Hi,
We will be getting our caravan next weekend and as we are first timers we would like a bit of awning advice. We will be taking our van away for weekends mostly but have a week booked in August. We don't know whether to get a full size awning or a porch one, obviously porch ones are cheaper, but would we be daft to spend out on a porch one and then find that we need a full size one later on? Any suggestions greatly recieved!
Andrea
Think you'll be surprised actually...coz there's not such a lot of difference in the price between a full or porch awning. Hubby wanted to get a porch awning just incase, (aint ever gonna happen with his coaching committments), we ever managed to get away for just a few days at a time and the porch one would suffice.
So, I looked at the Dorema ones, coz it's a Dorema full one we've got, and there was only about £100 difference! Of course, it would be little bit lighter in the towing weight department, but not that much cheaper. OK, so a £100 might sound a lot, but not when you're talking several hundreds for the full size one anyway, (around the £500 mark for ours).
I'm with Skatty, go the whole hog to begin with if you can afford it, coz you'll defo want more space once you're living with it.
Thanks for the quick reply! I think that the main obstacle of awnings is the erecting isn't it? Any advice on the best sort to buy for ease and price would be appreciated.
We've had a Telt Larsen, (really old and probably no longer in production), that we got secondhand with our first caravan of our own and that was......a pig to get up! Had to colour code each pole so we knew which bit went into which other bit when on site. Worked it all out in the garden putting up three hooks on the outside side of the garage wall! Handy for erecting it again too when it needed re-proofing.
But the Dorema ones are really simple. You also get decent diagrams with them which is a big help. Didn't need to colour code these poles and this time we've gone for the aluminium poles for less towing and lugging about weight.
Hubby lays all our poles out on the grass in their proper formation, before he starts putting 'em togther and that seems to work for us.
Then we thread the awning itself in through the awning channel thingy, he then puts the poles up against the van and pulls the material over it. Pegs, in, curtains up, grounsheet down and time for a cuppa coz the kettle's always boiled by the time we're done.
Most modern ones are fairly simple now but word of warning about the PDQ ones, (Pretty Damned Quick), while they look handy, they haven't had very good reviews on here. So ya might wanna do some research on them if that's what you were considering. Don't wanna waste your money, even though they seem much cheaper than other makes, it could be more expensive in the long run.
Other's that always seem to get a lot of positive stuff said about 'em are the NR ones, never used one meself, but they are a bit cheaper but this doesn't affect their quality by all accounts.
If we didn't already have the Dorema annexe, we may well have gone for an NR one when we got a bigger tin tent last year.
We just got one of the new light weight awnings as we thought if we but a full sized heavy weight we would get divorced after the first set-up!! They are so easy to erect, just like the modern tents. The room is great and we do spend more time in the awning, eating etc.
Personally i would get one of them porch awnings that are made out of tent material and are put up quickly. although we have a full size awning for our main 2 week holiday all other weekends we will use the smaller one. Sunncamp do a ultima 260 which is reasonably priced but today i bought one made by basecamp for £99 which appears to be the same. previous to that we had a porch awning with metal poles which took just as long as a full size awning to put up.
we bought a porch awning but have to admit that OH prefers putting the big awning up even for weekends. We have a bradcot awning with the telescopic poles so it's easy enough to put up. At this rate I reckon we'll end up selling the porch one, we'll see how it goes. I think with the knowledge we have now we'd get the full awning and maybe get a cheap second hand porch awning later on
------------- -x- Diane -x-
May 13 - Cala Gogo, St Cyprien (didn't go, hubby too ill to travel)
May 14 Ranc Davaine
August 14 Les Sablons
August 13 - Camping Playa Brava, Pals
We bought the caravan at the start of the year. We wanted a porch thing for stoing wet/muddy stuff. The 2nd hand one we got (cheap) was OK but we realised it was too small for our needs. We bought an Inaca (see the gallery pic) it's a half awning. This is really useful, big enough for sitting in, putting a camp bed up for the odd night and cooking in, ideal for the swift breaks we grab in the UK as it is easily erected. Even so we still got a full sized awning, we use it for anything longer than 3 nights, it is big enough to hang a bedroom in for our offspring and gives her privacy (plus I don't have to look at the mess....). The awning will come into its own during the long summer hols - 4 weeks in France, where we will need space.
We bought the COmpactalite Awning from the UK camp site shop, £149.99. We think it's fab and only weighs 11 kg, comes in great hold all. It was much bigger than I thought it would be, recommend it. Took 3 days to arrive by courier.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: awning advice
