First weekend away in our ‘new to us’ Eriba. Its late evening on the first day and I am making ‘notes to self’ as I turn in. First: Many thanks Mr. Calder for your Pre Departure Checklist..thankfully used the relevant notes prior to departing home. Towing Mirrors! Would have forgotten them for sure and having driven 120 Km of motorway they are a gift. Do you really really need them towing a small Eriba? In my opinion yes, I do anyway.
Van der Horn Awning: complete with instructions for another make! So set up Eriba and then Puzzle time! 3 hours later and 1 x Awning up. Well, up..ish., I feel certain we can cut this to 1 hour next time and another few notes to self: Never try this alone. Never try this in anything but a gentle breeze. Get forecast for morning of dismantling prior to erecting. A lovely English gent in a Camper Van really enjoyed the entertainment and later informed us that “ I would have come over and offered to help but I have a very short fuse and you may have ended up with no awning”. . that may be on the cards anyway!.
Part of my efforts to stand said Awning Frame included rigging 2 x guy lines to try hold outer vertical poles in a somewhat vertical postion. Another note to self: Procure Hi Vis Guy line. Dark Green is not a good colour…no explanation needed. Another quick note to self: Pack away a small first aid kit in case you trip.
It took about 30 minutes for my better half to clonk her head off the top of the Eriba door frame. It took me just a little longer. So we had matching Forhead lumps. How romantic! Another note to self: try to always avoid clunking head on door frame ( has every Eriba owner had one of these forehead lumps? )
Sleeping arrangements: pleasantly surprised that I can fit just fine into the bed. I am not particularly tall ( 5’10’’) . Looking at the bed set up was deceiving, I figured a Z sleeping posture was on the card but not so. Oh! a final thank you once again from a novice Eriba caravanner to the checklist again.. “ fold in Step prior to departure” . Visions of Ben Hur’s Chariot race, some unfortunate cyclist en route, leave the rest to your imagination, hope you saw the movie.
More thoughts to follow I’m sure..
Chris

I am 5'2" tall and I still occasionally bump my head on the door frame , its usually best to exit the van backwards as you seem to naturally duck, I also have a small piece of pipe insulation on my fly screen which softens the blow if i do forget.. Another tip to make it less stressful when leaving, I usually drop my awning the evening before departure..

After a few attempts you should be able to get it down to about 40 mins
Dave

VanderHorn Pole diagrams (models may vary)

VanderHorn1001.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte) VanderHorn2001.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Nice one Chris. We have our 1st weekend away in our "new to us" 550, awning and all this weekend. Watch this space.

Steve, I hope you have as good a time as we did. It was a great week end, weather, almost empty first class site in Tipperary ( it's not really a long way
It will be a few weeks yet before our next venture. We are totally smitten with the Eriba having come from a folding camper. Hob many thanks for the pics of the EXACT awning. Mind you, we had a hoot figuring it out from scratch. At one stage I felt like a circus juggler with the dozen plates spinning on the sticks , first one corner gives up the ghost, then the other. .Who actually invented this awning I thought ?! He or she must have a circus backround and be fit as a fiddle.