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as you all know (by now!!) i am new to all this malarkey!

can somebody explain to me why you would want both types of awnings?  surely if you're putting a small one up it wouldn't take much longer to put the big one up?  and what's the use of the small one really ... they look tidgy widgy to me?

tia

aj x

Hi, The full awnings do take a bit longer to assembe than a small porch type and they do weigh considerably more. The porch ones are mostly used for a one or two night stay wheras the full awnings are for a much longer stay. We have two awnings and use them both quite regularly......I wouldn't go to all the bother of fitting the larger one for one or two nights.

We use the large awning as an eating and living area in nice, summer weather. 

In cold, wet, wintry weather we use the small awning for muddy shoes and wet weather gear.

The porch awning lets much more light into the caravan and you can see out of all the front windows. In use it depends upon what you need, for years we used a Combi porch awning and in the end opted for a fullawning because the Combi was just too small, it needed an couple of feet  on the width and two or three feet on the length. It does not take much longer to put up the full awning, though the extra weight means a bit more work. When we bought the new van I bought a full awning for the summer and a small porch for the winter, this year I bought a porchlite plus to try it. To be honest I keep thinking I will trade in the big awning (950cm )  for a 775cm and buy some extra poles to make it into a porch, but so far I have not done so. One big advantage of the full awning is that it cuts out virtually all the drafts, a porch always leaves a gap between the caravan and the awning, which means that in a high wind it is much more difficult for the wind to get into the awning and lift it, though the extra size of the awning gives it a greater area for the wind to work on.

We have done the full awning and porch awning and did'nt like either.  My van is 14ft and the full awning (Trio Family) made it so dark inside.  The porch awning (NR Sardinia) was of little use to us as it's fairly small.

We then saw the Sunncamp Contempo, which I understand is new out this year.  This is a light weight awning, supposedly a porch awning but it's huge!  We have an 8' x 10' groundsheet in it which does'nt quite cover the ground area, to give you an idea of the size of the awning.

It's very light inside, has 7 windows in total, 2 side doors and 1 large front door that opens up the whole of the front.  It has roll down fabric windows so no fiddling about having to put up curtains.  It's big enough to sleep others in if required, don't think there's a bedroom inner suitable for it though.  Simple to put up - 2 flexi poles then just pegging.

Advantages are that it's not such an effort as putting up a big full awning and much bigger than a porch awning.

We're really pleased with it and it suits our needs perfectly.

Jazzycats.