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If you have seem my earlier post you know we have wavered between 2k or 5k. 2k is our real budget so we must be sensible in these 'crunch' times.

That said we have no idea what to do if we buy a caravan without an awning. Any suggestions ?

Do we have to buy a certain type of awning for certain caravans ? We will be buying an old caravan so your help greatly appreciated.

You actually buy an awning to fit the caravan you own- as the awning is based on the size of the caravan- you actually measure the length from the ground up along the awning rail to the ground at the other end and that is what you base your purchase on- now you can buy a porch awning that is an awning that is a basic size as it covers the doorway (acts as a porch) and is then pegged down.

Really depends on what you want- if you just want something say 8' x 6' choose a porch but if you want to eat in the awning or have loads of outside space buy the full awning and dont forget to buy some hard ground pegs too as sometimes ordinary pegs will not go easily into hard ground and that believe me is frustrating.

I expect others will advise you too and I hope that I am correctly advising you

Hi shamrock, any awning that is the correct size will fit your van, you don't need to buy a particular brand, its all down to preference and price really.

Dont think though that because you're buying avan that you NEED an awning granted they are very useful if you are staying for more than the weekend but sometimes the effort involved in putting it up and taking it down outweighs the good and then if its raining when taking it down you need to get it dried out asap!

We've got bot full awning and a great wee porch awning that we use for weekends its handy to have somewhere to take off the shoes, jackets etc.

But remember to measure your van correctly before buying an awning, the guide is below.

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=22

Bryan

Absolutely superb, just what I needed to know.

We might be lucky and get an old van with an awning, but who knows what it could be like. Our trips will be for 2 weeks abroad mostly and then bits inbetween so we will want the awning for the longer trips.

Thanks again

Spearo1a makes an excellent point about the ground pegs though - whatever you decide to buy, make sure to have some hard ground pegs.  We got caught out last year - if you can believe it - in Malvern (Blackmore) - the ground was like rock & a darn nightmare - most of the pegs bent or broke.  We invested in 1 set of hard ground pegs for use with the porch awning & we're going to buy another set for the full awning as 1 set isn't enough.

We bought (actually, my folks bought for us) a full awning via ebay - guy based in Cowbridge - £180 new bradcot classic, factory second - apparently had dirty marks on it, but we never found them, & all his seconds come direct from bradcot, so although he's never seen them, the manufacturers tell him what the faults are - usually minot vent zips, that kind of thing (think he was A1 awnings or some such).

Our porch awning (sunncamp) was again, through ebay (Penine leisure or somehting like!!) delivered really fast, but, think is there anything else you need & ring him (details on his ebay page) as he will do offers at prices cheaper than ebay listing & is quite open about it. 

Really fast delivery on both.  We have both as we use the full awning for when we're away for a week or longer & the porch awning for weekends - heck - we have to have somewhere to put all the baby stuff!!