Spread out with awnings

In an earlier post I observed that one way to get extra space was to attach an awning to the side of the van.

There are several approaches to this and that is a wide range of awnings available. In fact, if you search on the Internet to for ‘motorhome awning’ or ‘caravan awning’ you will see there is massive choice of styles, ranging from a simple sun canopy to a large add-on tent.

Simple sun canopy

Which of these you choose will depend on what you want to use it for. A simple sun canopy is useful for shade, and if it’s waterproof it can also allow you to keep the motorhome door open when it’s raining without the rain getting inside.

However, if you’re looking for extended eating and sleeping space then the large tent option will be what you are looking for. Most of these require more than one person to put them up, though, so that is also something to bear in mind.

The tent versions tend to have a ‘corridor’ between the van door and the tent itself. Some of these ‘corridors’ will have separate side doors for accessing the van without passing through the tent. So it’s worth investing quite a bit of time in looking at all the possibilities and seeing what suits your needs and pocket.

 

In all cases, the method of attachment to the motorhome is going to be particularly important. Some awnings need to remain attached to the motorhome to stay up, while others can be detached so you can drive away in the van and leave the awning to reserve your space on the site. The latter are referred to as the drive-away awnings.

There are also magnetic connectors that fit to the awning on one side with a magnetic connection to the motorhome – though make sure you have a suitable steel area and are not trying to connect it to non-magnetic fibre glass.

Connections

The most common point of attachment to the van is either to a rain gutter on the van or a specially designed awning rail (aka awning channel) attached to the side of the van above the side door.

If your motorhome doesn’t already have one of these, the rail can be purchased separately and screwed on the van. As it can be quite fiddly to hold the rail steady while drilling the holes, selecting a make that has an adhesive backing strip to temporarily hold it in place can make the process much easier.

On the awning, there will be a beading cord that fits inside the awning channel, so that you can slide this from one end to the other to join the awning to the side of the van.

If this is a direct connection to the van you will be unable to drive the van away without taking the awning down.

Figure of eight connector

With a drive-away awning there is a connecting device between the awning and the motorhome that can be removed without needing to move either the awning or the van. If you are connecting to a rain gutter this is in the form of a plastic figure of eight that connects on one side to the beading on the awning, and on the other side to the rain gutter. You simply detach the plastic figure of eight from the rain gutter and leave it attached to the awning.

Double beading strip

If you are connecting to an awning channel you will also need a double beaded strip as an interface between the figure of eight and the awning channel. This slides out when you need to separate the two.

With all of these it’s important to be aware what size of beading and awning rail you are using so they all fit together.

If you find you have a quite narrow beading that is a lot smaller than the internal diameter of the awning channel you can slide a thin piece of rubber, rope or other material into the channel to make a tighter fit.

Whilst the types of connection described above are the neatest and most common it is also possible to cobble something together by using ropes connected to the van side of the awning and pulling these over the top of the van. Where this is a tent awning with a corridor, this pulls some of the corridor section onto the roof of the van. It’s not ideal but can work.

Hardstandings, awnings and tough tent pegs

If you book a hardstanding on a campsite (as opposed to a grass pitch) you may find the campsite insists that the awning is also on the hardstanding, rather than on the adjacent grass. This is to prevent the grass being killed by prolonged periods of shading.

If this is the case and you have the type of awning that needs to be pegged into the ground you will need extra strong tent pegs to get through the hardstanding. Most sites sell these but it’s generally cheaper to buy them elsewhere before you get to site.

Freestanding tents 

Another option is to have a separate tent that is erected next to the motorhome. This doesn’t have the benefit of a direct access corridor, and some sites will charge extra for this, but it’s a way of getting round using a connected awning.