I have both now having revently bought a Kampa Fiesta 350 having taken on advice and fear for my marrage. The thought is to use the Kampa for short durations and the full awning for longer ones, However in reality do many bother with the full awning?
We do exactly as you say. We too have a Fiesta 350 and can get it up and fitted out in about 30 minutes so it is used for weekends and anything else less than a week. Otherwise we use or Dorema Exclusive full awning for all other trips.
------------- Nigel
March 2012 - Dove Meadows
6th July Moving to Hayle
Nigel will your Fiesta no do for the longer durations. We have the annex aswell and the plan was to put the dog cage in there. I beleive the 350 is 3.5 mtr long and 2.5 mtr in depth its hard to put into prespective at the moment and is that too small?
Pretty much the same as above - the porch awning for weekends etc (Kampa Rally 250) and a full Isabella for a week or more. We bought the Isabella (a second hand bargain) after sweltering in the Kampa in France last June - it was like an oven even with everything open - due to the polyester I guess. The Isabella gives much more shade and is much cooler and the panels move about more giving more ventilation options.
If I had to do it again I would probably buy a reasonably sized Isabella porch/part awning instead of a full awning - we don't really need all the space a full awning gives us as there are only two of us !
We had both but on every trip we kept taking the porch awning. Why?
Smaller so takes up less room in the car
Lighter so we can carry more other gear
Plenty big enough (400cm long) for the two of us - dog sleeps in the van (Schnauser)
We don't tend to sit in the awning a lot. Maybe meals (if its warm enough), but generally out walking all day and just need a dry area.
Slightly less time to put up and take down
Less of an area to get dried before packing away
.......so we sold the full awning
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
We have had full and porch awnings. But do prefer the Kampa Rally 260.
Oh is disabled so find it much quicker to put up and we can still put in 1 big table, 2 chairs and 4 stools, still have room to move in it.
We have small porch (for muddy wellies & wet coats in winter), large porch (Kampa Rally 390 - use in summer for anything 3 nights or less) & full awning (4 nights or more). They all have their uses, advantages & drawbacks as others have said.
The full awning's my favourite tho - more sturdy in bad weather, cooler in good weather & masses of space. Tho it is heavy.
We actually have a part awning - Isabella Magnum and a full Bradcot Active easy alloy awning.
The part awning is for most of our short breaks in the UK, we have two young children so it gives us more space than a porch awning and I like sitting in it after the children in bed.
The full awning is for week long breaks and abroad - its great because the panels all zip out easily so it can be an awning one minute and a sun canopy the next. We are very happy with our choice of awnings.
Tend to do as most have said. We use the Kampa Fiesta for short stays, and the Eurovent Sancerre for a week or more. Although the Sancerre takes longer to put up, it' not that much longer. The Kampa is lighter and is easier to dry out at home. I do feel it takes longer to dry when it is in use, but that could just be my imagination. We like both awnings. IMHO the Kampa is the best small/porch/lightweight awning we have had. The Sancerre is fine - no better or worse than many others.
I have had and used a full awning for many years but have always fancied having a porch awning for shorter breaks as it appeared easier and quicker to put up.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
I bought a really nice Pyramid porch awning a couple of years ago and I can count on one hand the number of times I've used it. There are only ten less pegs to bang in compared to my full awning, and getting it to sit nice and flush to the caravan sides is a real mare. Finally getting the poles tensioned is awkward even with a tensioner compared to my Bradcot with the Easy Pole system as I have arthritis in both hands.
So from my perspective, my advice would be to go for a full awning everytime.
I agree with Vic, we've got both and the porch always seems more hassle, there's as many poles to erect plus only a few less pegs and we seem to spend more time getting it flush to the van., if you're going to put one up it may as well be a big one, awnings that is.....
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Topic: Full or porch Awning??
