Berghaus Telstar Drive-Away Awning for Extending your Van or Motorhome Space, Inflatable Awning for Campervans and RVs, Part of the Berghaus Air Range, Grey, One Size

Product Information

We found that the Cayman is perfect for camping in the spring and summer months, but the material may be a little thin for 4 season usage unless you use a camping heater. A small negative we encoutnered is the use of velcro along the bottom of some of the doors instead of extending the zip around the whole perimeter. There was sometimes the risk of water getting in when raining because the velcro did leave some small air gaps. The Galli has four airbeams to pump up, and this is a fairly simple process, which gets the blood pumping. It’s around two minute’s work per airbeam and so you can have a self supported structure up in around 8 minutes, and then it just needs connecting to your campervan and pegging out. The Galli comes with multiple ways of attaching to your campervan including straps, roofbar tabs and a kador strip – we used the latter on our Marco Polo. We’ve thought long and hard about which product is the best drive away awning with a compact layout. In terms of the combination of price vs performance vs flexibility we really can’t see beyond the Kampa Dometic Cross Air awning. It uses excellent fabrics with clear window technology and can be very easily rearranged to adjust the layout to exactly how you want to use it. In our view, it’s close to perfection for short to medium length trips. Design and Layout The Berghaus Telstar Drive Airway Awning is a very large inflatable Motorhome extension. It adds 2 bedrooms and extra living space to your camping setup. This luxurious awning is built to the same high specification used on the Berghaus range of air tents. The flysheet is fully waterproof with taped seams and the fabric has been tested to a hydro static head of 6000 mm. The groundsheet is sewn in to keep water and draughts out. Can move many of your items out of the campervan into the awning – frees up space in the van for general living.

The age old controversy as to whether a caravan, campervan or motorhome is the ‘best option on wheels’ for camping trips rages on. To be honest, we’re still none the wiser as to which would win in a head to head scrap – they all have particular strengths and weaknesses. However, campervans and motorhomes have an ace up their sleeve – they can easily be expanded in size using a drive away awning. 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:

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.

We specifically went for this tent as it comes with a fully enclosed porch area but with the versatility to remove the doors. The porch has its own footprint and we used this area for our kitchen. We tested the 2019 model on a VW T4 and it worked extremely well. As with most drive away awnings, it works best on flat land although can be pitched on a slight slope with a bit of patience. They say big is beautiful and that’s certainly the case with this new addition to the Berghaus range.There is a single fiber glass pole included with the awning which is used to create a rain/sun canopy at the front of the awning. This means you get some protection when entering or exiting the inner sanctum. The Telstar 8 is a traditional tunnel tent with a large front porch area that can accommodate up to eight campers and comes with four breathable Nightfall bedrooms designed to keep the early morning sunshine at bay. Awning Height – most models of drive away awning come in multiple heights, so be sure to choose the right height for your van, otherwise the tunnel section may not attach correctly to it. The smaller campervans such as the VW California/Transporter or Mercedes Marco Polo will use a “low” awning (perfect for vans in the 180 – 210cm range). Large motorhomes will require a “Tall” size which typically ranges in the 245 – 295cm range. Mid-height vans will use a “Standard” or “Midline” height in the 205 – 245cm range. Better quality components that make up the fibre glass rod structures and stitching of the rod channels is generally more robust to prevent tearing.

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. This means you can walk into the awning and then walk straight through it into your campervan without anyone seeing you. If it’s raining outside, you also don’t get wet! In effect, the drive-away awning creates an integrated extension to your campervan, and can drastically increase the available living space. 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 The Skandika adds and extra 3m X 3m living space to your set up and is compatible with all models of VW Transporter. Sewn in ground sheet plus mosquito netting on the doors makes for a comfortable bug free night sleep.

Motorhomes

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 awning piping is suitable for a 4mm or 6mm drive away kit to create a strong water tight seal between the Transporter and awning. 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. 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..

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. Sold as a very cosy 4 person bolt on to your transporter. Definitely sleeps 3 easily, 4 people if you are small! Wow! What a fantastic tent! We bought this air tent as an upgrade from a Coleman Mosedale 5 with front extension. We felt that the time was right to move onto an air tent as they have been around for a while now and we wanted the ease of being able to pitch a tent without the faff of poles getting snagged in sleeves or breaking. (And we're not getting any younger!)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. We love the windows and doors on the Galli Air – there are three large, clear windows on the main outer length of the awning and some smaller side windows either side of the main door at the front. There is also a useful hatch from the tunnel into the main living space to poke your electrical extension cable through. In contrast to the Outdoor Revolution Cayman Air and the Kampa Cross Air, none of the side-walls or doors on the Kela Air will zip out, and this is the only reason we rate it slightly lower than those alternatives. The large front door on the Kela can be rolled away to give fantastic air circulation and there is also a fly mesh layer here to keep zipped in if you don’t want bugs getting in. It’s worth noting that there is always a lip at the bottom of the front door aperture and you can occasionally trip over that if you’re not observant (or if you’ve had too many single malt whiskies!). Conclusions Material type– the main options are polyester and Technical Cotton (TC) (also known as polycotton). In general we would recommend TC/polycotton as it breathes better and lasts longer, but is often around 30% more expensive than the same awning in polyester. It can be used as a daily driver and car replacement at home (we only have one vehicle in the household).