I posted this in my rig build thread, but thought it worthy of its own thread.
Most of you guys in Australia have probably never heard of an Ostrich Wing Awning, and none of you would have seen one in the flesh unless you have been OS (or with me on the weekend) as the one now bolted my Prado is the only one ever imported into Australia, hey someone had to be the first.
After speaking with and reading many reports about the Foxwing awning I came to the conclusion that they are great but........ there is always a but when people talk about the foxwing, they need a full setup in anything but absolutely still weather, so not ideal for a 15 minute smoko stop on the side of the road, and lots of people have reported them breaking in even slight winds.
So onto the Internet and after a lot of research I found the Ostrich Wing Awning from African Outback Products that soundeed like it would be a better bet than the Foxwing. So I took a punt and imported one from South Africa, and to say that it is brilliant would be an understatement!! It is just fantastic, set up time is around 30 seconds, pack up takes maybe a minute but with practice I will do both quicker, but most importantly it is very stable in the wind and strength wise compared to the Foxwing....... well there is just no comparison really its like comparing a toothpick with a crowbar, the Ostrich wing is so far in front in this respect its not funny.
It's always a worry sending money to an unknown company on the other side of the world and hoping they will do the right thing, absolutely zero issues dealing with Liz from AOP, she was very helpful with my enquiry, and to be honest the African end of the deal was really really good, Qantas on the other hand managed to loose my awning for nearly 2 weeks when it got as far as Sydney, and I can't say I was at all impressed with the import brokers in Adelaide who ended up slugging me more than they quoted, they quoted a price and then added GST after the deal was done. But I now have it and its fitted and its fantastic. I should say thanks to Matty who collected it from the Airport for me before another Australian company started charging me for storage, by the kilo per hour.
OK what does it cost? It will vary depending on the excahnge rate at the time and where you live, I was quoted $780AUD for the awning then add another $500+ for air frieght and assorted charges for import brokers and others who sem to do little for their money and you are well into the 4 figure mark, In my case I was keen to have it installed before my upcoming trip across the Simpson via Madigans line. After mentioning the time frame for this trip and Liz asking for information about the trip, they offred me a very substantial discount as they were keen to have thier product tested on one of the toughest trips in Australia, and as i mentioned at the start; as it is the only one ever imported it will be the first across the Simpson, and Madigans. I should also mention that the discount was offered AFTER I had agreed to purchase it at full price, so I can't speak highly enough of the service from AOP.
Weight is around the 23kg mark, only a couple of kilos heavier than the foxwing from my research.
Setting up the Ostrich Wing
5 seconds
10 seconds
20 seconds
30 seconds
Cheers Andrew
Most of you guys in Australia have probably never heard of an Ostrich Wing Awning, and none of you would have seen one in the flesh unless you have been OS (or with me on the weekend) as the one now bolted my Prado is the only one ever imported into Australia, hey someone had to be the first.
After speaking with and reading many reports about the Foxwing awning I came to the conclusion that they are great but........ there is always a but when people talk about the foxwing, they need a full setup in anything but absolutely still weather, so not ideal for a 15 minute smoko stop on the side of the road, and lots of people have reported them breaking in even slight winds.
So onto the Internet and after a lot of research I found the Ostrich Wing Awning from African Outback Products that soundeed like it would be a better bet than the Foxwing. So I took a punt and imported one from South Africa, and to say that it is brilliant would be an understatement!! It is just fantastic, set up time is around 30 seconds, pack up takes maybe a minute but with practice I will do both quicker, but most importantly it is very stable in the wind and strength wise compared to the Foxwing....... well there is just no comparison really its like comparing a toothpick with a crowbar, the Ostrich wing is so far in front in this respect its not funny.
It's always a worry sending money to an unknown company on the other side of the world and hoping they will do the right thing, absolutely zero issues dealing with Liz from AOP, she was very helpful with my enquiry, and to be honest the African end of the deal was really really good, Qantas on the other hand managed to loose my awning for nearly 2 weeks when it got as far as Sydney, and I can't say I was at all impressed with the import brokers in Adelaide who ended up slugging me more than they quoted, they quoted a price and then added GST after the deal was done. But I now have it and its fitted and its fantastic. I should say thanks to Matty who collected it from the Airport for me before another Australian company started charging me for storage, by the kilo per hour.
OK what does it cost? It will vary depending on the excahnge rate at the time and where you live, I was quoted $780AUD for the awning then add another $500+ for air frieght and assorted charges for import brokers and others who sem to do little for their money and you are well into the 4 figure mark, In my case I was keen to have it installed before my upcoming trip across the Simpson via Madigans line. After mentioning the time frame for this trip and Liz asking for information about the trip, they offred me a very substantial discount as they were keen to have thier product tested on one of the toughest trips in Australia, and as i mentioned at the start; as it is the only one ever imported it will be the first across the Simpson, and Madigans. I should also mention that the discount was offered AFTER I had agreed to purchase it at full price, so I can't speak highly enough of the service from AOP.
Weight is around the 23kg mark, only a couple of kilos heavier than the foxwing from my research.
Setting up the Ostrich Wing
5 seconds
10 seconds
20 seconds
30 seconds
Cheers Andrew
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