After upgrading from the 1.4m DARCHE awning to the 180º Rear Awning the plan was to add the wall set to create an enclosed space for autumn / winter camping and privacy. This enclosed space can also be warmed somewhat via a wood stove.
I got the wall set from Trek Overland on York, UK. Can’t recommend them enough, so lovely to deal with, ask for Clare and mention that I sent you if you decide to pick up some good gear.
As with all DARCHE gear it’s high quality. Everything you need comes with the set, including guy ropes and pegs. They’re definitely built to last and the oversized bag does help make packing this away a lot easier. The bright guy ropes are something I didn’t think I’d like when first buying DARCHE gear but in use it makes a lot of sense. It’s surprising how even at night your head torch can catch this colour better and help you avoid face planting.
I find that rolling the walls up and fastening them closed as seen in the image at the top of the page, means you can better manage to deploy and pack the wall set away on your own. You can see this in action on my YouTube video below, I’ve time stamped to the part where I zip on the wall set.
Below is a photo to give you an idea of the space it takes up in the boot of a Jimny. I think I can figure out a better place to store it moving forward as I’m still far off the dream boot build set up. Now that I have the base system in place I’ve got a bunch of projects ongoing to make sure everything has it’s own, securely tied down home.
What’s it like to use?
I’ve only camped 3 times so far since getting the wall set. We’ve been so busy there’s hardly been time for fun. However, it’s definitely a piece of kit I’ll continue to use, especially once the wood stove jack has been sewn in. I am really looking forward to trying out a hot tent style set up, once the UK weather actually gets cold. Fingers crossed.
I might do some modifications to the wall set so I can choose to put individual walls up instead of the whole thing. In sheltered private camping locations such as the woodland I often camp in the full shelter isn’t needed as much, at least not for how I camp there. For now I’ll just roll up the walls that are not in use and see how I get on. It might be a lot of destructive modification for little gain though.
Finally, here’s some photos I don’t think I’ve posted on instagram? Apologies about the poor quality night shots I’m only using my iPhone.
This last photo is how I’ll likely use the wall set most often, unless I can hit lucky with some really cold UK weather to justify a hot tent set up. Having said that, if I camp on campsites where others folks are (I try to avoid them) it’ll be essential for privacy.
All in all it’s a valuable part of the kit and flexible enough to change configuration based upon weather conditions and locations.
I still like side awnings, for some simple shade you can’t go wrong. This awning without the walls is a beauty though, being self supporting during setup there’s no more wrestling with the material 🙂
Hope this blog helps.
Cheers,
Paul
