finally decided on a Khyam Motordome sleeper, delivered last Friday. On Sunday I thought Id have a practice at putting it up in the garden (kids were laughing & timing me as I'd sold it to them as a quick erect model...)
anyhow it started raining before I had the chance to peg it out / or take it down.
well whats the worst that can happen I thought, lets test it in the rain - I'lll leave it up until we get some dry weather then pack it away until Easter.... Seeing it was getting windy I pegged down the corners and a couple of the main guy lines...
Sunday, rain. Sunday night, wind. Monday morning, rain. I joked with a chap on the train on Monday morning that I might expect a call from a neighbour saying my awning was in his garden......
you know whats comning........
Monday lunch call from home saying the awning has blown away......(well down the garden)
Returned home last night to a sorry looking mess and one of the auto joints has broken. At least they provided spare joints so it must be expected?
Tonight I will be fixing the joint and erecting the awning in my lounge (I think it will just fit ... to dry it out and put this sorry episode behind me until the sun comes out.......
Sorry to read your tale about the Kyham Sleeper - we too have one but cannot match this story Hope all is well after your fixing session tonight Still, the kids will love having it in the lounge - could try sleeping in it over night - much safer indoors Rooby Roo
________________________________________________________________________________ Proud winners of Spike's Trophy 2017
We had an incident last year with our Royal Traveller awning (original 1970s) when is was all up and ready to peg and we changed our mind about which side Tallulah should be based on morning sunshine and prevailing wind.
Of course as soon as I moved the van, the awning caught the full force of wind it had previously been sheltered from and lifted up like a very uncomfortable looking kite.
It only flew a few yards but performed a perfect somersault - maybe I should enter it for the Olympics... - and resulted in a bent leg which still works but is no longer telescopic.
Lesson learned, so with either of our awnings the VERY first thing we now do is peg a guy rope on the windward side to safeguard against sudden gusts, and decide beforehand which way it is to face!
We have a mixture of pegs, mostly regular steel ones, but also a few larger ones for harder ground, and some illuminating LED plastic ones that stop anyone tripping over your guy ropes.
Setting up at Camperjam last summer, there was a sudden gust of wind across the field just as I was opening up our Khyam. It was headed straight against the side of Max but some kind onlookers rushed over to help before any damage was done.
Rule of thumb: if it's breezy - find an awning buddy!
________________________________________________________________________________ Max SportsKombi - The Bay Racer @brazilianvwbay
absquatulation
Cabin : Club Location : Lost Posts : 372 Join date : 2010-06-05
Pegs? I have given up on the "supplied" metal pegs and replaced them with bright red and day- glow orange plastic ones. I've also got nearly a dozen rock or stone pegs which will go through most things, which I use on the windy side.
I've also replaced all the black guy ropes or lines with bright yellow ones so that the visually challenged and children amongst us might possibly spot them before they trip over.
If it is really windy, if possible I try to park on the windy side, but if that isn't possible, then I put up a wind break to try to lift the wind off the ground so it goes over.
Although I haven't reached the final resort yet, when we go on holiday we use rachet straps for surfboards and trailer etc, so my plan is to put those over the top of the tent and weigh them down with something heavy like a small child or something equally useful in a crisis.
________________________________________________________________________________ I thought the van was blue, but now I'm told its Lilac
Subject: Re: Tent + wind = Wed Mar 07, 2012 8:07 am
absquatulation wrote:
Pegs? I have given up on the "supplied" metal pegs and replaced them with bright red and day- glow orange plastic ones. I've also got nearly a dozen rock or stone pegs which will go through most things, which I use on the windy side.
I've also replaced all the black guy ropes or lines with bright yellow ones so that the visually challenged and children amongst us might possibly spot them before they trip over.
If it is really windy, if possible I try to park on the windy side, but if that isn't possible, then I put up a wind break to try to lift the wind off the ground so it goes over.
Although I haven't reached the final resort yet, when we go on holiday we use rachet straps for surfboards and trailer etc, so my plan is to put those over the top of the tent and weigh them down with something heavy like a small child or something equally useful in a crisis.
Thanks - a nice design feature of the new Khyam is that the ropes are all fluorescent yellow.
