We have the OR compactalite which is a very very well made awning, and wonderfully sturdy no matter what the weather and gales throws at it. It is smart to the extent that I think it is by far and away one of the better looking awnings on a park.
But, my god its heavy. About 25kg compared to our Star camp which is 19Kg. The awning and the poles take up a lot of space in the car. We carry the outside stuff in the car when travelling out and the reverse when travelling home. However, the poles have to remain in the car otherwise, with all the other outside stuff in the van, it would be overloaded if we also put the poles in the van. When we take our son away with us we take the Starcamp with us as it is lighter and takes up so much less room, which we need for his stuff!!! So, have a good look at the size, weight and shape of both awnings and consider how you would fit them in the car or the van.
As for its erection, when you say "OR can most definitely be erected by just OH - I hope so anyway " do you know that it can be? It takes both of us to erect the OR whereas I can pop up the Starcamp on my own in less time than it takes my OH to sort out the inside of the van when we arrive on site. It tends to be the interior poles which are the trickiest bits to get right. Takes nearly an hour to get the OR properly erected. Nothing much else to do when on site so we don't mind that as the end result is a much more attractive awning.
The internal curtains or blinds on the OR are white and of a material which will let the light in but no one can see in. The Starcamp has dark coloured internal curtains so that if they are drawn during the day, for shade, you are in the dark. With the OR inside curtains zipped into place you get plenty of light for reading but the benefit of shade if that sun is too strong. The OH has an alergy to strong sun so she often needs the curtains drawn. Just something to consider, which we find most useful with our OR.
We bought the poles for the back pads and the pole for the roof. Don't use them though. We have the 390 length and at the front it comes down the middle of the lounge window and, with the bow of that window, the pad poles has to be at an angle so its pretty much useless. Anyway, without the poles the awning fits snug enough to the van. So, leaving the Pad poles at home saves on weight and space.
We found that no matter how much care we took erecting it, using the roof ploes we always had a dip in the roof between awning rail and that internal roof pole. That always collected water and weighed the roof down. That in turn would pull on the awning rail. So we left the roof poles out to see what happened and the roof drained as it shoud, do. No more ponding. There was no detriment to the appearance of the awning omitting those roof poles. Again, leaving the roof poles at home saved on weight. If you go for the OR don't spend money on the pad and roof poles until you have used the awning just to see if you actually need them.
Bibbster, I see that you are in Norfolk. We got our OR from Norwich leisure at Brundall and it was the best price we found anywhere.
Hope these personal views help.
Phil
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If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
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Topic: Outdoor Revolution v kampa rally
