Drive away awning

hi
Any recommendations for a drive away awning for an Autosleeper Kingham Fiat Ducato 2017 with an existing omnistor wind out awning. I am finding the search very confusing with all the different sizes and types.

We've got a Sunncamp Impact Motor Air 350 Driveaway Awning check it out at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
It's OK, the main plusses being:
 - the tunnel is wide enough to open the sliding door fully.
 - It slides into the groove on the Omnistor without any need for adaptor.
 - has a side entrance in the tunnel
 - whole of front can be removed if required
Main negatives:
 - It can be a bit of a faff erecting as there are 4 separate air tube to inflate - two main supports then insert two inflated cross beams held in place by velcro from inside.
 - Quite heavy and large when stowed.

If the weather is fine we just use the omnistor with windblockers.

Cheers,
Nick

Nick, 

I’m intrigued by your comment.... ‘it slides into the groove on the Omnistor without any need for adaptor’.  
Unless it’s an entirely different set up to my Kampa, I can’t picture how you would release the awning once it’s pegged down, should you want to drive off for the day.

Ken.

Smithy, 

I use a Kampa Travel Pod Motion Air XL, which is easy to put up and take down, having only 2 inflation tubes. It is excellent quality and has a removable groundsheet, which some sites insist on.
It is very sturdy when standing alone and I’ve left it in some strong winds, while I’ve been off site.

There are however two downsides for me. 

Like many air awnings and unlike Nick’s, it doesn’t fully clear the open sliding door, so I have to be careful when I open the door fully, to ensure the top corner of the door, passes the end of the awning without snagging.

The tunnel that connects to my wind out awning is too baggy and allows rainwater to pool.
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Yes sorry Ken, you spotted my deliberate mistake, we generally don't drive away so don't often use the interlocking strip.... 

Nick

NickJW wrote:Yes sorry Ken, you spotted my deliberate mistake, we generally don't drive away so don't often use the interlocking strip.... 

Nick

I was hoping there was a new method that would allow me to do away with my connecting strip and tighten the flappy tunnel up a bit 

We have been through 3 awnings with our Kingham, one from the old van, then an air awning and settled on the Khyam Motordome Dub Hub XL. It is so much easier to erect and take down than the air awning ever was, and it gives full clearance for the sliding door to open fully. There is a good connecting tunnel, all panels are removable or as mesh, it’s a really good piece of kit!
It does take up a little more room whilst travelling, but we only take it if we know it will be used, so it is first off the van and up soon.

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We also use a Kampa Travel Pod Air XL & we also found it caught on the sliding door & the tunnel roof part flapped annoying in the wind.  We now leave the tunnel part wrapped up & set the awning up in the vicinity of the side door & if it rains we wind out the Omnistor a couple of feet to provide shelter when going from van to awning.  It's annoying as could have just bought an inflatable tent lol

Col

Vango kela lll for us. Heavy to transport but otherwise meets our needs. Joining section is a bit flappy but it’s still useful to use. We use figure 8 in three parts which makes unjoining and rejoining even easier. It does however slide along awning rail in strong winds.....awning stops didn’t work so we secure both ends to the ground using the supplied strom straps clipped in to each end.....mega secure in all weathers.

Think a bout how you use the awning. We would only use for stops of more than 2 nights.

Kela III for us too - and echo the comments above.  It too doesn't clear the door if you want a good weather seal down the sides of the van, but we aren't that bothered about that.  In very high winds (as in roofs blown off factories which we saw in Austria in the spring I disconnected it from the van and rolled the connecting bit up and left it to it's own devices - it was blown pretty much flat a couple of times in 80mph++ winds but popped back up when the gust had passed and was absolutely fine.  Great bit of kit.