid, the pump seems a little cheap in design but inflation was very easy so much so my 4 year old son did it! The MAX pressure is only 5psi, with 3 psi doing the job - that was about 8 pumps on the pump as it inflates on both the upwards and downwards stroke.

Its a bit cheaper than the Kampa too, and with what I've seen in person, there aint a lot of difference, if any, in the quality. Has 4 storm straps, two on each side plus guy lines. The storm straps come with solid steel anchor spikes, so i've no doubt it will stay solid in windy conditions. I've also got some screw in pegs, so that should stop them being pulled out, which I've seen and had happen with steel rock pegs, usually on wet ground.

Once fully inflated, the tubes where like steel, where as our other porch type awnings the poles would flex a little.

With any awning though i'd suggest using a waterproof/UV spray on protector, as its the UV that will degrade an awning.

All in all, Air awnings seem the way to go, and they are all pretty similar.

 

[Sproket]

Its a bit cheaper than the Kampa too, and with what I've seen in person, there aint a lot of difference, if any, in the quality.

:lol: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

Glad we went to the NEC to look at the quality of the material & awning before we decided on the Kampa pro air 330 made with the extra heavy duty Double Coated 300D Weathershield material.
Both sides of the Kampa can be opened up or the windows can be opened at the top ( as in the right hand site ) also both doors have two doors ie: outside one and a full size fly screen door to allow air in...

The Sunncamp looks to come complete with a spiders web of guy ropes... hmy: but everybody to there own choice

please let us know how it stands up in very strong winds with the air poles only being inflated to 5psi hmy:

 

[pmyo]

Given the image shows a smaller 2 panel Kampa, with the storm straps at the top corners not actually in place, then they have the same / similar number of lines! Also, the operating pressure of the Kampa is between 8 and 10 psi, which is warned against due to possible rupturing, and the 'poles' are thinner hence why they have a huger pressure and more of them to steady it. All in all, it doesn't really matter a jot.

They are all pretty good, even the non branded versions work well and save time, which is what they are about really.

 

[myrddyn]

Thanks for all the responses but I'm as confused as ever now! Think the Kampa is my preferred choice but will let you know the outcome.

 

[1400ted]

After 44 yrs with a van we finally got tired of struggling with the traditional 17ft awning and the smaller carbon pole type. We went and bought a 2 panel Kampa from Spinney caravans. It really is very good. We found the stirrup type pump was difficult for us both so we bought a Kampa 12V pump.

Waste of money,,,,,,,,it hardly moves any air, the nozzle keeps blowing out and they give you about 6 ft of cable...which hardly gets you out of the car ! I kept getting trapped between the awning and the car as it slowly inflated. I had to be there to hold the nozzle in ! My friend, who we go with, says the same about his pump and just uses the hand pump...but he's a lot fitter ! I think the non-return valve has failed as well. I've now fitted up an old Coleman bed pump to feed air through a domestic hosepipe into one of the deflation valves Domestic hose fits exactly onto the hoselock type outlet. The added advantage id that you can close off the outlet at any point during inflation.

A couple of weekends ago we went to a nice site in Staffordshire. I took ages to get the awning anything like correct. This was due to a sharp rise in the ground level halfway across the awning towards a rockery. We're off there again in a fortnight but this time I've reserved a flat pitch.

I used a hole punch at the loose end of the awning tape so I could use a pole with a hook to pull it round. I use a spray to lubricate the rail and pull it from the van front as it's a much easier angle to get round than the 90 degree one at the rear. The awning is a good bit of kit, though, but don't hang up too many coats on it !

Our fridge vents into the awning, so you do get some condensation. I never bother with a skirt on the van so that keeps some air circulating. I've now got 2 awnings to get rid of !

Ted

 

[Surfer]

We are considering selling our 2015 kampa Air Ace awning as it is quicker and easier to erect a normal awning. Also the Air awning is a lot heavier than the equivalent size normal awning. We both suffer from arthritis and pulling it through the awning rail is getting to be a bit much for us now. We are now regretting the purchase.
BTW we bought a 12v 7amp battery that fits neatly into the pump bag so you have them all in one bag. We did experience the nozzle popping off on more than one occasion, but found that by jamming it in hard solved the problem.

 

[intransient1]

We have an easy air 350, it's easy to put up with plenty of room.
We ordered it at the October show witness an all in price of just over £260.
First time we used it found damage to one window the retailer had it collected checked and a new one dispatched.
Good price and good service.

 

[Sproket]

We found the stirrup type pump was difficult for us both so we bought a Kampa 12V pump.

Waste of money,,,,,,,,it hardly moves any air, the nozzle keeps blowing out and they give you about 6 ft of cable...which hardly gets you out of the car ! I kept getting trapped between the awning and the car as it slowly inflated. I had to be there to hold the nozzle in ! My friend, who we go with, says the same about his pump and just uses the hand pump...but he's a lot fitter !
Ted

Ted
I use a different type of pump that that blows it up in a few min's with a few alterations the pump is fully portable with its own battery, i used some small anderson connectors to allow it to be disconnected to be charged up, I use a Aldi charger on m/cycle mode to charge it back up.... the inflation pipe is kept uncoiled under one of the beds, that made space for the battery to be put in one of the compartments

By fitting some anderson connectors onto the remaining cable with the crocodile clips, if the small battery was discharged or developed a fault the original cable can be reconnected and the pump then used off the car battery