Looking for a VW T5 awning or an awning for a motorhome Look no further.
Vango Idris ii Airbeam Awning Review
The Vango Idris II Airbeam Awning is a freestanding drive away campervan awning. It can also be used with any campervans and even motorhomes.
Constructing the Vango driveaway awning
After a few goes, setting up the Idris II is a doddle. Expect the first time to take around half an hour, although after practice we easily managed to get this down to 10 minutes.
Loosely pegging out the four corners, attach the awning to your camper either with the pre-attached 6mm kador strip (which fits straight onto a rail on your vehicle if you have one), or with webbing straps, velcro tabs or pole and clamps. We used webbing straps, which were thrown over the roof and pegged on the other side.
Next blow up the airbeams (easy to inflate with the manual double handled pump included). Lastly insert the bracer pole, which connects inside the awning to the main airbeams with velcro tabs, to increase tension in the roof. Job done.
The instructions are handily printed on the bag, although we feel Vango could improve on these by including a diagram referring to the name of each piece of kit. This would make the first time assembly a bit quicker.
Setting up the airbeam campervan awning was easy. The first time will take a bit longer whilst you become accustomed to each piece of kit but after it took us 10 minutes each time.
Daily Life using the Vango airbeam awning
Increasing our camping capacity three fold, the Idris ii airbeam awning was a welcome addition to our camper set up. Like I said it’s the perfect VW T5 awning but it can also be used on any campervan or motorhome.
The one chamber awning allowed us to create a sleeping area for our kids outside the camper. Too young to sleep in a detached tent but fasting outgrowing the cramped conditions of our camper, they loved sleeping independently.
Meanwhile we slept in the camper, leaving the sliding side open with the connection tunnel fully zipped up on either side. I slept very comfortably knowing they were entirely safe within the enclosed space and totally accessible within seconds if either of them needed me in the night.
The awning freed up the camper almost entirely for day trips out with plenty of room to store our kit whilst we were away.
Thankfully we had glorious weather on our trip, but the awning would be a godsend in bad weather for indoor play/living instead of being cooped up in the camper.
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The removable (not sewn in) groundsheet has the HUGE advantage of being easy to clean, but may be a weak point in extreme wet weather. We were unable to test the awning for wet weather.
The awning has large zipped doors on the front and back with plenty of PVC window options that can be rolled up or down depending on how much light or privacy you want.
The connection tunnel has doors both sides giving huge flexibility to your camping set up, convenient access to both camper and awning (no tramping through the awning living space each time) and allows good flow of air during hot weather.
The doors are fully zipped down to the floor allowing easy access and no tripping hazards – brilliant for my 5 year old with mild cerebral palsy (!) and excellent for wheelchairs and those with reduced mobility.
Being able to drive away and leave the awning on our camping pitch was brilliant. It was quick and easy to do.
Performance of the Vango airbeam awning
Constructed using 70D polyester fabric, the awning is waterproof, durable and breathable. Whilst there was some condensation each morning, this was kept minimal by multiple ventilation panels.
We found a couple of extra guy rope attachments would have been have been helpful for windy conditions. We love family friendly florescent guy ropes, which unfortunately this model didn’t have. We solved this by attaching some brightly coloured ribbons.
We were blessed with glorious weather so we can’t review the webbing strap connection for leakage. I imagine the kador strip would keep a closer drip free connection to the van during we weather.
The Vango Airbeam awning is easy to construct and invaluable for having extra space
DECONSTRUCTION:
SPECIFICATIONS:
14.25kg
2 comments
Excellent add on just what is needed in the unpredictable weather
Very good as wind break for the van so good for extra space for boisterous children.
Thank you Ian for your comments on our Vango awning review. We really rated this awning and would highly recommend it to any family. Completely agree with you – boisterous children in a campervan on a rainy day …… the extra space is bliss!