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we have a full awning and a porch awning

we love the extra space in the full awning we have a camping cupbaord that we put towels in so that we can free up locker space also we can all sit in the awning to eat

also dry wet clothes in there and dump shoes etc 

weekends porch

3 day s or more we use the full awning  

I neVer think that the full awning takes long to put up as i help with the main bit then dh does the pegging whilst i do something more important (like make the tea !!!)

dh says it takes between 30-40 mins to put the full awning up and 15-20 for the porch awning

we have a porch and full awning, we have only used the porch awning once this weekend, we normally use the full because of the dog and all the other bits you can have outside,just becarful what you leave in the awning as last year people were having stuff stollen from there awnings while they slept, but like you said it does take some time to set up and dry when you get home, the porch awning was good due to setting up in the rain but we would rather have the full awing.

you could always by a 2nd full awning off ebay to see how you get on with it.

mike 

We had a full awning but found we always crammed things to one half of it. Now have a kampa Rally 260,  due to hubbys health much easier to put up and take down if on my own.

Our friends are just in the process of buying a porch awning because they've decided to only use their full awning for 2 week holidays - they hate the amount of time it takes to setup.

Personally, that's one of the main reasons why we gave up tents, so we'll probably stick with our porch awning.

We've always used our full awning but we've got a new larger 'van so bought a porch awning for weekends.  I love all the space in a full awning though a lot of it is taken up by a tent for my ds to sleep in but hate having to put it up :(  We store just about everything in there meaning more room in the 'van for what we want.  I'm not sure how much room we will actually have in the porch as we haven't used it yet but i'm hoping that there will be room for most of our usual stuff.  It's got an annexe on it for ds to sleep in and hopefully will take a lot less time and effort to erect than a full awning.  For week or more breaks we will use the full awning.  We've even managed without an awning for holidays but i admit to missing the space of the awning.

I'd say that getting a full awning is worth it and i'm guessing that you think it would be too otherwise you wouldn't be asking. 

hth

We went the other way and now only ever use the porch awning, I think it depends what you plan to use it for, ours is only storage for chairs, leccy coolbox & the bin, if its raining we sit in the van and if its nice we sit outside, we never sat in the awning even when it was a full one.

I cant see we'll ever buy a full one again.

We too can vouch for the Kampa Rally 260 porch awning, we have just tried it out for the first time and we love the extra width over a normal porch,and it gives us a good 8ft square of living space.

The disavantage of a full awning is that in most cases its non transfereable to a new van when you buy one, which makes the upgrade even more expensive if the new van comes without one.

Julia

Much depends on your set-up. With us there is just the two of us in a 4 berth van.

For short (weekend) breaks we choose from, No awning, Porch Awning, Sun Canopy (with or without sides). The porch awning is the most likely choice. Don't like flapping sides and wanted something secure so went for an Apache with poles but goes up quite quick and mainly a one-person job. Like to have a bit of "ouside space", fit in a table and 2 chairs and room for wet coats, boots etc.

For longer breaks would tend to use the full awning, ours in 925cm. As well as Table and chairs have tall storage cupboard for extra clothes that don't fit easily in van. Additional "drinks" fridge, fishing equipment with rods left assembled, BBQ set up and ready to move outside when required, large rubbish bag. Great feeling of space, eat all meals in awning and also relax there in evening, reading, watching world go by, etc.