Rhino Rack Foxwing Awning Made By Oztent
Our mission at 4x4 Awnings is to tell you what you need to know when you want an awning, and we take it seriously. We do have to admit though, there are times when that long package turns up at the door and we think “Oh, another awning. How different.” It does make a nice change when something that’s really different arrives so the Rhino Rack Foxwing gave us a bit of excitement.
The Rhino Rack Foxwing isn’t your standard rectangular sheet with a bar and two legs at one end. It uses a completely different design to give you ten square metres of shade round the rear and one side of your vehicle. This is a premium piece of gear and the price is higher than most of the other awnings we’ve looked at, but there’s a reason for that.
First let’s look at build quality. The Foxwing is based on a high quality aluminium extrusion like most of its competitors. The poles are all high quality and the hinge mechanism that makes the Foxwing different is very nicely made and finished. The awning itself is ripstop polycotton canvas with a UV and mould resistant coating and a water protection rating of 1500mm, so it isn’t going to leak no matter what lands on it. As you’d expect for the price the standard of construction is very high throughout.
Now, setting it up. This is where things get interesting. The Foxwing’s base mounts along one side of your roof rack of bars. It needs fixing points at least 800mm apart, but as standard it mounts on almost any Rhino Rack or Thule system and there are mounting kits available for many other models. Once in position it looks quite conventional, with everything folded up and protected by a heavy zipped cover, but if you look closely you’ll see there’s a separate cover at the rear. Unfasten that and you find a heavy duty hinge with four struts mounted on it. That’s the heart of the Foxwing system. Unzip the main cover and all becomes clear. All you need to do is swing the struts out on the hinge and the awning opens up like a wing. You end up with a five-sided roof round the back corner of your vehicle. It’s amazingly easy and it also looks great. Rhino Rack do say it’s a two-person job in strong winds, but otherwise you can have it done in seconds. Then all you have to do is extend the four vertical poles and slot them into the ends of the struts, peg out the guy lines and you’re done. Each strut extends out 2.4 metres from the vehicle and the five sides are each 2.7 metres long, so you get a very large patch of shelter very quickly.
So far there aren’t any tent walls or mosquito nets available for the Foxwing, so it doesn’t have the versatility of some other awnings, but if you’re looking for a sheltered space to eat, relax or get some work done it works extremely well. We really, really like this.
