Magnetic awning adapter

I think I shall be buying a Khyam drive away awning but not sure how best to connect to the camper.
Has anyone out there any experience of using a magnetic awning adapter? I think it may be easier to connect and disconnect than the pole and clamp method. It may also allow a couple of extra inches height which may prevent the sliding door catching the tunnel connection. What I'm not sure of is how resistant it would be to high winds
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

There are some reviews for the magnetic connection strip on the Just Kampers site.

JK Magnetic Connector Strip

Based on those the general consensus is good although how effective they are with wind is debatable.

Most owners use pole and clamp as it seems the most effective and secure.

Thanks for that. Think I will get the pole and clamp set and ponder the mag strip if I ever see one on site. By the way when you drive away for a trip and leave the awning in situ how, when you return, do you maneuver to exactly the same position on return? Is there some easy trick?

I always use a pair of levelling chocks to mark the position.

As HH says, mark the location of the front and rear wheels on one side. If you can mark them with something you can see from the driving position then even better. We've used the yellow levelling ramps and/or a strategically placed tent peg - one you can see, not just a small metal one - but anything will do.

Elegantly simple. Cant wait to try it out. Many thanks

I'd be wary about leaving my levelling chocks - someone could have them! Illuminated peg sounds ideal.

But not keen on attaching awning anymore. Blown off and against the side of my camper too many times.

We made our own magnetic strips - we haven't seen the JK strip!

We used around 30 rare earth magnets and the M-in-law sewed thewm into a strip of material - not easy as the magnets stick to the needle



We have about 3m worth, but could do with some more.

The awning doesn't move - my wife managed to rip the awning when she moved the van door - the magnets didn't budge....

I like that idea @pdjenks I suppose it negates the problem of parking perfectly to your awning each time as you could gather more awning material and reduce sagging if necessary, something you can only do with perfect parking with pole and clamp or fig 8 attachment. Mmmmm food for thought!

Very handy for sun canopies as well, you can stick them higher up to give you head room.

Another pics of the magnets in action last week.

I'm hoping it was very windy compared to normal camping conditions - we did lose the connection a few times, but we know we dont have enough to fit down both sides of the awning.



I think if we had more it would have been OK.

pdjenks wrote:

Another pics of the magnets in action last week.

I think if we had more it would have been OK.

That sounds like a "gonna need a bigger boat" sort of comment

P.

True.

After the gale force winds in Northern france last week, more than just magnets are needed

We did plan to be fair weather campers only...

I was quite attracted to that idea!

I popped into Funkyleisure Twickenham yesterday. The guy there suggests the gutter clamp is still the best solution for Brazis. They have a T5 and late bay on site. It's clear to see why the figure of eights don't work on the gutter when compared to bay, the gutter is a totally different shape and thickness.

I picked up off cut samples of the c channel sections to have a play with to see if there is any functional and stylish fixing point for use with the Kador strip. Unlikely, but there must be a better solution to the clamp.

I'm now thinking of a bank of these as a quick solution
(with some rubber inserts).



I'm sure there is a much better way....

pdjenks wrote:

I'm now thinking of a bank of these as a quick solution
(with some rubber inserts).



I'm sure there is a much better way....

Looks a bit of a faff to me. Why not go the whole hog and use clothes pegs?

I think it was Kiteman, who drilled a few holes in his pop top to attached a canopy. Can this idea be refined or built upon? It might lend itself to the sun canopy but maybe not a drive away.

I had thought about mounting the c channel under the pop top but don't think there's any room. It could be mounted on the outer edge of pop top ala Kiteman's idea. But don't know how that will affect the performance of the pop top. Also, maybe the channel could be the attached outside the guttering. But this wont give any sliding door clearance.

Surfwagen Stan wrote:

I think it was Kiteman, who drilled a few holes in his pop top to attached a canopy.  Can this idea be refined or built upon? It might lend itself to the sun canopy but maybe not a drive away.

It was Irishman that has the holes drilled in the poptop. I was thinking about fitting some sort of C section to the underside of mine as well, but now I no longer have Ginger that's not an option.
Was looking to fix it to the bottom of the poptop canvas, just above where it joins the roof. There's a wooden batten that the bottom of the canvas is attached to. It shouldn't cause any problem with the poptop down either.

We think we have the awning connection sorted!

We bought a magnetic strip from a local shop (similar to Just Kampers).



we then use a few clamps from Wilkos



This was quick to put up and down, and didn't move once.

Mind you, there was no wind or rain  

The Surfwagen now has a 3 part 'c-section' with suckers that has worked well with the drive away awning. I have also bought some very small (approx 30mm x 20mm x 10mm) and powerful magnets that I plan to push into the pole sleeve. These are capable of holding 18kgs each, so 4 of these may be sufficient to hold either the summer awning up or the drive away.

Hi surfwagen stan, any pics of the c section and suckers and where you got them from. We have the Funky leisure sun shade and found their attachment bar was no good at all and we were thinking of trying some figure of eight strips,so any solution that works will be good news

Razorbaz wrote:

Hi surfwagen stan, any pics of the c section and suckers and where you got them from. We have the Funky leisure sun shade and found their attachment bar was no good at all and we were thinking of trying some figure of eight strips,so any solution that works will be good news

Do you mean the 'pole and clamp' attachment or something else? Most people use the 'pole and clamp' method for awnings and sun canopies without any problems.

Yes i tried the pole and clamps but found that i couldn't get a good fixing with it so ended up setting it up freestanding

The Kyham pole and clamp kit is the one to go for. I've tried another make and found that the pole is too thin.
Kyham currently have one on offer (although they always have a reduction in price)
Kyham Pole and Clamp

harryhornet wrote:

The Kyham pole and clamp kit is the one to go for. I've tried another make and found that the pole is too thin.
Kyham currently have one on offer (although they always have a reduction in price)
Kyham Pole and Clamp

£29.99

Cheaper via Tamworth camping on eBay:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/131873785161?lpid=122&chn=ps&googleloc=9045856&poi=&campaignid=628893806&device=c&adgroupid=28312585266&rlsatarget=pla-193545301506&adtype=pla&crdt=0

£22.99

P.