Side mounted pull-out weather shelter

[Troll Hunter]

I'm looking for a side mounted rain canopy for a 110 to mount on a roof rack that will roll-up when not in use and can be expanded to cover a reasonable area when required.  Looking at most of what is advertised, a tarp and a couple of poles doesn't cut it!  So, any suggestions, please?

Mike

 

[Stellaghost]

I don't have much knowledge with regards to this however you can get Fiamma awnings that are used on motorhome's etc  in different lengths, pretty sure one would suit your purposes., Legs are incorporated with them, they basically wind out and wind in, you can also attach a safari room to them to give more indoor space, apologies if you already know about these regards Stephen

[reb78]

I have a basic 2mx2m awning on the 110. You can add sides and ground sheet if you want. It’s quick to put the awning up but is possibly too much like a tarp on poles for what you want?! There are 2.5x2.5 size ones but I got mine for a couple of hundred £ on a deal. 

Edited December 5, 2022 by reb78

[Northwards]

I have used a ‘tarp and poles’ - literally; and a proper awning. However I have indulged in a lot of “tarpology” - creating effective shelters in the outdoors. I usually do this during the spring/summer/autumn, but summer in the NW Highlands of Scotland can sometimes be a little unforgiving! If you’re trying to do an “outdoor learning” session for a group of 12 y/o then it’s important to keep them dry.

If I was looking hunker down through a storm or the like, then I don’t know that there’s much between an awning and a couple of tarps. Where a tarp has an edge is the ability to have it turn corners/change angles to suit the conditions in away that a fixed awning can’t. If you have sufficient mounting points, good ground for decent pegs, and the ability to do things like a tautline hitch you could make up a robust shelter - and it’s relatively cheap. One downside is that you need to come up with an individualised solution to each location.

That said, when camping in the Defender I really like the standard awning - as Stephen says, roll out the aluminium, drop out the legs and you’re there.

[FridgeFreezer]

4 hours ago, Stellaghost said:

you can get Fiamma awnings that are used on motorhome's etc  in different lengths, pretty sure one would suit your purposes

We've had one on the club events trailer for about a decade now and it's been an absolute godsend on s***ty days, it came to us 2nd hand so no idea how old it is but it's just starting to either need repair or replacement, and frankly we're not even thinking twice about just getting a new one as it's so good.

[Bowie69]

I have a Fiamma Caravanstore awning on my folding camper, it is lighter than the Omnistore and you just unroll it by hand, pull the poles out the end of the roll and put them in place. Takes about 2 minutes top put up.

It makes such a difference to the camping experience, wouldn't be without it. I'm temped to buy one of the walls you can get which would stop the wind on breezier days, but not actually got round to it, and I can of course go inside the camper anyway.

[Snagger]

Fiamma are good.  Caravan and camping suppliers are a better bet for this sort of thing than the 4wd suppliers as they make stuff to be practical, easy to use and robust enough to get lots of use.  The 4wd stuff is often heavy, takes time to set up and is all massively overpriced.  It might be worth finding some “vanlife” YouTubers to see what they have done - they tend to be quite creative.

[Peaklander]

We have a "4wd" awning on our 110 😀. It's a Howling Moon, and packs into a very neat optional box that is mounted along the side of the roof (which isn't standard), rather than the zip-up bag that is standard. It has two stiffeners back to the truck and two legs. I guy it down at the corners and also along the sides. For that I use crocodile jaw clamps onto the fabric.

I think because it's from South Africa, the fabric is very durable and it provides not only shade but very effectively blocks the heat, really working as a proper protector against the sun.

 

[reb78]

@Peaklander-thats pretty much the same as mine. Use it in a similar way too with my roof tent. 

[FridgeFreezer]

Here's the Shire LRC one doing sterling service in a muddy field - it suffers a fair bit of abuse being taken down & crammed into the trailer every event and it's survived many many outings to places like Seven Sisters where there's been strong winds & thrashing rain as you can see from how quickly @miketomcat is moving

[elbekko]

I had a quick google of the Fiamma stuff, and nearly fell off my chair price-wise.

I still don't get how a bag, a tarp, a roll, and some aluminium poles are worth that much money. For the 270° awnings I somewhat get it, there's some R&D involved there, but still...

Might be cheaper and easier to just carry and easy-up partytent. Comes with sides too.

[Bowie69]

@FridgeFreezer, that looks very like the Caravanstore one I have, slides into an awning rail?

 

@elbekko, like most things, quality costs I'm afraid..... in fact I struggle to think of any other .eu vehicle awning manufacturers.

[Stellaghost]

25 minutes ago, Bowie69 said:

@FridgeFreezer

@elbekko. in fact I struggle to think of any other .eu vehicle awning manufacturers.

Thule also make them, slightly cheaper than Fiamma regards Stephen

[FridgeFreezer]

1 hour ago, Bowie69 said:

@FridgeFreezer, that looks very like the Caravanstore one I have, slides into an awning rail?

Correct, the bag it's sewn in to slides into a rail, you unzip the bag & unfurl the thing, the legs & brace bars pull out & fold out from in the "roller" part, it's very neatly self-contained.

[miketomcat]

The shire one is over 10 years old it's been on TJ's 130, my 110 and the club trailer. It's been blown up and over my 110 when the wind caught it. The height and width poles collapse then rotate and slide into the length pile, then you just roll it up into the bag.

Mike

[Bowie69]

Yep, mine may have been wrapped over the roof on one occasion too....

Very sturdy things though, total repair time was 5 mins and a drill, and a pop rivet.

[landroversforever]

Grandparents last fiamma was only replaced as the switch caravan to motorhome brought with it a permanently mounted one with it. But the previous one went through at least 3 caravans and they might as well have gypsy status they spend that much time away! Only issue was a guy line needing to be replaced but they reckoned it had rubbed against the bikes.

[Troll Hunter]

Thank you all for your contributions and experience.  It seems that Fiamma is the top choice, is hard-wearing, but tends to be expensive.  Considering the relatively light use any canopy will have on our road trips I think that we'll probably stay with the "tarp , two poles and some guy ropes" version, despite my original reluctance.  

Mike

[Northwards]

It's funny to see a reply to this right now, as it's been at the back of my mind for the last wee while. I'm currently leaning towards a "glorified tarp" option.

I almost always have a roof bar right at the back of the car. I think I'll mount a 'C' or 'Keder' rail to that roof bar, and sew the cord attachment bit onto a piece of tarp. That will give a good, quick fixing to the car, and then just tension out with a couple of poles. 

If I'm feeling very fancy I might add some 'sides' to this which I can roll up out of the way, or even put two more poles in to create more shelter. If I get a chance I'll do up a quick sketch for this. I think it would be easier than the 'full on' tent I was planning to make, and provide more or less exactly the same functionality.

 

[Chambo110]

I made a side addition out of 25mm box and the push in connector thingys..covered in a waterproof and wind proof very tough material.. I’ll dig out a link to it..lasted well for a good few years, even the NC500. 
I then changed to a Vango side awning for a more “pro” look. 
I went with the poled version but now wish I hadn’t been so tight and gone for the pump up air version.

good thing with the Vango is that you can leave kit in it, detach from vehicle and clear off for the day in the truck.

[Northwards]

When we were on our way south last June we were camped next to a group who had 2 VW campers. One had a traditional pole style awning; one had an air pole version.

It rained hard in the night - even our awning collected quite a puddle. In the VW group, the poled awning wasOK; the air one completely flat to the ground. It looked like the ‘poles’ were still inflated Ok, they just hadn’t been able to cope with the weight of water.

[Snagger]

I can see the temptation of fast-erecting awnings and tents - I have some Quechua tents with flexible rods that fold up, no poles.  But they do seem less rigid.  I imagine inflatable supports to be even less robust in bad weather, and there is also the concern over punctures.  Conventionally poled tents are a nuisance for assembly and disassembly, but for a “base location” that will stand for a few days at a time rather than very short periods, they do have significant advantages.

[landroversforever]

7 minutes ago, Snagger said:

I can see the temptation of fast-erecting awnings and tents - I have some Quechua tents with flexible rods that fold up, no poles.  But they do seem less rigid.  I imagine inflatable supports to be even less robust in bad weather, and there is also the concern over punctures.  Conventionally poled tents are a nuisance for assembly and disassembly, but for a “base location” that will stand for a few days at a time rather than very short periods, they do have significant advantages.

With decent air pole tents they're far superior to poles. The trouble with anything is you get what you pay for. You've then got to take into account how stuff is put up. The very best tent can be scuppered by someone who doesn't put it up properly. In 10+ years of using airbeam tents I've not had a single puncture (and that's with the scouts using some of them too), but had several pole breakages in poor weather. Both kinds of tent can also suffer when the design of the tent is very ground dependent both in shape and strength. We did a winter camp with the troop and due to the delightful storm Dennis the ground was so wet that it wouldn't take the guy loadings which some of the slug shaped tents relied on. Cue a few damp scouts then sleeping in the building instead! The only tents that survived happened to be poled ones.... but only as they're all self contained and not reliant on the ground - just me ballast!

[hurbie]

1 hour ago, Snagger said:

 I imagine inflatable supports to be even less robust in bad weather, and there is also the concern over punctures.  

we have a company in the netherlands that makes stormproof (11BF) tent's for decade's , they are really bulletproof , and punctures hapen very rarely.

https://www.karstententen.com/inflatable-tents/introduction/the-concept/