Vango Air Awning

Seeing  as you haven't had an Air Awning before, If your on site in the near future, why not ask a few fellow members who have them and have a good look at what they are using

FWIW, we are on our second Bradcot having upgraded it. were very pleased with it. but it's a personal choice 

Don't Vango use separate beams & have multiple inflation points? I chose Kango for its single inflation point.

Too many bursts or slow punctures observed on so called air awnings for me. Witnessed both issues in daughter's awning which proved expensive to replace but hope the technologies improve soon as the idea is good.

I have a Vango Varkala 420. It is well made, easy to erect and withstands high winds and rain.

We have suffered from no problems with punctures or bursts. The air tube is protected by a more robust outer tube.

My only experience of that awning was when I helped a friend with his new one. Compared with our Kampa, which has a single inflation point, and is inflated in 3 minutes with an electric pump - it seemed a lot of messing about having to inflate the tubes and roof beams separately. Unlike the previous comment, we have been using air awnings for 5 years and have never had a problem with them exploding - just make sure you stick to the recommended pressure and perhaps let a bit of air out if it’s really hot.

Compared with our Kampa, which has a single inflation point

agree with all points as above but single inflation point is a bummer if you should have a puncture in the leg with the only input valve, if you are unable to isolate this leg quickly the awning deflates and you are unable to inflate it again, I know from experience, however, Kampa did ship a new leg out to me in Spain within 5 days and it is fairly easy to insert the new leg which i think cost approx £75 including posting. Had my Kampa Air 390 for approx 4 years just the 1 blow out, inflate to 9 or 10 pds, more than sufficient.

I have a Kalari 3 and will give you my review but I will immediately caveat it with the fact that it's my 1st awning so I don't have any comparison.

So, in the spirit of succinctness, here's some bullets! :-

Pros:

- Quality of stitching & fabrics seems very good

- Easy to set up (in terms of complexity)

- The shape is ideal for us (2 adults, 1 small child)

- Lots of useful pockets and places to hang up dirty shoes etc

- Looks great - definitely gives me that 'proud' feeling seeing it set up

- Very sturdy & great and keeping the weather out. Comes with storm straps too if needed (I have never needed too).....it'll stay up with whatever weather gets thrown at it if needed.

- Suits my typical 2 - 3 day long weekend trips, very 'pack up & go' sort of thing.

- The airbeams do go rock solid and give re-assuring confidence.

Cons

- It's heavy! Do not think it's 'easy' in terms of effort. I am a fit 36 year old and I'm able to manage to set it up on my own but when I'm 55+....not so sure.....it's at the edge of my ability. The pumping up gets a very good sweat on but I believe you can buy an electric pump??

- The bag provided is too small....I am used to camping and packing up tents so have a good technique but it's simply too small.....why they don't make it slightly bigger I do no know

- As mentioned on a previous comment, I did have a puncture on one of my airbeams - it was replaced under warrantee hassle free but did slightly knock my confidence. I'm more careful in the way I deflate and pack now. That happened on my 2nd use but I've used it a dozen times since and all fine.

Conclusion

Overall I'm really happy and it suits our needs, I don't think I'd choose another one if I had a choice. If I had another puncture though I would certainly be put off....for now I'm putting that down to a freak occurrence and keeping my fingers crossed.

Mike

Just saw the length of my post and realised it was NOT succinct!