Caravan roll out awnings

"an air awning depending on weather conditions and length of stay."

yes if staying any length of time, always air awning for us, bought this Kampa390 air awning only used twice on ebay for £550, yes you have to do some pegging out but it inflates in only minutes with an electric pump and you can confidently go out for the day and be sure the awning will still be in situ even in some of the roughest of weather. Canopy may be ok if you are over there and the weather is much more predictable, but in the UK major downside is weight 20kgs+ but we put on back seat of car so not a real problem.

I concur with all that has been said, being an ex-user of the 3.5mtr Fiamma Caravanstore for 6 years on my Adria Isonzo, also travelling across Europe and many miles covered in the UK

Someone did suggest to me to transport the bag in situ on the roof of the caravan rather than on the side, which I did. So the last job before setting off was to stand on the step and 'roll' the bag on the roof before locking up and setting off. This obviously eliminated any possible damage to the side of the van and seemed logical to me. It never caused any issues and was easy to roll back into place before using it.

I would add that I'm 6'2" and was fairly fit then, managing one night in a storm, to take the thing down and roll it up in its bag on my own. I would not recommend the item to any single travellers for this reason. Furthermore I wouldn't buy another Fiamma because the bag perished after 6 years and could not be replaced.

Good afternoon every one that has commented.   It has been very useful to have your experiences and opinions.   We are now looking for deals online.   We probably favour a bag roll out as it's the option most like the rigid box type that we have had on motorhomes in the past.  Thank you all for the feedback.

Squeaks Dad

Ive been using my Fiamma Caravanstore awning for about 6 years. It is straightforward to set up in about 10 minutes and does not do any damage to the caravan. It's been very successful.

The problem I've had in recent years is being able to extend the tensioner bars. It has always been difficult and I have always have to use rubber gardening gloves to get enough grip and it's never gone further than the first hole in the bar. On our recent first trip of the year I could not even do this and had to abandon it. I am thinking of changing the canopy as it is showing its age now.

Has anybody used the Thule Omnistor sun canopy which has a lever type tensioner?