Awning rail size?

Nippy · Jul 5, 2026

I’m endeavouring to fit a Wild Earth sun canopy onto our California, but the Wild Earth 6mm Kadar strip pops straight out of the awning rail along the roof line of the van.
Admittedly there is a 6mm fitting on the wind out awning, accessed after winding out a few inches, but, (whisper it) I’m negotiating with nearest and dearest, to ditch the ugly wind out, despite the threats of blackballing and expulsion from the club.
At a guess, the awning rail would need a 7.5 / 8mm Kadar, and then a similar size “figure of eight” to take the 6mm strip on the canopy.
Are there any other aesthetes experiencing similar dilemmas?

CaliforniaPhil · Jul 5, 2026

We just went thorough this. Hope its what you are talking about.

The rail on the van is not a kadar slot, not sure what it called. The shops at Camperjam were saying some of the canopys have 2 sizes of kadar strip, 5mm and 6.5mm, they said you can feed both into the slot and it won't pull out.

We bought one but have only tried it on the wind out awning kadar strip. I was going to have a look to see if it does fit the near side rail with both strips in when I unpack the van. Will update.

Nippy · Jul 5, 2026

Evening Phil, thanks for taking the time to reply…..
I’ve seen an “awning rail” mentioned on another thread, being a VW apart, and I think Campervanbits had it listed, but not in stock, and asking best part of £120!
Our wind out fabric is original and has split along the glued seam, it’s been repaired with tape and is ok if not fully extended, and the plan was to replace the fabric, or have the original stitched….
We had the Wild Earth item on a T5 Autosleeper, and much prefer the versatility, and looks, I think the wind out looks dreadful lashed on the side of the van, but think I’m knocking my head against the wall, so any help (and encouragement) would be much appreciated!
Paul

CaliforniaPhil · Jul 5, 2026

Nippy said:
Evening Phil, thanks for taking the time to reply…..
I’ve seen an “awning rail” mentioned on another thread, being a VW apart, and I think Campervanbits had it listed, but not in stock, and asking best part of £120!
Our wind out fabric is original and has split along the glued seam, it’s been repaired with tape and is ok if not fully extended, and the plan was to replace the fabric, or have the original stitched….
We had the Wild Earth item on a T5 Autosleeper, and much prefer the versatility, and looks, I think the wind out looks dreadful lashed on the side of the van, but think I’m knocking my head against the wall, so any help (and encouragement) would be much appreciated!
Paul

I just tried the double kadar strip in the near side rail and it fits ok. This is the same as the rail the awning bolts to. Its not an extra from the shop. If you call the shop they might have what you are looking for, or advise you what to do. They have been doing this a lot longer than me.

I wanted it to keep the sun away from either the wind out awning edge or the fridge side. So needed a small kadar and I thought the bigger one but as you see both fit in the same slot.

Does your wild earth sun canopy have a double kadar bead? If you only have 1 kadar bead, there must be ways of increasing its size with attachments.

Hawthorn37 · Jul 5, 2026

Agree with the last post. We use a double sided kador (6mm and 4mm together) and the other side (6mm) we run into figure of 8 strips. The tarp awning then slots into the figure of 8. The only problem you might get is the awning sliding in the Fig of 8 when windy. Good pegging down prevents this.

In our kador connection kit we also carry a normal 6mm/6mm kador that fits in the wind out awning channel.