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Topic: Awning life span

Wedgy3

25/9/2013 at 4:57pm
Location: West Yorks
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Been looking at a Kampa pro awning with a view to purchase the Pro Air model at the NEC. A bit surprised to be told these awnings have a relatively short life span ie 20/30 weeks ? I don't mean we will leave the awning up for that length of time but that could be the total amount of days usage it could give. Does anyone have this model awning or anything similar and if so how long has it lasted?
Pete

Jack+Jon

25/9/2013 at 5:22pm
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If its made of the normal thin polyester tent material then the life span is reckoned to be around 16-20weeks total time erected particularly if it is exposed to a lot of strong sunshine. You know when it is on the way out, the material becomes crispy & eventually it will split.

Campers who use their tents for normal holidays probably 3-4wk/yr expect 4-6yrs use from a cheapish polyester tent.

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Wedgy3

25/9/2013 at 6:00pm
Location: West Yorks
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Hi J& J the material is double coated 300D weathershiel Oxford polyester. I assume the 300d is Denier Pete

millermicm

25/9/2013 at 8:19pm
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I would have thought 20/30 weeks represents many years service for most people using this type of awning. Even the 16/20 lifespan would be several year for most.

Lets say an average of 3 weeks away and 4 weekends for most per year = 5/6 weeks per annum. 16/20 liespan will give you 4/5 years for not a lot of initial cost.

Not Kampa but we left a sunncamp polyester up on a seasonal pitch once. It had been used for occasional use previous year but when we took it down from the seasonal pitch it just fell apart although ok until it was disturbed.

I felt we had our money's worth out of it.

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Steve

Jack+Jon

25/9/2013 at 8:20pm
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Its just a heavier grade polyester but still the same material as nylon tents are made from. Its basically a lightweight awning but the air tubes put up the price so its not that cheap. But this material is affected by UV light & deteriorates with time, hence the quoted lifespan depending on how strong the sunshine is. Therefore its not really suitable as a seasonal awning to be left up from March-Sept for example.

Very weather dependant though, in UK weather it might go a couple of seasons. In southern France probably only one.

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alpiner

26/9/2013 at 9:25am
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My Inaca Elba 1050 still has some life left in it after app 60 weeks use, 18 weeks in the last 2 years on a seasonal pitch, i keep telling myself to get a new one but every time i check it out, i dont find anything wrong with it, maybe next year.
If we are talking about the new lightweight awnings i would agree with the 20 weeks

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alpiner

Cross Camping

29/9/2013 at 4:19pm
Location: Hertfordshire
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I have a tent display and we find the nornal polyester tents (75 denier) last about 3-4 months. The 150 denier tents and porch awning will last the full 6-7 months before the fabric is on its last legs. The Kampa Pra Air is made from a 300 denier fabric which is similar to Kampa's traditional caravan awnings so going buy the lighter grade / denier fabrics I would think you should get about 12 months solid use out of a 300 denier fabric.
Vango are bringing out an inflatable awning in 280cm wide and 420 wide in a double rip stop 420 denier fabric but it has multi point inflation points so where the Kampa takes 2-3 minutes to inflate the Vango will take 5-6 minutes to blow up.
I hope this helps a bit and if you go to the Feb NEC show ill see you there on the Kampa stand.
Gary Cross

Mr wilson

29/9/2013 at 5:18pm
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Am I the only one who thinks this is appalling? For the amount that these things cost I'd be expecting a considerably longer life span. I have been looking at second hand ones on our favourite auction site but now I'm thinking that I'd be taking an unnacceptable risk, not knowing the usage history. Looks like I'll be sitting outside with my hood up!

Jack+Jon

29/9/2013 at 5:48pm
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As I ponted out in my earlier post, its the airtubes that makes an otherwise cheap awning expensive. The pole versions of the cheapest type of these lightweight awnings can be had for £200, for that price you would not expect to use these on a seasonal pitch & I would not say this type of awning is suitable for seasonal use anyway.

If the expected life is 12mths continuous then then users should get at least 6yrs use using this awning for its intended use, ie normal touring use which I suppose is reasonable.

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SamP

01/10/2013 at 8:45pm
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Being rather pessimistic (my Better Half does the chirpy optimism, so I'm left with the opposite role) I would imagine the usable life of these inflatables will be fairly short anyway.

How long before you get a tiny leak in one of the air tubes and the thing slowly deflates?

You might have a repair kit, but finding the !"£$£$%& leak will be pretty hard since you can't submerge the whole thing in a bucket of water & look for bubbles.

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SamP

Jack+Jon

01/10/2013 at 9:09pm
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If you read reports on the tent forum about airbeam tents they don't look that good. The concept works on the massively expensive Dutch Karsten tents & awnings. However built down to the sort of price us Brits are prepared to pay, long term viabilty looks suspect. Time will tell I guess.

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Cross Camping

01/10/2013 at 10:02pm
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It really isn't a big problem, I've sold loads of awnings and tents and I've had two slight issues with beams which were replaced within a few days. If you do have a problem its easy to just zip out the tube with the issue, put it in a sink like a bike inner tube and patch it up. Unless you have worked with these types of tent and awnings or have seen them up close its very hard to get a good idea of how good they are.

Wedgy3

01/10/2013 at 10:40pm
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Well said Gary. Some very negative views have been expressed on this thread and I for one will be purchasing an air beam awning. Some people are afraid of change me thinks, listen to the voice of an experience dealer who knows his stuff. Pete

Jack+Jon

02/10/2013 at 4:45am
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The fact remains that if the tubes deflate during one's trip it is going to cause serious inconvenience, there is some evidence that they do & these tents have no record of longevity because they are new, it remains to be seen if 5yrs down the line these tents/awnings are still giving reliable service, for the price of them they should do

All that has been posted on here is the facts, that is the length of time the polyester material lasts & opinions based on the evidence available so far. theres no change to be afraid of, these type of tents & awnings have been available for yrs for those prepared to pay £2k+ & if you do buy a Karsten it should last half a lifetime but as pointed out, it remains to be seen if the concept built down to a more affordable price is viable long term.

If the op has already made up their mind then they can be reassured by the posts on this thread that they can empathise with.

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Wedgy3

02/10/2013 at 9:06pm
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AMEN

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