Outdoor Revolution Cayman Snapper Driveaway Awning

[CyberCynth]

Ah, sorry Pandabloke and others, I'd imagined the poptop would have come up higher than that; I am not familiar with Romahomes.

jayjay there are some plastic hoops tied into the roof canvas of the Khyam; it would certainly be much quicker and easier to put the loo behind a screen than erecting the toilet tent. There is actually enough room to put the loo in the back of the car if it was really really cold or wet and I didn't want to venture outside....
Cynthia.

[SandraM]

Ah, sorry Pandabloke and others, I'd imagined the poptop would have come up higher than that; I am not familiar with Romahomes.

jayjay there are some plastic hoops tied into the roof canvas of the Khyam; it would certainly be much quicker and easier to put the loo behind a screen than erecting the toilet tent. There is actually enough room to put the loo in the back of the car if it was really really cold or wet and I didn't want to venture outside....
Cynthia.

Well that's answered the question I put in the other Making the bed post

[jayjay]

Ah, sorry Pandabloke and others, I'd imagined the poptop would have come up higher than that; I am not familiar with Romahomes.

jayjay there are some plastic hoops tied into the roof canvas of the Khyam; it would certainly be much quicker and easier to put the loo behind a screen than erecting the toilet tent. There is actually enough room to put the loo in the back of the car if it was really really cold or wet and I didn't want to venture outside....
Cynthia.

I do that every night. Bring the loo in and find a space for it. Keep it in the camper/caravan in case I need it. Handy first thing in the morning, at least the loo seat is warm-ish! Then outside into the awning for the day and evening.

[CyberCynth]

I do that every night. Bring the loo in and find a space for it. Keep it in the camper/caravan in case I need it. Handy first thing in the morning, at least the loo seat is warm-ish! Then outside into the awning for the day and evening.

I've spoken to some folk locally about using the car as a camper, the subject of toilet facilities always seems to arise! (I wonder why? ) - and it's funny the way a lot of people turn up their nose if you mention you might keep the loo in the car overnight. I feel like reminding them that within 10 - 20 years they may be in a nursing home, with a commode permanently parked right next to the bed!

Ho Ho! Have porta potti will travel! I've got loads of ply left over from my bed base project, I was thinking I might box in my loo so that my set up doesn't look quite so much like a rest home on wheels....
Cynthia.

[SandraM]

I've spoken to some folk locally about using the car as a camper, the subject of toilet facilities always seems to arise! (I wonder why? ) - and it's funny the way a lot of people turn up their nose if you mention you might keep the loo in the car overnight. I feel like reminding them that within 10 - 20 years they may be in a nursing home, with a commode permanently parked right next to the bed!

Ho Ho! Have porta potti will travel! I've got loads of ply left over from my bed base project, I was thinking I might box in my loo so that my set up doesn't look quite so much like a rest home on wheels....
Cynthia.

__________________________________________________ _

With a matching cushion on top it will offer a seat to any visitor you might have

In our Dandy the toilet was on permanent display. I obtained (from the manufacturer) a length of the upholstery fabric and made a fitted cover. Once on and tightly velcroed into place it just looked like a freestanding seat..

Obviously you have the spare wood so no need to fork out any more money

[Pandabloke]

__________________________________________________ _

With a matching cushion on top it will offer a seat to any visitor you might have

In our Dandy the toilet was on permanent display. I obtained (from the manufacturer) a length of the upholstery fabric and made a fitted cover. Once on and tightly velcroed into place it just looked like a freestanding seat..

Obviously you have the spare wood so no need to fork out any more money

On some modern campervans, the loo is indeed boxed in as a moveable footstool/extra seat. Very good idea.

If I don't use the awning, I have it in the middle aisle of Hettie at night (with the bed made up as a U shape or horseshoe rather than as a double) and use it as a coffee table! 😂

Panda

[Pandabloke]

I had to put the awning away wet when I left Winchcombe and I just managed to get it out and dried off yesterday. Took it down today and rather smugly managed to get it and it's poles all back in the original bag! Very pleased, as every other one I've seen had the poles in a separate bag, but according to the instructions, everything should fit in the one bag.

Panda

[CyberCynth]

I had to put the awning away wet when I left Winchcombe and I just managed to get it out and dried off yesterday. Took it down today and rather smugly managed to get it and it's poles all back in the original bag! Very pleased, as every other one I've seen had the poles in a separate bag, but according to the instructions, everything should fit in the one bag.

Panda

Well done you Pandabloke ! My Khyam HAS to go back in the bag complete with poles as it's one-piece. However, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't squeeze in the bag containing the sun canopy poles or the peg bag!

Did you find you used the awning much during your recent trip, or did you feel you could have managed without? Do you cook in Hettie, or in the awning? I'm picking your brains as I'm hoping, if I can get well-organised enough, that I might be able to manage in my 'pretend camper', without the Khyam, which would save me a lot of bother for winter camping.

[Rob B]

Well done you Pandabloke ! My Khyam HAS to go back in the bag complete with poles as it's one-piece. However, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't squeeze in the bag containing the sun canopy poles or the peg bag!

Did you find you used the awning much during your recent trip, or did you feel you could have managed without? Do you cook in Hettie, or in the awning? I'm picking your brains as I'm hoping, if I can get well-organised enough, that I might be able to manage in my 'pretend camper', without the Khyam, which would save me a lot of bother for winter camping.

There's a trick to packing Khyams away. With it collapsed but still sprawled on the floor, "walk" the poles together so that all the knuckle joints are touching. In the bag somewhere will be a little nylon square that looks a bit like a shower cap, it often gets lost or left behind but it's actually really important as it stops the canvas getting pinched in the knuckle joints and it also holds the frame together for transit, without which you'll never get it back in the bag. With the cap tied over the poles and joints you can now pull out all the excess canvas so it forms a roughly triangular shape off to one side. You then lay the whole lot down and roll the poles over the excess material so it forms into a tight roll. There should be some long cloth strips with it to tie the bundle up and stop it unravelling. It should then go back in the bag nice and easy.

[Pandabloke]

Well done you Pandabloke ! My Khyam HAS to go back in the bag complete with poles as it's one-piece. However, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't squeeze in the bag containing the sun canopy poles or the peg bag!

Did you find you used the awning much during your recent trip, or did you feel you could have managed without? Do you cook in Hettie, or in the awning? I'm picking your brains as I'm hoping, if I can get well-organised enough, that I might be able to manage in my 'pretend camper', without the Khyam, which would save me a lot of bother for winter camping.

Hi Cynthia,

I did use the awning a fair bit. It was handy for my fishing gear and also I put the large Romahome table up in the awning and I put my little Trangia spirit cooker on there. I use the Trangia to boil the kettle and also make one pot meals. I don't need to, but I enjoy using the Trangia. If I need more than one pot, I use the cooker in Hettie. I managed to sit out in the awning til quite late most evenings, as I have purchased a decent fan heater. If it got a bit blowy, I simply zipped up all the doors, including the one that 'mated' the awning to Hettie, so it was like sitting in a tent. Very cosy!

I had a couple of really smashing days at the start of the week and I actually had all the sides open on the awning which was glorious.

I can manage perfectly well without an awning and I have, up until very recently. If I was touring, I wouldn't give it a second thought, but when I am in one place for a week, I can see thee advantages to it, especially in a small space like Hettie. It gives me room to spread around a bit. Before, everything had to be put away at night, including all the fishing gear etc. And I use the porta potti in the awning now instead of trying to find somewhere for it in Hettie, during the night. Also things like my camping chair and the extra box of non perishable food could live in the awning and as an experiment, I also left my compressor fridge running in the awning.

Awning is certainly not a necessity, just very handy.

Panda

[Pandabloke]

So, scores for the Outdoor Revolution Cayman Snapper awning, mated to a C15 Romahome Hylo? 8 out of ten.

It is a little bit wide for the Romahome. I think Hettie is 1.6 metres across the beam and the awning is 2.5 metres, so I had to ensure the joining tunnel sides were pegged as tight as possible to Hettie. A slightly smaller awning, maybe a 2 metre width would be a snugger fit, but Snappy (the now named awning.....) did fit ok.

I'm making use of an awning designed for a different method of fitting. All of these awnings like Snappy are really designed to fit snugly in awning rails on the side of camper vans, not at the rear. On a C15 Romahome, there is little chance of getting windproof fit as you can't provide the awning rail in the correct place to fit it to, so it is a 'drag over the top and peg down' connection, with the associated breezes around the tunnel area. They work perfectly well for a rear fitting, but it will always be a compromise. As I say, a slightly smaller awning might be a slightly tighter fit. I haven't tried.

Driving away and reversing up to it again is always a bit tricky. You'll never get it exactly back in the same place every time, especially when you're trying to do it on your own. But fortunately there are only a hand full of pegs to readjust and the size of the awning tunnel is very forgiving, so it is basically 'within 6 inches will do'!

There were some plastic buckles high up on the tunnel which clattered against Hettie in a wind. I don't know what these straps and hooks are meant to to do, but what they do do is clatter! I have negated this by buying a couple of large hooks that suction stick on the fibreglass sides and tension the buckles to stop them from blowing in the wind. A bit Heath Robinson, but it worked. Also there is a metal grommet on the top of the tunnel which tinkles against the glass of the roof vent in a C15 Hylo. Again a suction sticky hook tensioned it to stop this.

Snappy is a brilliant design with all sides opening if required and in the summer, she will be glorious! I love having the space to spread out in to and do I like the specific design of Snappy. Also I'm getting quicker in erecting her and there are not that many pegs to nail her down. Also Outdoor Revolution are still making the same basic design of awning, so it must be a decent design.

And if you erect it with the Hylo roof up, the tunnel will not be compromised too much if you lower the roof under it. It'll still work fine.
And the colour is just glorious!

I have found the awning for me.

As I say, rear awning fitting will always be a huge compromise on the smaller Romahomes, but I can recommend this type as a good design to make fit. Just get one with a decent tunnel length of about 80cm and you'll be fine.

Panda

[CyberCynth]

Nice comprehensive review of your awning there Kevin Pandabloke , I'm glad you're pleased with your purchase. I can see it would be worthwhile putting up the awning if you're staying put for a few days but it would certainly make life a bit more difficult if you were touring, and only staying one night per pitch. Especially if you had to pack it away damp.....

I'm looking forward to getting to Devizes on Sunday so that I can have another go at getting the Khyam right. The tunnel was a bit flappy when I was using the gear at Hereford. The instructions aren't very clear about how to adjust the sides so I ended up a bit Heath Robinson-ish as well.

Rob B thanks for the tips about packing away the Khyam. I did actually remember to fit the hoods on both the inner 'knees' and the outer ones, but I think, didn't get the fabric pulled out sufficiently well to roll the thing up properly. I'm sure I'll improve the technique with practice.
Cynthia