ARB Awning Room Input?

[VanIsle_Greg]

I have the ARB 2000x2000 with the full room. We just recently used it as a camping room on a 10 day trip to CO and Utah. I have an off-road camper that my dad and I slept in and my friend slept in the awning room.

After having first hand experience with it I intend to utilize the awning and room on short trips if it is just my daughter and I. It is fairly simple to put up and I can do it by myself in a few minutes. We didn't have any weather issues with it. I would recommend using a foot print even though the floor is very robust, after 10 days we did wear some slight holes in it where the cot rails contacted the floor. You can access your vehicle from the inside through a zip door. There is plenty of ventilation with large windows and a door.

The bad: This thing kind of acts like a kite. One night we had really bad (shook my off-road camper pretty bad) wind. The result with the wind blowing against the side of the awning room was some slightly bent awning support poles. We were able to straighten them out, but if I did this again and knew the wind would be blowing hard from a certain direction I would run some support guy lines from the awning poles (the horizontal ones).

Given a RTT or Oztent is about $1,000 or more, the awning and room would be a good choice for about half that price. Also with the vehicle mounted awning you could utilize it for other things such as just the awning, or screen room, etc....

Good feedback.

 

[Lucky j]

I have the arb screen room for the awning.

Used it only once so far. But I was in an infested mosquitoe area. It does not have a floor, but floor flaps that should help keeping the bugs out. In our case it did not help because of the way I set-it up. And did not used it much after that, cause we were always on the move ans did not wanted to increase our set-up time. Problem is in my case, it is not easy to set-up every thing inside for cooking and eating. Other thing, it was raining and the screen room has no rain walls. If I can work something out, I think it will help.

Other thing, a dorr that you zip and un-zip completely from the bottom to get in or out is a big acces for bug.

Since our night was terrible cause those little darn thing were finding ways inside out ARB RTT, we just did not had the patience to try to solve these issues, we went to town for breakfast and find a place away from the bugs.

That was in Natashquan qu, and was as bad as in assetaguea Island in a rainny warm day or july.


Love the awning, the screen room need more understanding.

But will thry it again at an other time.

 

[concretejungle]

OK, here is my review after my first full weekend using this room.

I camped on the Outer Banks of NC where the breeze and the mosquitos can be challenging. First off, i did use another car upwind as kind of a wind screen.... so i must at least disclose that.

Other than that, i had the awning and the room completely staked out with the guy ropes and nice, large sand stakes. It worked like a charm! It was perfect for keeping out the mosquitos and for cooking in and getting out of the wind. I would use it again in a heart beat.

I also realized that it would be the perfect room for anyone wanting to bring a collapsable cot and just sleep inside of it. It was really a great room and worked flawlessly. I would recommend it to anyone.

 

[PinnaclePete]

First time setup of my ARB Awning Room, took less than 20 mins w/ awning. No directions included, but it's a simple straight forward design so it was no problem. Floor isn't staked out so it looks a little floppy, but I really like it, especially the flap access to items under my cap. Two cots, a camp table and some LED light strips, this room is a great alternative to a RTT IMO. Awning + Room = $ 500, one man job fast easy setup, take down and removal from truck.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Looks great!

 

[Rezarf <><]

Are these things huge sails in the wind? Hows the "flapping" on a breezy night? I am a light sleeper and I find I like the taught pitch of a backpacking tent that doesn't flap when its windy out. Is there anyway to take up the slack in these awning rooms?

Thanks in advance, this has been a very helpful thread!

 

[concretejungle]

I was very surprised at how quiet it was. Again, make sure that you have it fully staked out and it pulls very tight.

 

[Overlandexpeditionspecial]

I was very surprised at how quiet it was. Again, make sure that you have it fully staked out and it pulls very tight.

It does make a big difference when staking it. We were in west Texas a couple of weks ago and decided it might be prudent to stake it down, didnt even use the center two but it still tightened up nicely.

In less windy locations, I usually take four old brake rotors that I painted clean, and use them as anchors inside. Never been a problem of the room moving, but now I know flapping is more noticeable that way.

We love the room for privacy dressing, and also storing stuff without making camp look cluttered. We have also noticed it seems to solar warm up faster in the morning than the rtt. I have it on our trailer, so its an awesome addition, but I can definitely see it as a hassle if mounted on a constantly mobile vehicle.

 

[concretejungle]

Here are a few pics of my awning room from a beach trip a few weeks ago. Worked awesome.

 

[memcruiser]

Does anybody know the vertical dimensions of the walls. My truck sits pretty high and not sure the walls will reach the ground.

 

[MDA]

Just ordered the Awning room for 136 .00 shipped. Can't wait to try it out.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Just ordered the Awning room for 136 .00 shipped. Can't wait to try it out.

From where? Does it have a floor too?

 

[devero4]

I don't have the awning room (just the awning at the moment), but I totally understand not wanting to go with an RTT. Not sure about your reasoning, but I just sold my Tepui last week after I camped in rain twice and experienced a wet mattress. Not very fun.

 

[KYC]

What are some people's experience with using this on uneven terrain?

Realistically, its kind of difficult to find flat terrain while in the backcountry.

 

[mchambers]

OK its official! You guys are bad influences! I have it on good authority that Santa will be dropping an awning down the chimney. I measured and while it will be tight, the awning can make the turn to come out of the fireplace and into the room. Also a set of fourtreks brackets will be delivered next week by Santa's helpers!
If I like it as much as I think I will then maybe the room will come via the easter bunny...
Say what you will but I still believe! (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)