Caravan Awnings

Caravan Awnings typically differ from motorhome awnings and campervan awnings in several key areas:

• They are designed to provide a complete"enclosed room" to almost double your living space whilst on holiday, as opposed to merely a roll-out sun/rain cover; and
• They are designed to be left erected and enjoyed for weeks, or even months, at a time. They can generally cope with everything that the weather throws at them during this period whether that be strong winds or heavy rain); and
• Caravan awnings will often get more "knocks" in use than a campervan/motorhome product, in addition to more exposure to harsh sun and damaging UV, and because of this need for increased durability they are generally made from heavier materials.

Almost all caravan awnings are designed to be permanently fixed to the caravan when in use. This not only provides excellent weatherproofing between caravan and awning but also provides useful extra stability for the awning. The awning must obviously be able to cope with caravans, and caravan rails, at a range of different heights.

The traditional approach to supporting a caravan awning is to use a tubular frame, much like a frame tent or garden gazebo. In many cases, the poles will be steel (making them both heavy and rust prone), or aluminium (which is lighter but less tolerant of abuse). In some cases, the poles may be fibreglass, but this can often result in a less sturdy awning. Regardless of the frame structure, it's job is to hold the awning skin in place. It must keep it taught, to ensure good water runoff, and be able to withstand strong winds across its entire surface area. It can sometimes take quite a while to put the frame together when you arrive at a campsite, but no matter how tired you are it's normally one of the first jobs that need doing.

The much more modern approach to erecting a caravan awning is to have the inner frame and outer skin as one integral unit and to construct the frame itself from air-filled beams. Vango has pioneered this technology with its ingenious AirBeam caravan awnings, or AirAwnings as they refer to them. The result really is a far quicker awning to erect, meaning a far less stressful start to your time on a campsite, because the whole awning goes up as a single unit in a matter of minutes courtesy of a few strokes on a double-action air pump that Vango supplies with every caravan awning it sells. Best yet, the technology was perfected on Vango AirAway campervan awnings (where time and convenience really is of the essence) before being rolled out onto caravans in February 2014.

We are proud to be stocking and selling the full range of Vango AirAway Inflatable Caravan Awnings and accessories.