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

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. The rear cowling has awning piping that is compatible with the Transporter fitting kit here which gives a really nice seal between the Transporter and Drive away awning.

The Galli Air is a large drive away awning, available in both “ Low” and “ Tall” variants, for different heights of campervan – we’ll concentrate on the more popular “Low” version in this summary. You really cannot go wrong with a Vango drive away awning, and the Vango Kela Air is a great compact product with that traditional quality feel which we’ve come to expect from the team. It’s available in a more budget-friendly ‘Sentinel Pro’ polyester version as well as a more expensive polycotton or technical cotton (TC) Kela Air which is longer lasting and cooler on scorching hot days. Design and LayoutWe 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. Our friends Al and Geb use the Vango Kela Air with their Eriba caravan, and I’ve had many evenings sampling Al’s whisky collection in his Kela whilst looking at the stars overhead. They soften the interior by using the fitted carpet which really helps make the awning a nicer area to spend time in, and it feels lovely underfoot. Time to put up can be fast – we put up an inflatable drive away awning in under 8 minutes, and we weren’t really trying. 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.

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. 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.

Lodges

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. 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.

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.

Campsites

The Berghaus Telstar Drive Airway Awning fits camper vans and motorhomes with a rail height between 180 and 210 cms. An extension sleeve is available as an extra to allow the awning to fit vans with rail heights up to 240 cm. It is a tall awning with most of the head height being 6'9". Two darkened bedrooms are provided and there is still lots of living space. Four large windows, ventilation points and mesh doors provide plenty of light and fresh air. The groundsheet is sewn in If you have used this product please leave a review, or your comments for other visitors, many thanks! 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: