It’s rare to see a well set up campsite without a 4×4 awning or two in the mix these days. Thanks to the Kings range of high quality, low cost 4×4 awnings, everyone can now afford to build a campsite around these to enjoy the outdoors in comfort.

Kings 4×4 awnings are similar to the other brands on the market, however, the biggest difference is their value for money. While Kings awnings cost less than $100 each, some similar style awnings from competitors can cost three times that! And, the other big talking point is that for the price, the quality isn’t lower, as people might expect.

Do your research and you’ll see that Kings awnings use heavy duty alloy knuckles for superior strength while many others use plastic. King awnings also include mounting kits at no extra charge – some other awnings don’t include these, which will end up costing you more. For these reasons, Kings awnings are the #1 selling 4×4 awnings in Australia. Just take notice of how many more Kings awnings your see on cars and 4WDs compared to other brands every day when you’re on the roads and you’ll see the proof for yourself!

We often say a 4×4 awning is the foundation of your campsite, and below we’re going to explore what we mean by that and offer some practical tips to making your campsite more comfy by using a Kings awning.

When setting up your Kings awning it pays to have one side slightly lower than the other. To do that you loosen one of the anodised anti-scratch alloy legs and make it a bit shorter than the other one. It doesn’t have to be much (we don’t want you making the awning too short to stand under) but just enough to allow water to run to one corner instead of pooling in the middle. A puddle of water in the middle of your awning puts a lot of extra weight on it, and if the puddle gets so big that it flows to one side, it can dump a lot of water on your campsite in an instant. That gives you a heck of a fright in the middle of the night if that puddle hits your swag while you’re sleeping.

After making sure one side it lower than the other, take the time to peg out your included guy ropes. While the 4×4 awning range from Kings is built tough, it’s always a good idea to utilise the included guy ropes to give it extra support and stability. You never know when a breeze can pick up and often the wind will get up under your awning and want to blow it up unless you have it pegged down tight. Also, because your awning is the foundation of your campsite, it makes sense to anchor it as best you can. Think of it like a concrete slab on a house – the walls and roof can’t be stable if the slab isn’t, just like the additions to your awning won’t be secure if the awning isn’t.

Once your awning is pegged down tight it’s time to grab one or two side awning walls. These are compact and affordable and fold up into handy carry bags. When pegged out, the add a whole lot of extra shade and shelter (from rain and wind) to your 4×4 awning and can effectively double or triple your living space. We peg out side awning walls out on either side of the awning. Use the Velcro ties to connect one edge of the side wall to the ‘arms’ of your 4×4 awning and peg out the other end that touches the ground. If you do this on either side of your awning and you will now have a very large living space to work with.

Now that you have your roof and walls sorted, it’s time to lay a flooring foundation in the form of a Kings mesh camping floor. We recommend either using a 6x3m mesh floor to run underneath your whole awning and wall setup, or a smaller 3x3m mesh floor to run under the awning, which will be your main living area. Regardless of what size mesh floor you use, peg it out and keep it tight as it works best when it’s flat and secure. This reduces trip hazards at night.

With a mesh floor down, it’s time to set aside a sleeping area. If you’ve got a 6x3m mesh floor laid, great stuff. If you’ve got a 3x3m, that’s fine too, as all Kings canvas swags have a 100% PVC waterproof base. Tuck your swag right up under one of your awning side walls.

It’ll either sit on the end of your 6x3m mesh floor or one the grass or sand not covered by your 3x3m mesh floor. Either way, with the 100% waterproof PVC base, your bedding will be dry. We advise getting your swag as close to the wall as you can as this will maximise living space. If you’re camping in a Big Daddy or Big Daddy Deluxe double canvas swag, you can block one side of the swag off and still make it easy for two people to climb in from the other side thanks to the huge access flaps.

With your swag setup and pegged out, you’ve probably got a small bit of space near your front or rear tyre that’s got the edge of the awning wall and swag there. This space is too small to do much with, which makes it perfect to thread wiring through for things like LED camp lights, solar panels or your portable car fridge.

Bring your car fridge out of the car and into the living area of your awning space, on your mesh floor. Run the cables for your fridge back to the car through the area that is mostly unusable. You can do the same if you’ve got a solar panel out near your car but need to connect it to a battery bank under your awning. Having power at camp is important and it doesn’t have to take up all your living space if you set it up with a bit of thought and preparation.

The next thing to do is sort out your camp lights, and these will hang off the arms of your awning that connect the end that is bolted to your car to the other end. These alloy arms are strong and can easily support a 1.3m or 4m LED strip light, or your 4 or 5 bar camp light kit. Connect your LED camp lights to the arms of your awning as well as along the edge that hangs off your roof rack. Spread them around to give yourself a well-lit area, and then connect them to the battery bank or through the car window/door to your 12v plug in your car.

By now you have your awning anchored, a bed set up out of the way under an awning wall, and a fridge, lights and power set up, yet you still have most of the main awning space as well as the extra space from the other awning wall – how handy is that!

Here’s where you add the comforts like a couple of camping chairs and an aluminium roll up table. You can also fit your icebox, food box and portable BBQ in this space without being too crowded or cramped.

With a setup like that you can see how easy it is to use your 4×4 awning to build a really comfortable campsite. This is a really affordable way to make camp as you don’t need to buy all the components in one go – it can start with just a awning and then grow from there. You can also chop and change this setup as your family grows. Many people start with one 4×4 awning with all their sleeping and living arrangements under it like how we have described, but then upgrade to a second awning where they shift all their bedding to one side and all their camping to another. You can even then add a waterproof and private awning tent to that extra awning to give you a full on bedroom feel. Then you can throw a 1.4x2m rear awning to the back of your 4×4 or ute to give you shade while you access your Titan Rear Drawers, fridge, BBQ or whatever else you access from the rear of your vehicle.

It all starts for less than $100 with a 4×4 awning from Adventure Kings – with that, the possibilities are endless. Make camp however you want, for whatever your camping style is!