Draught skirt - keep it in place

[Mark31415]

About to go away for a few days just as the weather drops to bloomin' freezing. We have a modern Elddis Xplore with a Kampa awning. In the summer the draught skirt was pretty much just to stop the bigger creatures getting in and to make it all look a bit prettier. In the cold it's got to earn it's keep.

How do you stop it sagging at the wheel-arch? We have one of those kampa storage wheel cover things with sucker limpets which uses a figure-eight strip to sort of hoist it up a bit but it's not brillient and it obstructs most of the fridge vent and tends to come unstuck. Fridge less of an issue than the summer but ideally want it to work.

The problem seems to be that the skirt slips too easlily along the track. What tips do the old-hands have to add a bit of friction when fitted yet not make it a pain to slide in in the first place. Just wedge in a bit of rawl plug, crimp it a bit at the end of the travel or anyone got a smarter idea?

 

[woodsieboy]

We have made a free standing wheel arch shape in thin plywood that stands inside the wheel arch and it has the figure of eight screwed in the middle, feed the skirt through the channel on the caravan, through the wheel arch panel and through the back part of the caravan channel, peg at either end, skirt stays in place and the panel stops draughts.Ours is painted white and has the caravan namer attached as well.

 

[Mark31415]

Would work but too much wood work for the odd over-nighter.....

 

[Mel]

You can buy a solid wheel arch cover made of plastic. Forgot the name of the supplier. Begins with J I think. Overpriced for what it is but does the job. Has a figure of 8 plastic rod with it that holds the skirt. Otherwise I have punched a hole at the top of the skirt, near the beading at each end of the skirt and then put guy rope though each hole pull the skirt taut and tie to a corner steady front and back( you need to limbo a bit) . You can peg the guy ropes down into the ground instead but if you do this at too steep an angle you can pull the draught skirt out of the rail.
Mel

Just googled the solid cover. It is called Draught Stoppa by Jaid Designs ( knew there was a J somewhere :cheer: )

 

[audiorob]

Edited as this was a link that failed - I searched ebay for 'Kampa Limpet System' and found 8 for 19.75 in the list!

Could you use these Kampa Limpets to hold the awning skirt taut against the van side?

 

[emmerson]

Clip the skirt and the wheel arch cover together with spring clothes pegs.

 

[Thingy]

On Ebay, I found some suckers with a button/knob at the bag. On some of my covers, I drilled out the press studs and popped eyelets in, and the suckers buttons are just the right size to push through and they hold really well. The other type I have used are these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/40mm-Thumb-Screw-Suction-Cups/dp/B008B7XE7U
or
https://www.amazon.co.uk/approximately-Standard-Mushroom-Suction-rubbersuckers/dp/B01D1S6RUY/ref=sr_1_12?s=officeproduct&ie=UTF8&qid=1540572750&sr=1-12&keywords=suction+cups

The second link is the one with the buttons.

Could you use these Kampa Limpets to hold the awning skirt taut against the van side?

I found the limpets to be a waste of time, they are very flimsy and break quite easily.

Your other option is the Isabella type which is the one i currently use. See
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c2O1hgeJr0

 

[Mandarin]

I recently saw someone use a guy rope at each end to keep it taught, not had a chance to try it yet but it looked simple and effective

 

[Thingy]

On the Kampa awnings they do have a rope at each end to tie to the chassis of the caravan. What i have found is a steel version of the mushroom pegs that will allow you to peg the draught skirt nicely, even on a hard standing.

 

[JTQ]

I crudely scrung up my awning pole bag and use this tucked into the gap between the wheel and the wheel arch trapping the draft skirt tight against the wheel there. It's one of those poly something grey fabric bags Isabella use and so not unduely affected by this, well not for the last 18 years so far with this awning.
Works very well and just a few minutes task and finds a readily available "home" to store the bag where it is to hand when needed for its intended duty. Nothing more to carry, that is always a big plus in de-cluttering this hobby where adding more and more things seems endemic!

 

[Harby]

I bought one of these (the twin axle version) for our Bailey twin axle - https://www.campingandleisure.co.uk/isabella-bailey-alutech-wheel-arch-cover-4-models.html as I was struggling with the same issue. Surely Isabella must make them for other caravan brands too? Fits like a glove and looks very smart too

 

[chrisn7]

The Isabella system in the link is probably the neatest. If you have a TA though they supply 2 rods to slide into the channel, which is ridiculously difficult unless you have 3 hands. I replaced this with a single rod from a shop that sells blinds. Once you find the right height for the upper part, mark its position at the channel with an indelible mark at each end, for next time
Its the same with the figure of 8 moulding - replaced that with a single piece too to stop bending at the original join.

 

[Thingy]

Harby, the Isabella option is universal. Good for any awning or caravan.

 

[Mark31415]

With a very cold wind we had a chance to experiment over the weekend. Using the Kampa wheel cover pocket thing limpeted to half covert the fridge vent (was not needing to work 100% efficiently as it was close to zero outside) it covers the wheel gap but "gapes" across the lower awning rail. And, over time teh short side wonders towards the wheel arch to add more gaping. 2 x 6" strips of gaffa tape worked perfectly. Keepin' it simple.

 

[bertieboy1]

Hi Harby,
We used a wheel arch cover that came with one of our awnings.The cover is secured to the van by suckers with hooks.(no need to drill holes on the van,just needed to make holes on the cover).With the skirt behind the cover it doesn't matter if the skirt sags.

 

[rpbert1]

Why not buy a thin piece of white corrugated plastic, very cheap and light and cut with scissors or Stanley knife for the shape you want and should also slip into the figure 8 or have it free standing

 

[Tuningdrew]

We use the Isabella wheel cover on our TA, not found the two rods to be a problem but have replace the two figure of eight pieces with one longer piece that runs right across the gap between the two exit points in the skirt rail which stops it gaping at either end. I've found by pegging the skirt down tight to the ground with the little mushroom headed pegs it doesn't move at all.