Hi folks,

Thinking of a Pop Air for my 1974 Familia, but unsure of which size to go for so was after some real-world advice from owners.

My Famila has an awning rail of 268cm which would suggest the Pop Air 260 however the height of the rail is 178cm. I'm fairly sure the 260 suggests a height of 168cm and the 290 is 186cm, which puts me in the middle of both.

I didn't want the awning to look as though it is tipping down from the 'van so I'm inclined towards the 290 (along with the benefit of having more space) but obviously there would be 10cm of awning overhand at both ends. Would this be a problem? I know it wouldn't fit snug at the ends but could I install an eye to pull the overhand towards the van with a guy rope?

All advice appreciated folks, along with any pics of yours.
Cheers

Darren

Excellent, many thanks Colin. I was hoping that would be the case.

Having dithered for a number of months early last year, we bought a brand new (gulp!) 2022 Pop Air 340 for our 2005 Triton and it proved an excellent choice - we needed (and have used several times) the additional Bedroom Extension we also bought (that zips into the removable panel by the 'van entrance door). We bought the excellent Sun Shade too that zips onto the front of the awning and it really works well.

Both of these options are only possible on the post 2019 mark 2 Pop Airs...

... and here it is in France in 40C temperatures in August and in only slightly less warm temps in Norfolk in July...

That's a wonderful looking setup you have there. Thanks for posting the pics and for the review.

Darren

No problem. It was a big outlay, but the mark 2 version has definitely been worth the extra expenditure for us...

Hi Darren,

I have a late 70s Familia and hit the same problem as you last summer.


In the end I went for the 260 and though not perfect it was a great investment. There is not an excess of material at ground level so sometimes if on a slopey pitch it’s tight, not leaving much coverage at ground level. Like you I was worried the next size up would be too wide at the awning rail. As it happens they are not as wide at the rail as they are at ground level. When they show you the dimensions they reference the width at entrance not rail.

I actually emailed Kampa about this and found them pretty responsive and helpful.

Overall I’ve been really happy with the build quality and we even went for the annex later for extra room. Hopefully this means even as the kids get older and need more room we won’t need to sell our much loved Familia!

Hope that helps - happy to take any Qs.

Hi Simboc

Your photos show how much a better design the post 1919 PopAirs are to the poorly designed originals that Kampa sold us.

We still use our original PopAir and we have a love/hate relationship with it. The quality of it is good and boy has it withstood some stormy winds when other awnings have come down. But the design is not good enough for what we paid. I do remember a number of PopTop owners got their money back from Kampa when we were told to trim the kedder strip.

Yours looks fabulous and if we weren't now pensioners getting a post 2019 model with all the trimmings, and especially the bedroom for our grandsons, would be very tempting.

MikeT

The double height attachment strip has definitely been better for post 2010 Eribas, for which it was improved with the 2019 model, yet we also, with our 2005 Triton, find the double height tie downs and attachment points useful on uneven ground. I generally use the tie down points clearly intended for later 'vans, particularly on stone-based pitches, allowing me to fix down more firmly (with screwed in pegs) than I would otherwise have been able to do.

We have had a couple of issues that aren't news to most Pop Air owners - the tendency to leak down the side of the van in rain as water is pulled into the interior through capillary action, however, as recommended by other posts on here, the use of waterproofer on the Keder strip and/or a blob of blutak at either end of the strip once installed have greatly reduced that. The overall quality is great and we are really pleased with our first season's use. The blackout inner tent on the bedroom extension is really good and our 24 year old, 6'1" son was remarkably complimentary about it.

We have even become quite skilled at putting it up quickly. We have learned not to attach the electric pump (yes, we are wimps and don't use the manual pump) too tightly to the inflation valves, because it's so easy to undo the deflation valve by mistake after pumping it up. Much amusement to all those watching, the couple of times we did that... In fact, it's so easy to put up that we haven't yet used the sun canopy we also bought with overnight stops in mind...

Yes we have also amused bystanders by undoing the deflation valve in error.....we have only done it once but boy did it go down quickly!

We also reproof our Kedder strip at he start of every new season to reduce water running down the side of the van.

Our electric pump has given up the ghost so we now always use the manual pump, and take a spare with us. One pump once broke on a quiet site with no-one else using one so we had to go "awningless" in some terrible rain. Kampa sent us a replacement after me buying a spare on urgent delivery from amazon. Belt & braces now

MikeT