I'm looking for a full awning 1050 in size. I want an Issabella, but the wife thinks that we can get an equally good awning for less! Is the Issy really worth the extra? any thought would be appreciated.
Isabella are the best, by a long way, you won't get equal at any price.
However, there are much better value awnings around which will last quite adequately.
We had an Isabella for our first caravan, sold them together at 18 years old, the Isabella as good as new.
I now buy caravans with the intention of keeping ten years - I wouldn't "waste" my money on an Isabella unless I intended keeping the caravan twenty years - most people change far more frequently than me.
Ebay is always a good place to look for secondhand awnings,i picked up a 1 year old Isabella Magnum with annex,inner tent and groundsheet used once perfect condition for
We have had Isabella in the past, and yes they are very good,we now have a Ventura, made by Isabella but cost less, you don't get all the Isabella bits and pieces, like a round window in the door, but as a good value awning, with the backing of Isabella we think they take some beating, we are on our second Ventura, bought as unused via e bay.
No idea of your outfit but you may wish to check out weights as well when making a decision. A full awning of top quality cloth is going to come in around the 30 kg mark, which is probably too much to carry in the van.
I admit I am on the 3rd awning now as I keep looking for a lighter version, which does of course usually mean lighter cloth and therefore less durable.
Am actually now seriously looking at a sunshade type as it will give the cover/shade I need and not be either a b....r to erect or give me a hernia lifting.
A small flimsy suncamp(?) porch awning which is brilliant for weekends. or when it is tanking it down with rain as I can put it up on my own in less than 10 mins.
A Bradcot porch awning for dry long weekends. It has easy poles but I find it flidly to put up on my own. If we stay longer than a few days we always go for the full awning, which is Isablella.... In my opinion the quality of the Isabella far exceeds that of the other two.
We went for an Isabella Capri Lux awning as this uses a lighter weight fabric, which we have been using for the last 7 years, and is still as good as new. Unlike a lot of others we see, it also fits well every time. The size you want would be about 43kg with fibreglass frame-the lightest in their range
Apache awnings made by Cabanon of France are really good and half the price of isabella. We have a 1050 and a smaller one which works as a porch both on Alloy frames and they are really easy to erect etc.
I agree with the other posts Isabella are by far the best awnings available, but as the saying goes you pay for what you get they are considerably dearer than other makes.
If you are looking to spend a bit less Inaca awings sold by Discover are a quality product as are the Ventura awnings which are a subsidiary of Isabella.
Thanks for all the advice. It looks like Izzy comes out on top with most. However, i will certainly be having a look at the Ventura as i have seen some on site and they do look good. And i never realised that Cabanon made Apache as i see their tents regularly so worst a look too.