We have a Vango Kela 3 which we use on our vw. Great if you're staying more than a couple of nights. If we are moving on every day or other day we use the wind out awning. With practice the vango is very easy to put up and great for festivals.
The awning looks brilliant. Looking forward to the video for the screen wrap and pop top cover. Seen these at the show so like to see your review on them.
Hi guys good review of awning weather looks good there looks like weather was on your side like your eyes on screen cover and the red colour pull roof looks nice keep up the good work guys .kev
Just looked on Rainbow Covers and got a quote on the same cover as yours in the video. £246.00 Woah, that's big money for a screen cover with eyes on regardless of performance. Great video btw. Subbed. Neil
Looks great but if you use the rail attachment how easy is it to disconnect and reconnect if you are going off site for the day. I rented a vango drive away awning with a rental cali’ but we used the straps over the van so that it was easy to drive away and leave the vango up on it’s own each day with all our bedding in. Great bit of kit!
The best way is to buy a separate kit from Vango (which we have done) to make driving away much easier. We were only away one night so we will test it in the future 👍 You can drive away without the extra kit from Vango but it’s much easier with it I believe.
Great video can't wait to use our one. Would advise to use figure of eight attachment if you was staying longer and put some silicon spray before attaching it as this helps pulling it through I found this help . Keep up with the great video's.
Hi guys. Love your vids, so useful! We bought an Olpro cubo poled drive-away awning at the NEC show last month as we were concerned about the weight of the air ones. They look great but they seem large and heavy when packed up and we just want an occasional use one for when our grown up kids come away with us in the cali. The poled one packed up quite small and weighed just 12kgs so we went for it. Was interesting though to see the air one going up. Can’t wait for your review of your new Cali topper as we want to buy one and aren’t sure which to get. Keep these reviews coming!
Hey guys and thanks for the great video. Nice awning, but if I were you and you wanted to buy one, you should check out the Kyham Motordome. They are up in 20mins no lie. Not cheap but amazing. We loved cake of the day at Old Oak’s at our favourite site. We hope to be there in June for the Solstice. I cannot believe you didn’t go crystal shopping in Glastonbury. Next time go for lunch at the Blue Note Cafe in the town centre. Best wishes from Rod & Julie.
Good vid guys, I am looking at buying the Galli Tall drive away awning for our MH, we use those interlocking square rubber mats for the awning floor, big 👍
Hey guys, a nice review - looks a really good size. We always find an awning is so useful, a good place to leave shoes, bikes, cadac and take coats off when raining. We try our best to get away for a minimum of 2 nights, I think for me I'd not bother putting it up for one night break. How was it getting in back in the bag? Andy
Thanks Morleys. Yeah it’s so useful. It allowed us to keep the van a lot more organised as well. Getting it back in the bag was errr... well... fun! It did go back in though but not quite as compact as before it came out of the bag.
Hi guys hope you are all well, great addition to the California are your fairy lights led or bulb? I was thinking could they damage the awning fabric with the heat of the bulbs?
Lovely fairy lights! A really good Review as always guys. Our initial awning thoughts (for our circumstances only): speed to 'make pitch', & to 'unpitch', especially in rain! As you mentioned, like you guys, we've got pitching/un-pitching down to a few minutes! Expense. Weight. Bulk (we like to keep our cabin floor clear when driving/touring (looked like you had to unload porta-potti to make space for it!). Will look forward to further reports and your opinions. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for watching 👍 It wasn’t too bad for space to be honest because it’s the first thing out of the van when we arrive and the last thing to go back away. The loo was out because it has to come out to get to the wheel levellers that’s all.
Yes, lots of small vans seem to use these awnings, so if you've got space it must be ok. If your space is taken up with other things, not so good. Horses for courses, I guess. Ace video - very well done. Many thanks.
WOW, would love one of these, BUT its almost half of what we paid for our camper van lol, We will have to make do with our current Vango Dunkelt with additonal awning lol. We will be having a video of it later this year.
Yeah it is. The best way is to buy a separate kit from Vango to make driving away much easier. We were only away one night so we will test it in the future 👍 You can drive away without the extra kit from Vango but it’s much easier with it I believe.
Hi guys great video, we have been considering getting a drive away awning for our California, is there an option to get left or right option , depending on your sliding door Thanks
Hey guy's I'm doing a custom van build and have been watching tons of videos but haven't seen one of the front windshield coverings like you are using in this video where can I find one? Thanks... James
Honest question. Do you think you would use it? Do you use the wind-out you already have? Wondering as re-building our van atm to full-time in, and thinking no awning (had them in past and not used them) Interested if you think you honestly would/will? Great video by the way, really enjoyed it.
Yeah we definitely will use it whilst we have it. And when it goes back to Vango we will beg for another one. It so useful with a dog. Not sure whether we would use it for one night trips regularly but it’s such a great space. We don’t tend to use the wind out awning a huge amount because I’m always worried about the wind taking it but it is useful to have just in case it’s really sunny (not likely). Thanks for watching 😊
Thanks for the reply. Hopefully Vango will leave it with you long-term so others (like me) can see if it is something worth carrying :) Agree about being useful with having a dog. That's what's making me think.
Hi guys, I've a couple of questions: Where can I order that supercool "Calicap" of this video? Second question: is the bed grid close to the portapotti, the "regular" one? Looks smaller... in that case I guess you can move the rear sofa-bed 30-40cm backward to earn more room inside the Cali.
Nice video although I think you should mention the price as it's not that cheap - £750? We have the Kela and have used it loads over the last few years - easy to put up, really tough and we've had excellent service from Vango. The other thing worth mentioning is the drive-away function so that on a longer trip you can put all your stuff in the awning and leave it at the campsite - this means packing up to go off and explore each day takes no time at all - hooking back up to the van is a bit of an art though - another video for comedy effect maybe? Hint - the secret is to get the optional footprint sheet ........
Hi, we never mention the price of products because that varies from place to place and also changes over time, but this video will be here for the foreseeable future.
I'd say that the Kela is a better option as it has an airbeam support on the roof. The Galli 2 doesn't and my one collapsed in a heavy rain storm after the rain gathered on the main roof section. Vango didn't reply to my request for a solution and all it would take would be an airbeam strut similar, but shorter, to the Kela.
I've got the new similar cove air 2. The big problem with these awnings is they do not fit a standard size touring pitch width by a long way alongside your van. By the way rubber mallets are rubbish for hammering pegs in, get a metal mash or lump hammer.
CaliforniaCamping seems a shame to have to buy something else to make it easier to drive away, when it is supposed to be a drive away awning in the first place! Thank you for the video.
All drive away awnings are the same. You can do it without the kit a couple of ways, either use straps over the van or move the van slowly whilst removing the kador strip from the van’s awning rail.
Did you get chance to test the Drive Away part please, just wondered about the connection to your existing awning and how easy it is to connect/disconnect for drive away
We were only there for one night but there is a separate part which makes driving away much easier. We will try it out in the future. There is nothing left on the van though when you drive away
I suppose it depends on how you are going to use it. The video I've seen from Fiamma looks like it is probably as much effort to put the sides on as It is to put up the Vango ...
Hi guys, thanks for posting this, it is very informative. I don't know if you'll be able to answer my question but do you think this awning would be suitable for a Renault master conversion
I can’t see why not as it’s a similar size van to our California. You are probably best checking with Vango though, maybe through their website. Thanks for watching.
Great review guys, we’ve got a vango idris 2 and love it. Must admit, when it was on the van we never used the drive away awning bit as we didn’t have a wind out awning like you so it was a pain. P.s the cake looked amazeballs!
Could you use a small compressor rather than having to pump it up? Seems like a lot of work and if a compressor would work set-up would be greatly reduced.
It’s really not that big a deal to pump. Took barely 5 minutes to do all the parts. Still way less effort than putting poles in a tent. I imagine if you’re not as able bodied a compressor would be great though.
Nice video, guys One question. I never saw this red cup with this “eyes” in the front panel. Please, would you tell me the shop you bought it? Thanks for all.
Ace review guys.i have a shelter pod for short stays and a full size for longer.check out the shelter pod super easy to put up,myself,my wife and 3 fur babies fit in it no probs....
Hey Jordon! Thanks but we actually have one already. We just didn’t use it this time as we were only away one night. 😊 They’re great kits though. Very easy. We will show it another time.
Ah good good , Just watching you struggle to get it in the railing thought i would mention it. keep up the good videos, everyone is getting excited to get camping now.
The best way is to buy a separate kit from Vango to make driving away much easier. We were only away one night so we will test it in the future 👍 You can drive away without the extra kit from Vango but it’s much easier with it I believe.
First time I went camping was with family. Some down and out people from a near buy trailer park community stole our food. Our dog traced the scent of the trail to their location. We found our Igloo and called the Police. The 2nd time I went camping alone and some stole my shoes and my mountain bike. The moral of this story is leave nothing sitting out or not secured when you leave your campsite or sleeping.
![SOLO Camping in Rain [ Iconic 1975 VW Van Life, Cosy Relax and Sleep ASMR ]](/img/n.gif)
Bentley being oh so polite whilst you eat the cake! Looked like a lovely stay guys, the fairy lights were wonderful ❤️
Great cardiovascular workout pumping the ⛺ up. Love the fairy lights.
Awning looks great guys, you won’t want to give it back lol. It’s amazing how much extra space it gives you
Yeah it’ll be depressing ☹️
We have a Vango Kela 3 which we use on our vw. Great if you're staying more than a couple of nights. If we are moving on every day or other day we use the wind out awning. With practice the vango is very easy to put up and great for festivals.
Yeah it sounds like the Kela is extremely popular... good choice
The awning looks brilliant. Looking forward to the video for the screen wrap and pop top cover. Seen these at the show so like to see your review on them.
We love them and we will show you them in detail very soon. Thanks for watching 😊
Yes we liked this one at the show. Liked the way it goes alongside the van.
It gives you so much more space! Very easy to put up and down too. V impressed.
The lights are brilliant in the tent. Very soothing. Now you need a blow up lounge sofa for the tent.
Good idea :-)
Hi guys good review of awning weather looks good there looks like weather was on your side like your eyes on screen cover and the red colour pull roof looks nice keep up the good work guys .kev
Great review guys- looks really useful for the extra space! Loving the fairy lights- I keep meaning to get some of those for our awning!! 👍
Thanks Kat 😊
Sounds like Sean is allergic to fairy lights. AAaaaaachooooo! :)
I have a Vango too there cool. Hey can't wait for the new red cali topper reviews cheers guys. ;-)
Coming soon 😊
Just looked on Rainbow Covers and got a quote on the same cover as yours in the video. £246.00 Woah, that's big money for a screen cover with eyes on regardless of performance.
Great video btw. Subbed. Neil
Looks great but if you use the rail attachment how easy is it to disconnect and reconnect if you are going off site for the day. I rented a vango drive away awning with a rental cali’ but we used the straps over the van so that it was easy to drive away and leave the vango up on it’s own each day with all our bedding in. Great bit of kit!
The best way is to buy a separate kit from Vango (which we have done) to make driving away much easier. We were only away one night so we will test it in the future 👍 You can drive away without the extra kit from Vango but it’s much easier with it I believe.
Great video can't wait to use our one. Would advise to use figure of eight attachment if you was staying longer and put some silicon spray before attaching it as this helps pulling it through I found this help . Keep up with the great video's.
It's a fairy grotto! Lovely.
Hi guys. Love your vids, so useful!
We bought an Olpro cubo poled drive-away awning at the NEC show last month as we were concerned about the weight of the air ones. They look great but they seem large and heavy when packed up and we just want an occasional use one for when our grown up kids come away with us in the cali. The poled one packed up quite small and weighed just 12kgs so we went for it. Was interesting though to see the air one going up. Can’t wait for your review of your new Cali topper as we want to buy one and aren’t sure which to get.
Keep these reviews coming!
Hey guys and thanks for the great video. Nice awning, but if I were you and you wanted to buy one, you should check out the Kyham Motordome. They are up in 20mins no lie. Not cheap but amazing. We loved cake of the day at Old Oak’s at our favourite site. We hope to be there in June for the Solstice. I cannot believe you didn’t go crystal shopping in Glastonbury. Next time go for lunch at the Blue Note Cafe in the town centre.
Best wishes from Rod & Julie.
Thanks guys. You're right the cake is the best! :-)
hi there, i don't think the Kyham has the built-in floor, which i would want to keep wet, grassy feet out of my van. Is this correct?
Good vid guys, I am looking at buying the Galli Tall drive away awning for our MH, we use those interlocking square rubber mats for the awning floor, big 👍
Ooooo good idea! We have some in the garage too 👍
Always good to see a goid cali camping video:) :)
Another cool wee video guys with cake too 😁
Thanks :-) Can't beat cake!
Hey guys, a nice review - looks a really good size. We always find an awning is so useful, a good place to leave shoes, bikes, cadac and take coats off when raining. We try our best to get away for a minimum of 2 nights, I think for me I'd not bother putting it up for one night break. How was it getting in back in the bag? Andy
Thanks Morleys. Yeah it’s so useful. It allowed us to keep the van a lot more organised as well. Getting it back in the bag was errr... well... fun! It did go back in though but not quite as compact as before it came out of the bag.
2 in 1,a good workout and shelter.
Ha ha so true!
Hi guys hope you are all well, great addition to the California are your fairy lights led or bulb? I was thinking could they damage the awning fabric with the heat of the bulbs?
They’re LED and never get very warm. :)
So putting up was easy (although hot work pumping it up!) but what about putting it away......did it actually fit back in the bag?
Yeah we managed to get it back in the bag. Not quite as compact as at the start of the video though 😂
Have you done a video of,putting the awning away into the bag,we really struggled,any tips.
Regards Mark.
Love the van window
Still eagerly awaiting the screen cover and pop top cover review. Hope it’s soon 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Lovely fairy lights! A really good Review as always guys. Our initial awning thoughts (for our circumstances only): speed to 'make pitch', & to 'unpitch', especially in rain! As you mentioned, like you guys, we've got pitching/un-pitching down to a few minutes! Expense. Weight. Bulk (we like to keep our cabin floor clear when driving/touring (looked like you had to unload porta-potti to make space for it!). Will look forward to further reports and your opinions. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for watching 👍 It wasn’t too bad for space to be honest because it’s the first thing out of the van when we arrive and the last thing to go back away. The loo was out because it has to come out to get to the wheel levellers that’s all.
Yes, lots of small vans seem to use these awnings, so if you've got space it must be ok. If your space is taken up with other things, not so good. Horses for courses, I guess. Ace video - very well done. Many thanks.
WOW, would love one of these, BUT its almost half of what we paid for our camper van lol, We will have to make do with our current Vango Dunkelt with additonal awning lol. We will be having a video of it later this year.
great vid as ever guys!
Thanks Thomas 😊
Great review but I still have one question and that's, is it a drive away awning andif it is how easy is it to detach? Keep up the good work guys!
Yeah it is. The best way is to buy a separate kit from Vango to make driving away much easier. We were only away one night so we will test it in the future 👍 You can drive away without the extra kit from Vango but it’s much easier with it I believe.
you can buy figure of 8 clips from any camping shop, usually about £3 per strip
Yes, drive away kit, figure of 8 and Kaydor strip.
we need a follow up video of how you got it back in the bag, we have a vango Galli and it si a monster
Thanks for sharing. You saved me wasting money on one of these. Cheers!
Hi guys great video, we have been considering getting a drive away awning for our California, is there an option to get left or right option , depending on your sliding door Thanks
Thank you. Yeah a lot of awnings come with the option of being available in left hand or right hand. The Galli is available in left hand or right hand
Hey guy's I'm doing a custom van build and have been watching tons of videos but haven't seen one of the front windshield coverings like you are using in this video where can I find one? Thanks...
James
Ours is fantastic and it's from Rainbow Thermal Screens
CaliforniaCamping Thanks guys for the info.
Do Vango do a left hand and ride hand side versions or does it not matter as the ones I’ve seen are on the left hand side apart from yours?
Honest question. Do you think you would use it? Do you use the wind-out you already have?
Wondering as re-building our van atm to full-time in, and thinking no awning (had them in past and not used them)
Interested if you think you honestly would/will? Great video by the way, really enjoyed it.
Yeah we definitely will use it whilst we have it. And when it goes back to Vango we will beg for another one. It so useful with a dog. Not sure whether we would use it for one night trips regularly but it’s such a great space.
We don’t tend to use the wind out awning a huge amount because I’m always worried about the wind taking it but it is useful to have just in case it’s really sunny (not likely).
Thanks for watching 😊
Thanks for the reply. Hopefully Vango will leave it with you long-term so others (like me) can see if it is something worth carrying :)
Agree about being useful with having a dog. That's what's making me think.
We are a family of 4. I needed a driveway awning! All our clobber for a extended trip without a tent was a nightmare!
Hi guys, I've a couple of questions:
Where can I order that supercool "Calicap" of this video?
Second question: is the bed grid close to the portapotti, the "regular" one? Looks smaller... in that case I guess you can move the rear sofa-bed 30-40cm backward to earn more room inside the Cali.
That gravel oh dear!
How easy was it to take off the van when you wanted to pop to the shops.
Vango drive-away awning kit makes it super easy.
Nice video although I think you should mention the price as it's not that cheap - £750? We have the Kela and have used it loads over the last few years - easy to put up, really tough and we've had excellent service from Vango. The other thing worth mentioning is the drive-away function so that on a longer trip you can put all your stuff in the awning and leave it at the campsite - this means packing up to go off and explore each day takes no time at all - hooking back up to the van is a bit of an art though - another video for comedy effect maybe? Hint - the secret is to get the optional footprint sheet ........
Hi, we never mention the price of products because that varies from place to place and also changes over time, but this video will be here for the foreseeable future.
Robin, i think if they can afford a "cali", then they can afford an awning for just under a grand :-p
I'd say that the Kela is a better option as it has an airbeam support on the roof. The Galli 2 doesn't and my one collapsed in a heavy rain storm after the rain gathered on the main roof section. Vango didn't reply to my request for a solution and all it would take would be an airbeam strut similar, but shorter, to the Kela.
I've got the new similar cove air 2. The big problem with these awnings is they do not fit a standard size touring pitch width by a long way alongside your van. By the way rubber mallets are rubbish for hammering pegs in, get a metal mash or lump hammer.
How do you disconnect the tent from the camper to drive away?
Great vid again!
It’s a drive away awning. So how do you drive away? How does it come off the van? Thank you.
You buy a separate kit from Vango to make driving away much easier. We were only away one night so we will test it in the future
CaliforniaCamping seems a shame to have to buy something else to make it easier to drive away, when it is supposed to be a drive away awning in the first place! Thank you for the video.
All drive away awnings are the same. You can do it without the kit a couple of ways, either use straps over the van or move the van slowly whilst removing the kador strip from the van’s awning rail.
CaliforniaCamping ok, thank you 😊
or you use standard figure of 8 clips, no one I have ever seen threads the kador direct to the van because it makes it very hard to drive away.
Did you get chance to test the Drive Away part please, just wondered about the connection to your existing awning and how easy it is to connect/disconnect for drive away
You buy a separate kit from Vango to make driving away much easier. We were only away one night so we will test it in the future 👍
thanks for the quick reply both. Great video too
Thank you very much 😊
Nice awning, really practical size ... but is it really worth the £750 price tag?
Hi gang. You did a few reviews on driveway awnings, which one did you settle on yourself if you have one?
Hi guys. Great video :)
Quick question.: Where did you buy the smaaaaaaaart eyes for the front window ?
The cover is from Rainbow Thermal Screens :-) thanks for watching
You missed out how you would drive away from it. How much is left on the van?
We were only there for one night but there is a separate part which makes driving away much easier. We will try it out in the future. There is nothing left on the van though when you drive away
Great video guys and looks a great bit of kit, gives loads of extra living space. Will you be keeping it?
Interesting review guys, have you given up on the idea of getting proper sides for your own awning?
The proper sides cost about the same price as an awning and awnings are just so much more weather proof and comfortable in our opinion
I suppose it depends on how you are going to use it. The video I've seen from Fiamma looks like it is probably as much effort to put the sides on as It is to put up the Vango ...
Hi guys, thanks for posting this, it is very informative. I don't know if you'll be able to answer my question but do you think this awning would be suitable for a Renault master conversion
I can’t see why not as it’s a similar size van to our California. You are probably best checking with Vango though, maybe through their website. Thanks for watching.
Please be honest. How much of a faff is that to put up? We’re hiring a T6.1 in the summer and considered getting an awning. I’m not convinced 😂😂
Really not that much of a faff at all!
I bet you get a great view form loo good ventilation to LOL
😂💩
Great review guys, we’ve got a vango idris 2 and love it. Must admit, when it was on the van we never used the drive away awning bit as we didn’t have a wind out awning like you so it was a pain. P.s the cake looked amazeballs!
The cake at that site is as amazeballs as it looks! We had the Carrot cake today and it was to die for!!! 🤤
Love Bentley he's a super dog
Guys, do you know if there are L/H and R/H options for this awning upon purchase?
Hi yeah there sure is. The one you see here is the RSV whereas the opposite one doesn’t have RSV at the end of the name
You really do need to peg the corners before pumping!
if you get one of these i think first thing to buy is a 12v compressor
😂
Good review but would have been really useful to see the drive away bit
Could you use a small compressor rather than having to pump it up? Seems like a lot of work and if a compressor would work set-up would be greatly reduced.
It’s really not that big a deal to pump. Took barely 5 minutes to do all the parts. Still way less effort than putting poles in a tent. I imagine if you’re not as able bodied a compressor would be great though.
Vango sell an electric pump as an optional extra
Please explain to me how this can be described as a drive away awning.
You can detach where it attaches to the van without having to take the entire tent down. Then reattach when you return.
Nice video, guys One question. I never saw this red cup with this “eyes” in the front panel. Please, would you tell me the shop you bought it? Thanks for all.
It comes from Rainbow Thermal Screens and we will be doing a dedicated video on it sometime mid-April. 😊
Thanks for all, guys! I will be expectant to your new video.
Ace review guys.i have a shelter pod for short stays and a full size for longer.check out the shelter pod super easy to put up,myself,my wife and 3 fur babies fit in it no probs....
abner frost jii
Awesome video guys, i think you should invest in a drive away kit 4/6mm i would say. Get in touch and i will send you one out. Jordan
Hey Jordon! Thanks but we actually have one already. We just didn’t use it this time as we were only away one night. 😊
They’re great kits though. Very easy. We will show it another time.
Ah good good , Just watching you struggle to get it in the railing thought i would mention it. keep up the good videos, everyone is getting excited to get camping now.
Hi How can you drive away ?
The best way is to buy a separate kit from Vango to make driving away much easier. We were only away one night so we will test it in the future 👍 You can drive away without the extra kit from Vango but it’s much easier with it I believe.
First time I went camping was with family. Some down and out people from a near buy trailer park community stole our food. Our dog traced the scent of the trail to their location. We found our Igloo and called the Police. The 2nd time I went camping alone and some stole my shoes and my mountain bike. The moral of this story is leave nothing sitting out or not secured when you leave your campsite or sleeping.
THREE MONTHS SINCE YOU WERE LAST ON?
I would like it even more if it came with a compressor.
Just checked the price. Ouch!
😂😂😂 hehe get da merch
Get yourselves a in car lighter electric pump to start then finish it off with the hand pump
😂 honestly it took about 2mins to pump up by hand. No compressor required.
Would it be an easy one man erection? 😂 sorry lol but would it be viable for a solo traveler?
With practice I'm sure it would be easy enough to put up on your own
But did Bentley get cake?
Bentley always get cake! (so long as it’s not got chocolate or raisins in) 😁
👍👍👍👍 😁😁😁😁
Trade descriptions fail.... vid title Should have been called “awning”! Why didn’t you show how to drive away?
Because we didn’t need to drive anywhere and “trade”...?! You didn’t buy anything from us. 🤨