I appreciate this will vary with different ones, but wondering if on the whole the majority are a lot quicker & easier to erect than the average full awning.
Thinking a porch one might be very handy & perhaps (hopefully) a lot less hassle. Btw sorry in advance for boring people as I'm betting this has been asked before more than once !
We have a Larsen full awning which we can put up completely in well under an hour.
Thinking that a porch awning would be quicker to erect for weekends we bought a trio porch awning. We have used it precisely once. No quicker to erect, smaller and not fixed to rail at the ends.
when we very first started caravanning (as long ago as last year ),we had an nr full awning,which came with the tin tent,1st time we tried to put it up took us 3/4 of an hour, only to find it was too big for our 'van, so much so that we almost could have used it as a garge for the 'van, so we ebayed that , bought a newer one , again a full size model, this one only took half an hour to get up but the oh decided she didn't like it and so it had to go, ebayed that one too and bought a porch awning ( a 'carefree' isabella), this one is a 1 man job to put up, up and pegged out etc in 10 minutes, fits the tin tent nicely, oh loves it ,looks like a winner
as theres only the 2 of us a porch awning is plenty big enough as we only us it for taking off /storing muddy boots etc , not really extra living space as such, normally use the nearest pub for that
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We used to have a full awning with our last van but only used it for longer stays. Not only is it longer to put up than a porch it is much harder to pack away.
With our new van we use a sunncamp with flexi poles, which goes up very quick and is great for storing muddy boots etc. Admittedly it doesn't look as good as full awning but there is no comparison in time taken to erect.
Would like to find a posher and slightly bigger porch that is light and goes up fast.
We use a Sunncamp porch for weekends, and I can put it up on my own in twenty minutes , if hubby can't help.
I've tried putting a full up on my own and it tried to kill me, either from suffocation or impaling.
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By definition of size it is obvious that any 'porch' should be quicker than a full size awning (dependant on the erector) but generally the Lightweight Flexipole ones are easier and quicker than the Canves Porch's.
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I like my HR full awning takes about half an hour now to put put up, I find it takes longer to take down and pack away. Porch awning takes about 15 minutes and is easier to pack away, but I my full awning.
I've heard the lightweight ones are quicker to put up but I'm personally not a fan, we like to use ours in all weathers & they're too flimsy in the wind, I did buy one to try & attempted to erect it in the wind & it was horrendous and once it was up the wind & rain howled around the edges so I returned it.
We've now got a "normal" porch awning & it stands up well to the weather but it can take longer to set up as it's more fiddly to get it weatherproof against the side of the van, theres actually one MORE pole but just 1 less panel of pegs to knock in. Plus side is that it's a doddle to thread through the awning rail.
Both awnings take 1/2 hour from fetching them out of the bag to knocking the last peg in.
We cannot manage a full awning on our recently purchased caravan so use a porch awning. It is definitely quicker to put up the porch awning than a full awning, but not by much.
We use a lightweight - a sunncamp 260. Easy to erect single handed in 15 minutes and despite earlier posts to the contrary I find it very resilient to the wind. We have left it up for 2 months before now without problem.
Also much easier to carry & store.
We have a canvas porch but just don't use it now.
Generally a porch/lightweight awning is quicker to put up that a full awning. Less poles in a porch awning, and more importantly for me, less pegs. It's the pegs that take time IMHO. The other think that takes time is setting up the inside of the awning. The bigger the space, the more that goes in, the longer it takes. It's not just about the material and poles IMHO.
the lightweigh porch awnings with tent style poles, particulary the ones with only one flexible pole, should go up a lot easier than a porch designed like a smaller version of a full awning.
Quote: Originally posted by andcow on 20/7/2011
the lightweigh porch awnings with tent style poles, particulary the ones with only one flexible pole, should go up a lot easier than a porch designed like a smaller version of a full awning.
Sorry to intrude in posting ...BUT
Andcow ...you have a Pennine FC
Have you found any for the Pennine then as we have a Fiesta and the big one is far too big I heavy for us 2 to put up. Just a small one like they have for caravans other made small awning is still too big for us or does it mean a. separate annex tent
I have gone the adpated route like many before! I bought a caravan porch awning secondhand on here (techlite Outdoor Revolution) and then paid Tent Valeting Service to remove the caravan beading and replace with a zip that matches the one on the pathfinder for zipping the full awning on. Only difference to using on a caravan is that it is zipped on rather than threaded on through the beading rail. Cost me a total of £100 in all) I managed to get the awning in green and cream so matches well with the green/cream pathfinder.
Someone on the tt section adapts new awnings and sells them though it costs more than my version.
The techlite only has one pole in place that is threaded through the outside and then bent into postion in the same way you do with many dome/tunnel tents so is a very lightweight fibreglass pole system. Just peg it down after that. Once the awning is zipped on you can actually leave it attached when you take down the unit though you do take out the poles of course. this would be really good if you only intend to use the porch.
Gives enough room for the dog cages x 2 a small table and chairs and storing coats though is not quite as fitted as the full awning is as the sides are not attached. I am working on a simple way to improve that now.
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Topic: Are Porch Awnings Much Quicker to erect ?
),we had an nr full awning,which came with the tin tent,1st time we tried to put it up took us 3/4 of an hour, only to find it was too big for our 'van, so much so that we almost could have used it as a garge for the 'van, so we ebayed that , bought a newer one , again a full size model, this one only took half an hour to get up but the oh decided she didn't like it and so it had to go, ebayed that one too and bought a porch awning ( a 'carefree' isabella), this one is a 1 man job to put up, up and pegged out etc in 10 minutes, fits the tin tent nicely, oh loves it ,looks like a winner 
my full awning.
