Looking to buy a new awning this season. Don't want to spend a fortune. Have had a look on the Dorema website in their factory clearance section and have seen a couple in there that look promising. One is made of Ten Cate Polyester material and is slightly more expensive than the other one that is made of Acrylic material. Does anyone out there know if there is much difference in quality between these two materials and what the pros and cons may be??
Thanks in advance.
I bought a Polyester Green one size 10 from Dorema last year in the their factory clearance sale (see the caravan photo in my profile). The Ten Cate Polyester is thicker and heavier than the Acrylic type but is well worth the money for a brand new awning. I did have a Bradcot Acrylic one for my old caravan which was about a size 4 so it was far too small so understandably I had to buy a new one. There is nothing wrong with the Polyester type apart from being rather heavy to lift and transport (plus the weight of the steel poles as well) but If I had a choice and my budget suited then I would tend to go for the Acrylic type as it's more breathable too. The Polyester can be a bit stuffy in warm weather but of course you can open or remove panels to let in fresh air but on the plus side, the Polyester is warmer at night. The zips are heavy duty and excellent and in all honesty we haven't had a problem with ours at all plus the customer services were extremely helpful. I do advise though that you purchase the pads where the poles clip to the caravan and their storm straps as this does help in windy weather. Don't buy any storm straps that go right over the awning though as this rubs the material in windy weather which leads to the thinning of the material and eventually needing repairs.
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HI ally b,tango55 has said it all really,i bought a factory clearance tencate dorema and it was very good,i got the pads and quicklock poles and it stood up to some serious weather battering,lots of awnings came down inc nr and isabella, but mine was rock solid!! it was used as a seasonal pitch awning and i think i made a good choice for £450,
We had a tencate Dorema. I liked the 'canvas part' and the quick lock pads. We had the fibre poles which IMHO were nowhere near as good as the fibre frames on many other awnings, so was disappointed in this aspect. We did have problem with pooling on he roof - the only awning where I have had this problem, and generally I don't like the ladder pegging points (which sadly seem to be on most awning these days). In the end we went for a Eurovent, better poles and pegging points, but the 'canvas' itself is probably not as good. Whatever one goes for, it's like a van, it's a bit of a compromise.
We have had a Dorema awning with fibre glass poles and quick lock pads and couldnt fault it. Never had any bother with pooling and it stood well in very windy weather.
Thanks for the advice everyone. We have decided to go ahead and get a Dorema with the tencate sides, aluminium poles and quick lock pads. It works out at about £530 which for a size 16 awning is pretty good I think.
Thanks again for your feedback.
I don't think you will be disappointed with the Dorema Ten Cate Polyester awning and is a good price from their factory clearance but please do let us know how you get on and what your comments are.