We had a wake up call when we tried to buy an awning at the end of last year. We went cheap and what a mistake it was. The awning we bought was actually from a company that has a respected name in the motorhome conversion market but their product was seriously bad.
We decide to ’practise’ in the back garden first. The day was dry with just the lightest hint of a breeze. It took two of us to slide the poles into the sleeves and then try to put up the tent. Sometime during this process the whole tent overturned, apparently pushed by the breeze, and bent one of the longest poles beyond use! Trying to put it up with two people was incredibly difficult. And, we broke it! Eventually we managed to send that awning back, arguing that it was not fit for purpose!
We did not want to make the same mistake again so, with a little more research, we settled on the Kyham Motordome Classic. This cost a little more but at £275 from Outdoor Megastore (still very cheap compared to caravan awnings), it was money well spent.
The awning can be erected easily by just one person. The poles are permanently fitted into the tent and it’s simply a process of unfolding them and clicking into place. It’s really just a question of walking three times round the tent, pulling the poles into place as you go.
Khyam make a range of awnings to suit different heights of van. Click Me! Ours is the ‘Classic’, which suits our ‘High Top’ perfectly. They do a taller model for Coach Builts and a new lower model for ‘normal’ roofed vans. All three are essentially the same design with the main difference being height. The ‘Tourer’ is a little smaller.
Having used the awning a couple of times already this year, I will point out the only fault I’ve found. The design would obviously suit a LHD camper better than our RHD. On the picture above, the opening facing the camera is a mesh screen. This opens from the outside because it would be behind that optional bedroom compartment. To the right is a large opening that can form a sun porch with the included poles. Finally, a ‘J’ door faces away from the camera. There are ‘windows’ in the big door facing right and on the ‘wall’ facing away from us.
My only complaint (and it’s only a small one), is that the awning is designed for the continent and their left hand drive vehicles. It would be slightly better if the ‘J’ door faced the front.
Connecting to the van can be done in a few different ways. There were three strips included in the bag. These are shaped like two C’s back to back or, a figure of eight with an open top and bottom. These slide onto the rope edging on the tent. On a van with a gutter, this would simply slot on. We had an ordinary caravan awning rail attached to the side of our high top and slot it into this instead. The final option is to pass a pole through the sleeve along the edge and then use suction clamps on the side of the vehicle. All of these are easy when you see it!! (pics will follow).
We think it was money well spent and we could well purchase some of the accessories that go along with it. These include: a bedroom compartment that attaches inside, a new heat insulator that fits over the centre of the top of the tent and a ‘tent tidy’, which also attaches inside. I’m also interested in their wind breaks!
Don’t buy from Kyham direct. Other places are cheaper!!
