Awning or not??
just come back from our first trip out in our old caravan which we bought second hand last september ,we managed okay and got things sorted eventually , but ended up not putting awning up(it came with van ) and we were going to give it a go but hubby said
"we dont really need it" weve had 28" motorhome in past and never needed awning then and we dont have kids or dogs so decided we didnt bother putting it up so would you say awnings are mostly for families or people with pets ? Cos we managed fine 
and felt
like we had oodles of space:) enjoyed it too , (surprisingly)lol
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Its personal choice really, we had both porch and full awning. Didn't often put full one up unless we knew we were staying for more than 5 days, porch we would put up for anything more than 1 night at either end of the season, just allowed us to sit outside
for a bit longer in the evenings, also somewhere to hang coats and put wet shoes etc.Wouldn't have been without an awning when we had the boys at home.
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Cheers tammygirl i think i feel the urge to use it because it came free with the caravan perhaps if id had to go out and buy one i might have had second thoughts: or bought one and never used it, great if youve got kids tho and dogs as they can double up
your living space, ill hang on to it just in case (something else to fill garage workshop and shed lol) along with aquaroll ,wastehog , and three different caravan steps regards mrs bc0 -
Agree that this is personal choice. We can 'manage' perfectly well without our awning but there are times when I've been away solo and had a full awning up. I use it for my table and chairs, outdoor coats, footwear, dustpan, brush, rubbish bin, electric
griddle, etc. etc.It just gives you more living space and, perhaps more on the continent, you can live outdoors and leave the bed made up.
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Mmm decisions decisions, lol being the eternal pessimist i fear the wind whipping up and blowing my awning to kingdom come!!!! has that ever happened to anyone?
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Mmm decisions decisions, lol being the eternal pessimist i fear the wind whipping up and blowing my awning to kingdom come!!!! has that ever happened to anyone?
Been there, done that!! Happened when putting it up. Huge burst of wind whipped the awning out of our hands and up over the caravan roof. Has also happened with a canopy.
Although we now go away for anything upto 12 wks at a time we no longer use an awning although we have both a porch and a full sized one.
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When er went to France in 2014 we used our Rollaway awning (a bit like the Thule but we had to roll the roof out by hand). We used the roof at all the sites we stayed on and only added the sites for 3 days when we had some wet weather just outside Geneva.
Very useful for providing shelter for our table and chairs, washing up stand, drinks fridge and recycling containers etc.David
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We have a roll out sun / rain canopy and find that sufficient. However, it is purely personal choice. There are only the two of us and we don't have dogs, so there is plenty of space in a 7.3m van. We came to caravaning from 30 years of tenting and that sort of controled our thinking, as I had no desire to fight with a tent ever again.
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Now have a Fiamma Caravanstore (roll out sun awning) and Kampa awning. Which we take depends on where we are going and season. Off to Italy in May so Caravanstore but if UK well it's Kampa for us; actually refitted Caravanstore to caravan yesterday!.
All a matter of choice but it is nice to sit in the shade/shelter outside when away - isn't that all part of our hobby0 -
As others have said, its personal choice. Also concider the weather and WIND. Two years ago I was on a site where there was a chap who was unfortunate enough to suffer a dislocated shoulder trying to put his awning away in windy conditions. There are some places up here where unforcast sea breezes can get to near gale force locally with no warning. Same year at another site, several awnings suffered damage due to those very same sea breeze effect conditions. Just something to be aware of, not scared of.
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When the children were young they slept in an inner tent in the awning, then they had their own tents, then they left home ..... So, we went from full awning, to leaving the sides out, to Isabella canopy to wind-out Fiamma..... and life got better and better!
I don't envy watching people struggle with awnings.As we now travel almost exclusively on the continent we find a canopy ideal as a sun and rain shield but beware, we have seen a tropical storm in France destroy 50% of the awnings and canopies (fortunately we arrived the next day so missed it). We never
go out without fixing hold-down straps and I have just bought some for the Thule on the new Motorhome.0 -
I'll never forget our first trip with a brand new Lunar Clubman. Set up the awning, went into Loo to do a bit of shopping, the heavens opened and we returned to find it collapsed with a carbon-fibre pole through the wall of our new van! Personally I won't
put mine up for less than about 5 nights, not worth the hassle. Looking to buy an air-pro next, that looks much easier, after all, we do this to relax don't we?0 -
WE like the awning, particularly in bad weather. Lovely sitting in the awning listening to the battering rain and the howling winds.
Our awning has served us well even in Hebridean Gales. I bought mine with steel poles, so that I can be confident that it will not be damaged by the weather.
Just takes less than half an hour to erect and IMO is well worth the time spent.
K ,
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