Caravan Club Mag - Roll Out Blinds article

[anotherDavid]

The August edition carries an article entitled "Blind date" on the subject of roll out blinds as an alternative to a conventional awning.Thes astonishing advice in the article is to remove it each time the caravan is towed to another location in case it pulls the awning rail off. From this it is quite obvious that the author has never used one. We use both i.e the Fiama for shorter stays and the awnning proper when we settle ourselves down for a couple of weeks or more and know from experiance that it is no mean task removing the bag, mainly due to the hight it has to be held up to feed into the rail. He also fails to offer any sugestion as to where it will be travelling (presumably in the van)
We have towed our van over 40K miles without the Fiama causing any any problems and have yet to see anybody but us ever take it off on a site .
Is this just a motorhome enthusiast being allowed to talk rubish about caravans?

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Hi another David,
Am inclined to agree that the Club's advice is ultra cautious. Just interested to find out whether Fiamma offers any advice in the paperwork that comes with the awning on whether to leave it attached in transit?

Regards

 

[DavidKlyne]

We used one on our Eccles Topaz for several years without any adverse effects. They don't even move in transit either. How do I know that. Well when we were on a coastal site it was flapping a little so I rolled up some foam washing up cloths and placed them under the rolled up Caravanstor. They were still there when we got back to MK having started out from Newcastle!
David

 

[Guest]

While I accept it could be considered unrealistic to remove the bag each time, one should give thought to the fact that this is a quite heavy weight that is attached to the van merely through the awning rail which in turn is held on by smallish screws. This weight is also at the top of the van so will be exacerbated on turning corners, which again could exert a lot of force against the holding screws.

I think that thought and care is what the CC were trying to put across.

Of course anyone who has one has taken into account that this is part of the payload, and reduced other items accordingly???

 

[NigelDonnelly]

Of course anyone who has one has taken into account that this is part of the payload, and reduced other items accordingly???

Goes without saying...

 

[Guest]

Why do you think I put ??? at the end? If any of the many caravanners I have seen on sites are to be considered, virtually none of them either had any idea of the payload issue, or if so, ignored it. If it went in the van somewhere, it was ok as far as they were concerned. If a manufacturer puts lockers in a van then the owner is entitled to fill them to the brim and of course fill the floor with other items.

Possibly something you as an editor could highlight in your tests.

 

[NigelDonnelly]

One of the biggest problems of caravans getting bigger is the fact that people want to fill them with stuff. An underbed locker in a fixed bed van looks a very inviting place for an awning for example...
We're looking into a feature on replating caravans shortly but at present, many caravanners wouldn't have a clue where to get a caravan weighed or indeed, what it would mean if they did.
We are making an effort in magazine to make sure caravanners are as aware of the safety of their outfit as they are what size fridge, what layout and which upholstery it has in it.

 

[Guest]

Replating caravans has only a limited market as many caravans are sold with a MTPLM which equates to the maximum weight allowed by the chassis maker, so no upgrade possible., unless you indulge in a very costly change out of the axle rubbers.

What I find basically incomprehensible is that many manufacturers will happily sell vans when they know full well that to take even an average amount of equipment, will overload the van, but as long as it sells, they do not care. This is an area where magazines such as yours have been negligent in ignoring the obvious, and one has To assume this is due to commercial pressures. I noted an article recently in a sister magazine on a 4 berth motorhome where the magazine decried the'low payload of 350 kg' but did state a chassis upgrade was available to increase this to 600 kg. Now if a motorhome magazine feels that 350 kg is too low for a 4 berth motorhome one can only wonder at how they would view a caravan for 4 people with a payload of less than 200 kg. One could of course argue that some weight can be put in the tow car, but even here a maximum of 200 kg is probably the very tops.

If just one caravan magazine would actually test a van realistically, not just runoff to the pub for meals, thereby conveniently ignoring whether the so called extensive kitchen actually works and used a nominal payload per berth, then possibly when a manufacturer saw that their product was basically described as 'unsafe for use' then they might get their acts together and produce things that do work. Of course it is possible that the designers are 'born again nudists' and do not see any necessity to carry any clothes.
Based on my 30 plus years of caravanning and motorhoming with family. and without, I would easily recommend that a 2 berth van has a minimum payload of 100 kg per berth, a 4 berth 75 kg per berth and a 6 berth similarly. Anyone who says that kids are smaller has absolutely no idea of the amount of clobber a child requires. These weights should exclude 90 kg for awnings gas bottles etc.

Now show me the number of vans that meet that criteria that are currently available.?

Sorry for the outburst, but the frustration boiled up. Many caravanners try to justify their overload by stating they are only travelling a few miles to the site. No, they know full well they are overloaded but deliberately choose to sidestep it.

 

[WatsonJohnG]

We also have used the Fiamma for years and towed to Spain etc
We now have the Omnistor 2000 bolted on the door side and the Fiamma Caravanstor Zip on the off side as "THE SHED"when on long holidays
Its quite common these days to see the longer wind out awnings bolted onto caravan sides especially in Europe

 

[JonnyRockstar]

I thought one of the main buying points of the Fiamma and similar products is that they can be eft in-situ whilst travelliing.
The Fiamma brochure says as much - also what would be the point of the 2 awning rail blockers which come with the product ?