Oct 12, 2013
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It depends what you want ; do you want a full awning or porch awning , do you want poles or do you want air !!
We had a full awning which took about an hour to put up and get everything assembled but since getting the new van which the full awning did not fit we got a porch awning which is a Kampa ralley 39o pole awning , easy to assemble and sitting in it within 35 to 40 minutes assembled by myself why the wife gets the inside sorted out . Depending on the size of your caravan mine is quite large at 8m so our porch awning is about three quarters of the van so if you have a smaller van it could act as nearly a full awning.

 
Feb 6, 2009
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I've been very satisfied with my NR awing, its of excellent quality ( materials and design) and is about 22 years old now, no leaks or problems at all.

I know the factory suffered catastrophic flood damage at the end of 2015 and lost around £300,000 worth of stock , and machinery.

Due to their location (Todmorden) they were unable to secure flood insurance, and consequently they may have now ceased production.

There are likely to be a number of NR awnings for sale second hand and one of these could be an excellent buy.
Regards to all,
and of course
Happy Caravanning
paws
 
Oct 12, 2013
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Like paws says ,have a look on the selling websites , we got ours off Gumtree about 15 mile from where we live from a retired couple who were selling up and going to a static , we must have got about £7oo worth of kit for I think £25o ! Bargain and some unused still in packets with price tags on !!
 
May 24, 2014
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If you are looking at traditional awnings, they are all pretty similar. The only difference is in quality. Dorema and Bradcott are major players in the field, I personally think Bradcot are better quality having had both, and of course there is Isabella which is undoubtedley the highest quality, but for that quality you pay a premium. You would need to decide if that premium is worth it. As an example, a 950 size Isabella Ambassador will leave little change from £2000. Dorema on the other hand have had a "factory clearance" site running for some years and you can get the same sized awning for as little as £579 see Here. Bradcot are priced somewhere in the middle.

Of course you also have to consider whether pole is the way to go, or do you want an air awning. If this helps, I tried an air awning twice, once in the early days and once this year. On both occassions I came home and sold a once used air awning on Ebay. People will tell you air awnings are simple and quick to put up. For me the hardest thing is pegging out on hard standings as both knees are shot through and of course an air awning still requires pegging, so for me it didnt save anything. Air awnings are quite a bit heavier than a traditional awning without the poles included, and can be quite a lump to lift and feed through the awning rail. They suffer badly from condensation and there have been issues with leaking or unreliable poles. Not everybody has that experience, but its enough to be a consideration. Indeed we had a pole explode in Cornwall this year and when that happens, a running repair is difficult. Sometimes with poles you have a chance.

With porch awnings you have to give consideration to where your windows are on the caravan and will the porch fit between them, unless you dont mind a half covered window. Again, there are three major players and of course and absolute myriad of cheap and nasties.

One of the things I never used to get right was packing away and i struggled for years. Then watching the Isabella "putting up and packing away vids on youtube it revolutionised the way we do things.

See Here and Here

As a point of reference, I had always been taught to close all doors before tentioning the awning. We use the Isabella routine and its so easy. We tention the roof whilst the awning is low, and being a shorty I dont even need steps that way, and it works. Packing away, I dont know why we ever struggled.

It really is horses for courses. If you are doing lots of short weekends, then a porch maybe the way to go, but if like us you go less often but for longer, a full awning possibly works best. If a porch look for one that you can add an annex to if you may need extra space or sleeping.
Tip. If you wait until the end of the season and the manufacturers announce their new models, there are bargains to be had. We have just bought the Ambassador Insignia (Blue for this year only) and the week they announced next years Dawn clour scheme we paid £1499 inc carbonX instead of £1960.

Of course, there are some very good used awnings on the bay of fleas. People change a caravan and often the awning wont fit, and thats their only reason for selling. I wouldnt be afraid to buy one off the bay.

Edit to say...........air awnings can be quite unforgiving on an uneven pitch. I wouldnt have believed just how much until I tried it.
 
Feb 23, 2018
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paws said:
I've been very satisfied with my NR awing, its of excellent quality ( materials and design) and is about 22 years old now, no leaks or problems at all.

I know the factory suffered catastrophic flood damage at the end of 2015 and lost around £300,000 worth of stock , and machinery.

Due to their location (Todmorden) they were unable to secure flood insurance, and consequently they may have now ceased production.

There are likely to be a number of NR awnings for sale second hand and one of these could be an excellent buy.
Regards to all,
and of course
Happy Caravanning
paws

Paws,
Google lists NR Awnings as permanently closed. Their website is unavailable and other sites seem to confirm your post. It looks like they were not able to recover from the flooding citing Chinese imports as making the process of starting from scratch unfeasible. They also stated that there were no spares available from them due to the total loss.
 
May 7, 2012
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Our Bradcot porch awning is over 30 years old and has never been a problem but not sure you can compare a 30 year old item with what they make now but I am not aware of any problems with them.

The advantages of conventional and air awnings are already covered. Basically though you will usually get what you pay for. There are some very cheap models out there but in the main they will not last like the more expensive ones. Probably the best advice is to go for the best you can afford. Many are over £1,000 so before buying anything at that price I would make sure you it is what you need. Look carefully at what you will put in it and use it for, to see what size you need and then draw up a short list of what fits.
 
Nov 11, 2009
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Unless you want a full size I would buy a little used Isabella Magnum. Bigger than porch, smaller than full size. A midi. Spares are readily available as are accessories and they are the top quality. And you don’t need to change every time you swop your caravan. Financial saving here. Look on CMHC classifieds for some.
 
May 7, 2012
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To me the advantage of a porch is that if you change caravans it should still fit. If you buy one though check the length to make sure you do no have one that finishes over a window.
 
Sep 4, 2017
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I use my SunnCamp for short stays, very easy to erect and gives quite good protection!
Sunncamp_260_2.JPG
 
May 24, 2014
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Wouldnt it be great if you could buy a full awning, with an annex and that annex could be used as a porch.
The land of wishful thinking.
 

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