Thinking about buying a porch awning for short trips, some in Towsure for £69.95 just wanted to know what people think of them are they worth buying or are they no easier to put up as a full awning?
Have two porch awnings, one an Isabella magnum and the other a brand new Compacatlite. Isabella takes nearly as much time as a full awning, just less to peg out and a few less poles. Compactalite much quicker and easier, (if you get the right poles sent to you) but have found it a rather leaky blighter on first use this weekend.
I have just ordered the towsure Panama 260 awning and am awaiting delivery,I hope its not too leaky but you get what you pay for I suppose, I went on line to order a midge net and bought an awning, a windbreak and a van step, I forgot the midge net!
The new type of porch awnings that have sprung up in the last couple of years, ie the ones with the fibre glass bendy poles etc have 2 things that you have to remember. Firstly I think that they are classed as showerproof and not waterproof and Secondly as the poles cannot adjust to the same extent as the "normal" pole types, ie vertically, thus they require farly level ground to get a good fit especially against the side wall of the van. We have the Ultima 260 and it does us for the week-ends but we revert to the full awning on anything longer than 3-4 days.
Hi Sconner, I have just listed an Isabella Porch awning on eBay which is a 680 combi in good condition.....Have a look...I am only 20 miles or so from you....(apologies for the free ad)......
The Compactalite though is described as being made of a waterproof material. The material is, but where it's been sewn for seams, awning track etc. it leaks, well ours does anyway. Not what I had expected in all truth.
Quote: Originally posted by purplehat on 28/5/2007
The Compactalite though is described as being made of a waterproof material. The material is, but where it's been sewn for seams, awning track etc. it leaks, well ours does anyway. Not what I had expected in all truth.
We got back today having used the Compactalite for the first time and ours
leaked as well, we put it down to the fact that it was raining non stop
for ages. Did yours leak by the window at the front.
Have you considered a Fiamma or Omnistor pull-out sun screen? In Scotland it keeps the rain off as well. We've one of the Ominstor ones on our caravan full-time and they are v quick to put up and take down (about 2 mins up, 3 or 4 mins to take down). I could not be bothered with the fiddly porch awnings.
Bit more expensive I guess at around £150, but so quick and easy.
Hi, We have a simple porch awning and a Magnum for longer/summer weekends.
The simple awning is great. Most of them warn you that they may leak especially around the zips and places of tension, but this is usually only during its first spell of rain, after that the fabric tends to seal itself, however, if you touch it you will find that the moisture comes through.
They take about 10-20 mins to put up and give you just the right amount of protection from the elements. They dry relatively quickly too.
I wouldn't recommend the compactalite, as it leaks and flaps around the caravan at the sides, we will have to continue to use ours, as we can't afford to replace it at present.
We have had two Outdoor Revolution Easi Porch Awnings and they both leak at the top where the top steel bar fits into the material sections sewn into the roof. I have used seam sealent around the seam section to see if this helps.
Not happy to say the least
------------- Regards
Mick + Tina
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Topic: Porch awnings
