Which awning?

[TheWesterns]

Hello,

Weve just bought a xplore 526 caravan and are after an awning for it. Were complete newbies to this and is our first caravan.
We have been told we need a 965/970cm awning, thr question is which ones the best to buy??

Thanks

 

[Lovo]

Hi TheWesterns

I've had many awnings over the years, full and porch. We recently bought our new van and also purchased a new porch awning. We went for the Dorema Oslo 275. A great awning well made and easy to put up. We site our van for most of the year so when we go to France for the summer (5 weeks) we bring a light weight awning. It all depend on what you want the awning for. But for under 400 pounds you could do a lot worse than the dorema.

Good luck Tony

 

[Mel]

Hi The Westerns. Welcome to the forum. There are broadly two cat agonies of awning:
Full awnings run all the way around the awning rail and you need to buy the right size for your van. In your case 965/970. Full awnings give you lots of space, but can take awhile to put up; great for longer hols, but maybe not for short trips.

Porch awnings run only run across the flat top bit of the awning rail. They tend to be lighter weight and quicker to put up. You have to check the size if you don't want the sides falling across a window. Porch awnings come as poled or air awnings. See the threads on here about air awnings

Many folks have a full awning and a porch awning and use whichever is best for the length of stay. All awnings come in a range of qualities and prices from cheap and cheerful to expensive heavy duty like Isabella. Really you need to think about what you need an awning for ( they are not compulsory) and shop accordingly.

In case you haven't heard: awnings are known as " the divorce in a bag" by caravanners :cheer:
Mel

 

[Thingy]

Mel has pretty much summed it up although I will disagree one point. If you take Bradcot, Dorema and Isabella full awnings, there is virtually no difference in weight, and an Isabella Capri or Ambassador is classed as a touring awning just as are the offerings from Bradcot and Dorema. The description heavy duty I would replace with quality, but you pay for this as in any other item. All three companies also do a heavier type awning, i.e. an all season awning or an awning suitable for a seasonal pitch.

There are other makes of course but in full awnings, thats the main three as I see it. There are lightweight awnings of varying quality, but I would suggest if you are going for a full awning, get a proper one. The other option as has been mentioned is a porch awning. Again these come in varying sizes and quality. One thing that is often mentioned with porches is that the way they sit against the van, very often one side will half cover a window, and a lot of people dont like that.

Once you have decided on either a full or porch, there are other things to consider. The poles. You can opt for aluminium, light and weak, steel, heavy and strong, or carbon fibre, light and very strong. There are also air beam awnings, no poles, just inflatable beams.

If I were you, I would have a look at my nearest large caravan dealer who are likely to have a good display of all types of awning. Take your time and get it right, its an expensive purchase.

If asked about personal preference, I have in the past always had a full awning. I bought one of the better air awnings and used it once. I personally hated it and immediately got rid of it and went back to a full awning. My preference is the Isabella, I have had four of them now and they have all been superb.

 

[Mike_S]

We're going to Glossop Caravans this afternoon to collect a new awning ordered a couple of weeks ago. Having been round several other dealers in the past few months they have the largest selection on display - I guess somewhere between 35 and 40. Helpful staff were willing to let me try an air-awning, which is what we've gone for.
Another alternative is to leave choosing any awning until October then go to the caravan show at the NEC where you'll see dozens more on display.
Mike

 

[Jaydug]

Don't rule out buying second hand. Many people when changing their van sell the awning separately. Four years ago I bought my Trio awning off ebay and in spite of having had it erected for four months every winter, it's still giving good service.

 

[Craigyoung]

That's true , we have an Isabella full size awning , paid nearly next to £900 for it, only been up four or five times in the last three year and we're thinking about just going with our porch awning but trying to sell it is a different matter, they are going for about a £1oo or £2oo on eBay so have a look there first , you're getting nearly new on eBay and hardly used .
Good luck .

Craig .

 

[Hutch]

Same here, recieved a new Dorema full awning with our first caravan, too big for the type of caravanning we do, tried to sell it in the magazines several times, in the end put it on E bay, sold it on the first day in for £50, lucky bloke got a 5 year old used once awning. I wanted the space in the shed

 

[saint-spoon]

I can not extol the virtues of an air framed awning. They are infinitely simpler to erect and I have been putting up framed awnings and tents for the past 40+ years. Instead of worrying about getting the poles in the right order and fitting the frame inside the fabric (divorce in a bag) you just slot the awning into the runner and pump up the frame. I put my porch awning up in ten minutes on my own no problems. They both hold up to the weather really well as well because the frames are flexible rather than rigid. But as Thingy says they are not for everyone. And as has been mentioned before get along to a show or bigger dealer and have a look at what you would like or take the caravan out and about and have a look at what other people have got before you commit. Camp sites are a wonderful place to see what is out there and most campers and caravanners are more than willing to show you around what they have and tell you the ups and downs of the equipment; a dealer alas will only tell you the positives because they want a sale.

 

[Thingy]

Just an addition to this, some of the smaller porches and air beams WILL NOT take an annex, if in the future you may need one as anextra sleeping compartment, make sure you get one that WILL take an annex.

 

[Raywood]

Given you have not had a caravan before it is difficult to know if you need an awning at all and if you do if it is a full one or a porch. My idea would be to simply go away for the first time without one and see what if any more space you need. You can then best judge what would suit you best.
Frankly when comparing awnings like everything else in life you get what you pay for. Cheaper awnings mean less quality but may suit your budget better. If you buy one it is likely not to last as long but will still work.
Personally unless you are desperate for space I would go with a good size porch awning. Quite simply this should work on any replacement caravan where a full one is unlikely to, but it depends on what you actually find you need.

 

[Thingy]

Thats a very good point about full awnings being size specific to the van for which it was purchased. Something maybe that we all take for granted and dont realise new caravanners wont know things like that.

 

[saint-spoon]

Good point well made Thingy, I don't suppose that most folk that are new to caravanning think of awning annexes because it isn't something that springs to mind unless you know of their existence.

 

[Stevel]

Just a thought, can one use Co2 gas cylinders to inflate an air awning ?

 

[Hutch]

You could but CO2 gets very cold whilst expanding and you could suffer freeze burns. The air pumps work really well wether Hand like mine or the ones like the Kampa breeze. Safer in the long run. And I suppose you would be polluting the Atmosphere, The Tree huggers don't like that.

 

[saint-spoon]

Just a thought, can one use Co2 gas cylinders to inflate an air awning ?

in theory yes... but I wouldn't. The handraulic pump works easy enough and there are electric driven ones. the key thing is that you have a safet relief so that you don't ovewr inflate and burst the air frame.