Awnings & Rails

Expand your travelling and storage capacity without having to change your vehicle. Dometic Kampa and Thule Awning ranges allow you to maximise the usable areas you have when pitched, without the need to change your van!

What types of awnings are there?

Affixing to the roofline of your vehicle, awnings will extend to be able to provide you shelter from the great British weather. With both pull out and wind out options, you will be able to pitch in no time at all!

Most awning are designed to be used with vehicle specific brackets to ensure the cassette body of the awning does twist or bend, matching with different length of van and awning, but we’ve designed each package so it’s easier to find your van knowing that it will fit perfectly. Due to the nature of these brackets and the intricate fitment, we’d recommend professional fitment for peace of mind and to avoid any damage to the awning mechanism.

If you’re still lacking space you can add on an awning tent, giving you massive amounts of living and potential sleeping areas. Many awning tents have removeable connection link, which can be removed leaving the tent standing, enabling you to be able to use your vehicle separately to the tent, perfect for those days out or grabbing essentials without the need to pack down and put away the tent, these awnings are typically known as drive away. When attached to the van, you will have a weatherproof tunnel connected directly to the vehicle, allowing access whenever you need.

Constructed using inflatable tubular beams as the frame for the awning, you won’t need to fumble around with old school poles, speeding up pitch times and reducing pack down sizes to reduce the space taken up when not in use.

It's not ideal to cook inside your campervan due to limited space, with an awning tent you’ll have plenty of room for preparation and cooking without struggling, but you can also double up the area to be used as sleeping quarters too. Some tents come with internal sleeping pods, made from a darkened material to reduce the amount of light and increase privacy, perfect for those that use the campervan as storage whilst using the awning for living and sleeping space. When cooking, always make sure you have ample ventilation!

What’s the difference between pull out and wind out awnings?

Pull out awnings are a more basic mechanism, often a rolled up canopy that sits on an extendable frame, with drop down legs to secure and support, whereas wind out awnings are a retractable cassette mechanism, complete with a cranking handle to extend out as far as you need. Wind out awnings can take a bit more work to fit to your vehicle to ensure it’s fitted precisely straight, whereas pull out awnings are more rudimental and a bit lighter.

Once fitted, wind out awnings are generally more straight forward to use, and can take less time to set up, so it’s worth considering which is the best option for you.