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A few vans away from us an inflatable awning just exploded. It was quite a bang. Not just the bladder, it ripped out the stitching on the canvas casing. The dog inside was not happy!

The resoursful owners of the twin axle van immediately scrapped the awning , saying not cost effective to repair. (I don’t know how old it was). Over the last hour he has replaced it with a wind canopy and two large windbreaks they had on board. He is now having a beer. Don’t blame him.

I will have to have a look what he is towing all this with.

John
 
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Mar 14, 2005
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A few vans away from us an inflatable awning just exploded. It was quite a bang. Not just the bladder, it ripped out the stitching on the canvas casing. The dog inside was not happy!

The resoursful owners of the twin axle van immediately scrapped the awning , saying not cost effective to repair. (I don’t know how old it was). Over the last hour he has replaced it with a wind canopy and two large windbreaks they had on board. He is now having a beer. Don’t blame him.

I will have to have a look what he is towing all this with.

John
He can probably manage now with an 850cc mini!
 
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Our Suncamp 260 whilst I was inside blew. It was the pressure inside, the outer covering which is zipped had parted company. It really made me jump. Was easily put back together.
 
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It happened to us with a Kampa. We had just taken our 4 year old grandson home, and arrived back at the site to be told it had gone with a helluva bang. It ripped an enormous rent through all three layers.

The youngster would have been terrified had it happened an hour earlier.
 
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Mel

Mar 17, 2007
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Our Kampa similarly went bang and ripped through layers of canvas. Or the canvas ripped at a seam and caused the air tube to exit its sleeve and go bang- not sure what caused what; the stitching was looking dodgy before the bang. Whatever, at 8 years old, it was definitely beyond economic repair.
Mel
 
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Our Kampa similarly went bang and ripped through layers of canvas. Or the canvas ripped at a seam and caused the air tube to exit its sleeve and go bang- not sure what caused what; the stitching was looking dodgy before the bang. Whatever, at 8 years old, it was definitely beyond economic repair.
Mel
This the big issue with air awnings. A traditional awning at half the price can last many years more than most air awnings. Would you be happy to buy a 8 year old air awning even if it looked to be in good condition as you have no idea of whether it has bene stressed or not i.e. over inflated?
 
Jan 3, 2012
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A few vans away from us an inflatable awning just exploded. It was quite a bang. Not just the bladder, it ripped out the stitching on the canvas casing. The dog inside was not happy!

The resoursful owners of the twin axle van immediately scrapped the awning , saying not cost effective to repair. (I don’t know how old it was). Over the last hour he has replaced it with a wind canopy and two large windbreaks they had on board. He is now having a beer. Don’t blame him.

I will have to have a look what he is towing all this with.

John
Hi John did you check to see what he towing it with ?
 

Mel

Mar 17, 2007
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This the big issue with air awnings. A traditional awning at half the price can last many years more than most air awnings. Would you be happy to buy a 8 year old air awning even if it looked to be in good condition as you have no idea of whether it has bene stressed or not i.e. over inflated?
Sorry, probably wasn’t clear. We had owned it for 8 years, used it regularly including 2 spells of being left up for weeks at a time on a seasonal pitch ( not something that they are designed for). A quality poled porch awning such as Dorema was easily the same price as we paid at the time of purchase and our air awning was much cheaper than a new poled Isabella. After going Bang, it went in a skip not owing us anything. I know not everyone has had this experience so I would not expect anyone to generalise from it. All I can do is speak from my own positive experience of Air awnings. Although I would agree that I wouldn’t buy one second hand. After all they may have left it up for weeks at a time on a seasonal pitch 🤔
Mel
 
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