Awning advice please

[kathyshack]

My Khyam Motordome broke in very high winds on Arran last week. I have decided to get it fixed and sell it on, as I think i would like something more sturdy. They're great to put up, but I don't think they offer the strength of the old fashioned frame awnings. I've had a variety of awnings since having the van. A small frame awning, tunnel awning,and the Khyam. I think the frame ones seem to be the most sturdy, but they do take up a lot of space in the van and are heavy. My friends have a really old orange one which they manage to store in the front of the hightop quite easily. Its not the biggest ever but does THE job when it comes to storing the kids car seats and chairs and stuff. I'm thinking something like this might be quite good for us. Just wanting a bit of advice about frame awnings, and how small they can be packed down and where you store them when driving etc. Ideally I'd like to store it somewhere all the time, and be able to put up relativly easily by one person if at all possible. If anyone has an old one they're wanting to get shut of, tip me the nod please.
Thanks in advance,
kathy

[Ian Hulley]

With respect Kathy the Motordome Classic is smaller and therefore lower to the wind, I did point this out to you when you and a couple of others bought the larger Excelsiors they were selling off as a 'special price'

Ian

[kathyshack]

With respect Kathy the Motordome Classic is smaller and therefore lower to the wind, I did point this out to you when you and a couple of others bought the larger Excelsiors they were selling off as a 'special price'

Ian

The motordome classic is smaller you are right Ian. The Exclesior is a bit higher, but no higher than my hightop and is designed in much the same way. ie a driveaway awning which I believe should stand up to the wind better than it does. I take your point about it having a larger surface area with it being taller, but I still feel that the Khyams are possibly not as strong as a traditional frame awning. Granted the wind was very severe, and a lot of tents where demolished during the storm, but from what I saw, the traditional frame awnings on the site I was at, held up well in the same conditions. Just my opinion. Oh just to add, the place i bought it from sell lots of khyams off at 'special prices' inlcuding the classics.
Kathy

[Ian Hulley]

but I still feel that the Khyams are possibly not as strong as a traditional frame awning.

You should have been at Blue Hills last May ... ours was litterally being forced across the field (Rich & Ang Newton were stood with me watching it) I swear it's how they are put up, cos our's was straining on it's guylines but the elastic loops allow play lessening the impact.

[kathyshack]

yeah i get what you're saying. Pitch mine as per the video. I reckon the elastic hoops do help, and they did appear to be doing as they are designed to. Both times mine has collapsed the actual metal pole higher up has snapped in 2 pieces. I was watching it this time, and wind was blowing the actual pole inwards.. I think the knuckle part way up is good to a certain extend to at taking the strain but it only really bends one way. With a storm like the one we had, where the wind is coming at all directions, the knuckle joint obviously didn't give enough as the actual metal pole itself literally sheared in 2 pieces. They are lightweight poles and not as strong as the metal poles in frame tents, which i think would have bent and still remained intact rather than shearing 2.

[toolsntat]

Perhaps we should be contacting Khyam and getting them to use us as "Timothy Testers" because we as a club must use awnings more than the average "Joe"

Mmmmmm, free awnings

[Ian Hulley]

The newer, bigger domes seem to have longer, thinner poles than ours ? Perhaps they're being made cheaper ... our's was £300+ 5 years ago now.

Ian

[Campcharlie]

just off topic for one post....

last year in the gower..the wind was givin it large and then some...we had our brand new awning from JK up and it was all over the place...eventually ripped...the campsite slowly emptied during the night as the rain had started aswell...we watched expensive tents and awnings flying..peeps just gave up in the end and left, minus many awnings and tents....anyway a few doors away from us there was a real cheap gazebo (im talking a tenners worth here) bending and whooshing all over...it was the only gazebo that stayed put through out this bad weather..just proves really that u can fork out squid loads and it doesn't mean it'll do the job any better than cheap crap ones.


Good luck in ur hunt Kathy..for sure summit will turn up

[mrs mininut]

We have the Kyham Motordome Tourer, I think it is the smallest they do, and never had any probs with it (touching wood ). The weekend before easter we were at a site near Bala in Wales and it was horrendous one night, gales, gusts, rain etc and it stood up really well. There was a transit on the site with all the mod cons you could possibly get (no expense spared, if you know what I mean) and the next morning, their drive away awning had totally ripped off the gutter, leaving the part fastened on the van, figure of 8 not sure, with part of awning attached to it and the rest of it flapping about on the rest of the awning didn't see what make the awning was so not much help there, sorry, but it didn't look like a cheap one to me. (quote Brid) Ours was still as it was the day before
I know it doesn't help your search and you have had a bad experience with them but I would personally recommend the Kyham, and it seems from other posts, that the smaller ones do their job well
Hope you find one soon

By the way, we are off to Arran again in a few weeks, taking our Kyham, so I might be back to eat my words Watch this space

[dirtygertie]

sorry you've had problems Kathy, our van originally came with a really old canvas type frane awning - although it was way sturdier than my kyham, there is no way I could put it up alone, it was difficult enough for me to lift out of the van it was so heavy!!!!

I presume the 'modern' frame awnings are of a similar design but with a lighter weight fabric? - haven't you got one, Brid?



for the record, we've had our kyham up in some pretty horrendus weather last year and even though at times it looked like it was going to be flattened it 'weathered the storm' very well - the storm that wrecked several tents on the site.
was yours attached to the van when it broke? if not, i don't know of any awning other than a very heavy & sturdy frame one that would be as stable without a van to lean on.

[Campcharlie]

I presume the 'modern' frame awnings are of a similar design but with a lighter weight fabric? - haven't you got one, Brid?

yep and its crap...if all 4 of us fart at the same time we have problems...if the dogs are with us and they fart aswell...for sure the awning blows over...but within saying that..there are advantages and disadvantages to all of the awnings...its just finding one that suits one's need i guess.

[mrs mininut]

Just a thought Kathy, reading the posts again, if you have the excelsior(sp), how do you attach it to your van I had the understanding, when we looked into buying ours, that the excelsior(sp) was designed for the large coachbuilt motorhomes which would obviously be designed to attach to the side of the motorhome (fig of 8 or pole and clamp or awning rail) a lot higher than on a T25, If this is the case, wouldn't the part that you attach to the side of your van be sloping downwards, putting more pressure on the poles, and be more inclined to 'flap' about in strong winds and to gather water. I might be wrong and I stand to be corrected, just a thought as I said
We paid £250 for our tourer, no deals or offers, straight from our local Yeomans store Didn't think that was bad

[dsa]

I got this one from just campers about five years ago its still in very good condition the pole bag is a bit heavey but ican put awning up by my self its very sturdy

[kathyshack]

Thanks guys for your comments. I do take your point about the excelsior being taller, but in the end it is a drive away awning and therefore you should be able to driveaway without the fear it will collapse. The awning never moved or raised off the ground once, so i don't think it had anything to do with the size of van it was attached to. The awning snapped on the second pole up on the straight corner near the front door. It snapped becasue the pole was bending inwards, and in the end it just gave in and snapped right through poking into the awning where my mum would have been. (and its quite sharp where it snapped in 2!) The storm was absolutley unbelievable to be honest, and it is possible that a frame tent would not have stood up much better. I am glad you are all happy with your khyams. I never meant this thread to become a slag off khyam awnings, it was more to ask for advice on what size type of frame awnings people had and where they stored them in the bus and whether they could put them up themselves really.
Thanks again,
Kathy

[lhd]

Frame awnings are stronger imho.
Not one blew down at the bashtie last year and it was very windy, just ask those who were there.
They are heavier and do take a bit more time to put up, to be honest I only use mine if going for more than a weekend.
You can put them up on your own though, I have too.
I have one of the JK ones and its pretty well made all though not as big as tunnel type.
Also you can buy tie down straps and the like to stop then blowing away which would be hard to fix to a flexible awning.
As for storing it, it's under my bed when not in use or right up against the back seat in my camer with the poles at the bottom when in transit,fits snugly even with a 3/4 size bed and rear seat.
Rob.