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Hi, I'd just like to know if anyone has one of these lightweight awnings or has owned one. I'm thinking about buying one for myself but am not sure what there like in the wind, obviously it wont be up in heavy wind but its going to have to stand up to a half decent amount. Some people have told me the slightest breeze and they come down but I know what some caravannners are like for exagurating (not everyone I know). Id just like to hear your thoughts? I need a lightweight one cos at present there is only me to put it up!

Cheers

We have a romany 300 porch awning, bought from www.peak-outdoors.co.uk. Only one aluminium pole, no guy ropes, and easy to erect by one person. Used it for first time last weekend and it stayed strong in the hail and rain. Obviously if winds were strong then I wouldn't rate the chances. Did have a couple of leaks on the seam where velcro is but will seam seal it next time. We got ours for a bargain £60 so not a problem putting a bit of seam sealant on. Is a nice size too, can take 4 chairs a a small table.

Going from all year tenting to caravanning, even the full awning is a doddle when compared to wrestling a large tent in adverse conditions!!

Friends of ours have the porchlite awning that you leave on the awning rail. Having kind of helped putting it up, I think it could be done by one person with practice but would take some jigging about to get the guy ropes tensioned properly. It's like putting up a tunnel tent, where you need to peg the front guys out to hold it up and then peg corners before repositioning the guy ropes.

Hope this helps a bit!

We have had one of these for nearly 2 years now and have used it quite a few times. It has been up in rain wind and even a good hail storm and has coped admirably.

You can get them from the banners at the top of the page, Company Directory .

Thanks everyone, I have a porch awning that has steel pole etc that I can do by myself already, the one I am thinking of is about 3m long and 2m wide, you can get them in towsure for about £180.00, the just a lightweight fabric and 3 of the fibreglass poles that thread through it to keep its shape, its a bit like a quater of a circle on the side of your van.

Thanks for all the advice

I have the same as MattCharlie. It held up to the wind rain and snow of Easter with no damage at all. It flapped a bit in the wind though. Used it 12 times last year and it was great. I think the steel storm pole gives it the strength needed to cope with high wind.

Hi Mattcharlie, we have got a suncamp ultima porch  260 awning and its fab,.Its so easy and quick to put up and even quicker to take down, We went to Brean at Easter, in the night the winds got bad really quickly. Me and the other half were woken by them (so i sent him outside to check  everything was ok)   . The awning had blown across the  rail . So today we have purchased some awning rail stops from our local camping shop. Hopefully this will stop it slipping across in the wind. We also went to Skeggy last Sept and oh my god it was bad.   It blew across again in the night but the pegs never faltered 

 There is enough room for table chairs and clothes drier in ours but I know you can get a bigger one and fit a inner tent It is so light and if it gets wet you can shove in in a placcy bag and put it on the line to dry.   If we can do this anyone can!!!!!!  My husband hates awnings!!!!!!!! but must admit this is a good one.  hope this helps PB07

Hi, Recently returned from a weeks break at Brean sands which was windy to say the least most days.Decided to be brave on the third day ( or Stupid ) and put up our porch awning which we managed with the minimal amount of fuss!! It is quite a heavy duty one with a steel pole frame supporting it but we still purchased a Storm Strap to give us that bit of extra confidence.The day before our departure the winds picked up to gale force and ripped the awning from the caravan groove about three foot in length ripping it's length in doing so.   We immediately took the awning down which was a right old game as further damage happened.

The cost of the repair we found out today is nearly the same price as a Romany Porch 300 lightweight awning,so we purchased one today £69:00. Seems a good bit of kit and still intend to use an additional storm securing strap with it ,and probably will buy some rail stops to stop any further movement.

We will certainy weigh up putting up an awning in such severe winds again as the consequences can be costly but too late once up!!  I will post again once we have trialed in May our new Awning with a more informed view.

Roll on the Summer,  Happy camping

Quote: Originally posted by John Evans on 21/4/2008

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We've got the Ultima 260 - easy to put up on my own and stands up to fairly heavy wind.

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Hi John, does your  260 ultima slip across the awning rail too. (in the winds) If so how have you managed to stop it. The awning rail stops we purchased are metal and the other half is worried it will damage the awning rail. thanx PB07 x

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You can buy stops, which fit into the rail and these prevent the awning from moving along.

Cheers,

Jim.

Ultima 260 every time!! Magificant awning, we use it all the time for the winter/stops of less than 2 weeks.

We had very severe weather at easter and the awning did not budge on the rail. It is all down to how tightly the bottom of the awning is pegged under the van. One problem we did have was during a heavy snowfall the weight of the show caused it to collapse in against the side of the van. I opened the door as much as I could and pushed outwards. The snow fell off and the awning sprang back into position.  I would recommend this awning as an effective, quick solution for quick trips and bad weather.