One way around the issues above is to augment the camper with a drive away awning. This can massively extend the flexibility of your campervan at the expense of some storage space when travelling. A very lightweight but study design coming in at just over 6.5kg using 120HDE high density all-weather lightweight fabric and a simple pole set up of fibre glass construction. The awning can be used as a changing room and a place to put on muddy boots when it’s raining outside. It’s essentially a porch for your camper. Front porch area for cooking and dining; A bright and good-sized living area; Flexible bedroom arrangements that can be organised to suit your requirements; Good ventilation throughout They say big is beautiful and that’s certainly the case with this new addition to the Berghaus range.

Look for as many doors and windows as possible to maximize access and let in light. Watch out for velcro on the doors as this can let in air and water – much better to have full 2-way zips on all doors. Mosquito netting on some or all windows and doors is also useful, as are curtains. Comes with straps that can be used around the Transporter if you do not have a piping fitting kit to the side of your Transporter however this is best used when the wind is low as it does not give the best seal and wind can get under the join.. The drive away ability of this awning it really simple. Just slide the piping out of the fitting kit on the side of the vehicle and you are good to go.

Motorhomes

Sold as a very cosy 4 person bolt on to your transporter. Definitely sleeps 3 easily, 4 people if you are small! Removeable doors are fantastic – they help create a modular design of awning whereby you can choose how to structure the layout. For example, on hot days you can create a gazebo-like structure. You can also then add on sleeping pods if required.

Our personal preference for UK camping is to use a campervan over a tent or caravan, but it’s clear that it is a very personal choice. For us, our Mercedes Marco Polo camper works really well due to it: Uses a two pole design making it fairly straight forward to put up. Can be a little awkward to feed the poles through but once installed the pegs/guide ropes just need installing which essentially holds the structure up.The Berghaus Drive-Airway 300 Awning also features lantern hanging points, cable access, three windows and low levels vents. A fly mesh door keeps insects at bay and the groundsheet is sewn in place. The Drive Airway 300 weighs 3.65 kg and measures 3.9 x 3.0 metres with a height of 2.2 metres. The tent itself is tunnel style with 5 air poles and a fully sewn in groundsheet. It took less than 10 minutes to inflate all the poles and have the tent upright. It took probably another 5 to 10 minutes to peg out the brailings and corner and storm guys to pitch the tent perfectly.