Still dithering about Windblockers.......

Before I bought my Symphony , travelled and camped in a Fiat Doblo. Bought and tried several types of awning from a small fishing tent to a Quecha Base Seconds drive-away. Yep wasted money. I needed the living space with the Doblo especially for cooking/ washing, etc. One of the reasons I went down the AS route was living space. I don't really NEED an awning any more. However the van has a Fiamma Pro wind-out attached which I've still not tried. The only use of it to me would be if I purchased a set of Windblocker net panels. For staying at a campsite in summer for a few evenings would be great to have that outdoor shelter. But for wildcamping and the rest of the year, they would likely not get any use. I wonder if I'd be wasting more money ( and as no longer working have a lot less to waste ) by getting the windblocker panels. Ideally would like to see a van with them attached to get a feel for whether they would suit my needs. The beauty of the Windblockers is how little storage space they require when dismantled. Any ideas or opinions gratefully accepted

Hi Minniesmum
A few of the forum members have purchased windblockers, including myself, this will be my third year with my set orginally purchased for my 59 Symbol, mine have been tried and tested on lots of coastal sites and with stand alot of foul weather, like you, we prefer coastal sites and are ideal for away days along the coast to Whitby/Filey etc.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] very quick to set up and very light weight, fit into a shopping bag.

Boaby

burlingtonboaby wrote:Hi Minniesmum
A few of the forum members have purchased windblockers, including myself, this will be my third year with my set orginally purchased for my 59 Symbol, mine have been tried and tested on lots of coastal sites and with stand alot of foul weather, like you, we prefer coastal sites and are ideal for away days along the coast to Whitby/Filey etc.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] very quick to set up and very light weight, fit into a shopping bag.

Boaby

Excellent !! Thanks for the feedback Cath

Minniesmum wrote:

burlingtonboaby wrote:Hi Minniesmum
A few of the forum members have purchased windblockers, including myself, this will be my third year with my set orginally purchased for my 59 Symbol, mine have been tried and tested on lots of coastal sites and with stand alot of foul weather, like you, we prefer coastal sites and are ideal for away days along the coast to Whitby/Filey etc.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] very quick to set up and very light weight, fit into a shopping bag.

Boaby

Excellent !! Thanks for the feedback Cath

Your more than welcome Cath, nice to have some feedback

Happy camping Boaby

I go along with Boaby

Ours are now over 3 and have stood some stick !
We do however have light garden poles through the tapes on the sides, saves on pegging and Liz has extended the front panel ends with matching blue tape so we get less draught coming through the corners.

It doesnt take us much time to put up as we leave both top poles on the nets so speeding erection up. There is no weight in the nets and they fit in a supermarket sized carrier if I take the side poles out. Would still use them if I was on my own as they are easy to fit.

There is a picture of our van with the Windblockers on somewhere on this forum

Thanks again I'm going to try to get to one of the Motorhome shows early this year and hopefully will see some in action on display.

Hi Roli
I got a set of windblockers at the October show at NEC so have not used them yet. What sort of light poles do you use for sides and front to save all the pegging I had thought about the fibre glass tent poles with the shock cord in them or maybe aluminium tent poles.
Any advise greatly accepted
Thanks John

They are plastic covered aluminium fed through the bottom elastic pegging points, but fibreglass, ali, plastic conduit or cane would be fine

Cath,

Here's "Petal" with the Windblocker fully rigged. Not seen is the skirt that stops the wind whistling underneath the van and cutting you off at the knees!

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Here's a photograph from the inside.

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If we stay anywhere for more than two days "up she goes"!

Can recommend.

Best regards,

Ian

I just let my wind blow free - but that's another story

They look like a really good idea - I got a side blocker but have never, ever used it. The windblocker in the picture looks a much more practical bit of kit. Thanks Cath for starting the discussions -

I often wonder what sorta wind the awnings can take before they either pull out of the ground and flip over the roof, or if tied down with ratchet straps like some shown would the material rip on the awning itself ?
The windblocker does look like a good idea.

Just been on the phone to Lillypad and they will be at Harrogate Motorhome Show in March He said they are just about to launch some roll-up detachable waterproof non-see through membranes for the windblockers. A full set will double the bulk but he reckons the whole lot will still fit into a carrier bag

Robbie wrote:I often wonder what sorta wind the awnings can take before they either pull out of the ground and flip over the roof, or if tied down with ratchet straps like some shown would the material rip on the awning itself ?
The windblocker does look like a good idea.

Hi Robbie
As mentioned in my reply to Cath, the windblockers are fine in the wind, put storm staps onto the corners of your awning and fit your screens, they are designed to let some wind through the material.
Lillypad leisure have added to the product range to include wind skirts and wheel covers.
Boaby

Bought mine from the Shepton Mallet show.
They had an awning set up with a huge fan blowing wind at the awning.
On the inside of the awning right next to the fan they had a table with a lighted candle on, which hardly flickered.
That sold it to me.

Having said that, haven't used mine yet, but it's all folded up in a carrier bag!!

PB

Robbie wrote:I often wonder what sorta wind the awnings can take before they either pull out of the ground and flip over the roof, or if tied down with ratchet straps like some shown would the material rip on the awning itself ?
The windblocker does look like a good idea.

Hi there,

In Spain we had the Windblocker up as per the photograph and the wind hit at least a Force 6 gusting to Force 8 at times.

Lilypad say that they are NOT designed for gale force winds but to be honest we saw nothing that made us worry that it was going to pull out or strain the awning!

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Having said that:

o Each awning upright was held down with a hold-down plate and four "screwed rock-pegs".

o The awning itself was held down by tie-down straps.

o The Windblocker was secured with "screwed rock-pegs" on each "double" loop.

The only "negative" was that we became very aware that if we needed to take everything down before the wind dropped we would probably damage the awning! In the future we will probably take everything in but leave the pegs in place so that it can be put back up quickly.

Best regards,

Ian

PS It did rain quite heavily one night and it blew about 30cm into the area protected by the Windblocker. In view of this I think that the new "membrane" may be worthwhile; even if it is only on one end to protect anything that may be "rain sensitive" such as my drinking chair!

I thought leaving the pegs in was a good idea but Chris did severe damage to her toe on one. I bought a bag of cheap tennis balls to put on top of the pegs if I leave them out - trouble is that a lot of dogs think they are there to play with!!

Peter

Interesting comments, what still worries me a tad though is with no sides etc on the awning. If the awning legs are well anchored and also ratchet straps added to the edge of the awning so basically it will not move. If the wind get up would the awning material itself not get a hammering by flapping about or rip.
Never had one out in windy conditions as i've always been a bit wary of getting it destroyed though i,m beginning to think they can take a reasonable wind velocity, I assume gusty weather would be worse than a constant wind.

Robbie wrote:Interesting comments, what still worries me a tad though is with no sides etc on the awning. If the awning legs are well anchored and also ratchet straps added to the edge of the awning so basically it will not move. If the wind get up would the awning material itself not get a hammering by flapping about or rip.
Never had one out in windy conditions as i've always been a bit wary of getting it destroyed though i,m beginning to think they can take a reasonable wind velocity, I assume gusty weather would be worse than a constant wind.

Hi there,

The awning is wound back in against A) The straps holding it down. and B) The poles holding up the ends of the Windblocker.

This results in a very taut awning.

Ours still flapped about but it never looked like tearing which, bearing in mind that it is 14 years old, says a lot for Fiamma quality!

Best regards,

Ian

To protect the awning fabric don't extend to the end. Leave about 6" to 9" on the sprung roller in the cassette. so that as the van and awning move, the spring does the work and the fabric is not stretched. Angle the awning fron to back so that any rain runs off but even with that done, a large awning will need a central rafter to prevent 'ponding'

Peter

I must leave ours out in conditions a bit more breezy, I'll prob need to get a few of those ratchet straps with the lip to hook over the awning and look into some screw type anchors. Any links appreciated as to where to pick those up ?

Screws are no good on hard standings. I use and recommend steel storm pegs.

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Peter

Hi Minniemum

We have bought but not yet used the Lilypad Windblockers and they certainly take up very little room. Rather than buying the wheel cover and skirt I have made them from an old PVC covered table cloth. With your sewing skills I am sure you could make them for virtually no cost as well. All I needed to buy was large eyelets as I already had a piece of clothes line. An old shower curtain would also be suitable and lighter.

Louise

Robbie wrote:I must leave ours out in conditions a bit more breezy, I'll prob need to get a few of those ratchet straps with the lip to hook over the awning and look into some screw type anchors. Any links appreciated as to where to pick those up ?

Hi there,

We use similar to these but in yellow.

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Make sure that the model you buy uses the hooks that slot into the channel at the front of the awning as some of them are designed to go over the "wind-out" arms and therefore cannot be used with the Windblocker.

On anything other than very loose sand I doubt if the pegs will pull out this side of a full on gale if they are put in at the correct angle (peg into ground at 45 degrees angle and strap to peg angle at 90 degrees) and the right way round (wide end of the "V" towards the awning).

To save you looking a prat when you trip up over them, I suggest that you also put something white on the pegs so that you see them at night! I have seen a few with those solar powered garden path lights hammered in alongside.

Best regards,

Cheers for the replies, seen some rock pegs on ebay and they do look the job

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must look a bit closer at our awning when we get the van back from peugeot, Awning isnt Fiamma so just need to check those straps will work with it.