Caravan Sun Canopies

I would avoid the lightweight ripstop nylon type canopies. Whilst they are surprisingly strong and water proof they make a lot of noise and just don't  "feel" right. 

I personally cannot see the benefits of the blow up canopy. They seem an expense for no benefit, but that's just my narrow minded opinion.

We started out 20 years ago with a Fiamma Caravanstore and have used once ever since. For the last 10 years it has been permanently on the back of the van as a second shade/cover for bikes/laundry rack etc.

On the door side we use a small lightweight air awning or a canopy that we travel with at all times as they are so lightweight. The Isabella Shadow is our choice and we have owned three different sizes for different vans. When it rains you can lift the centre pole, but we have had greater success with lifting the ends and dropping the centre to a v that diverts water.

If you did not mind swapping between awning and canopy before you left home then I would use the Caravanstore on the door side as well. If you had to swap it over or fit on site it is a bit awkward.

The ideal for us would be a wind out for the door side as you can still fit a regular awning  in your vans awning track or a lightweight in the front edge of the wind out. At £1300+ I cannot justify one though.

 

Colin

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Ah, the old “ canopy conundrum”!

The inescapable fact is that what suits for one type of trip, may not for another-so whilst we have Isabella Magnum and Sun Shine Plus, have also considered getting a Shadow for those overnight/short duration stops.

We did use a Caravanstore, but when staying longer had to remove it to fit the awning which was too much of a faff and the Magnum has to sit across a window which is not ideal, whilst the Sun Shine is great but a real pain to use as a full awning due to the system of attaching the front.Last year whilst on an Italian site about 20 Dutch vans arrived and it seemed every one had a roof mounted wind out canopy which Jean immediately thought a great way of avoiding the , seemingly inevitable, awning rage!

As they are roof mounted the awning channel can still be used, but it’s a lot of money for something which would get limited use as mentioned.

 

I tried them , but could never get the rain to come down straight or the wind to stop blowing sideways - and the sun wouldn’t move to where I wanted it to be. So we gave them all up and at night the chairs went underneath.Minimalism.

I have the isabella shadow plus 1 end,works for me.......lightweight,just minutes to erect and with the one end can block wind,rain etc.My only fault with it is that the legs are slightly short for my swift elegance so I use stackapads under them.

We have used a Caravanstor on our previous caravans and on our two motorhomes have had Fiamma wind out sun canopies. The wind out one is a lot easier! Don't forget they are quite heavy so you have to take that into account. We tend not to leave it out overnight as it can flap around in the wind, even if light. Having said that its hardly any effort to wind it in and out. Fiamma do sell a device called a Magic Pro Rafter (?) which stops the flapping but its something else to carry and the sections are quite long for storage.

David

Cheap and cheerful Sun Camp sun awning.

Goes up in around 3 minutes and down folded away in about the same.

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Thanks everyone, and I mean all of you, for the different opinions and also recommendations.

I hadn’t heard of some if the options and I’ve already checked each of them out.

Trouble is, I still don’t know which to choose! Lol

Im sort of inclined to go with a Fiamma 360XL, just because they look good quality, seem easy to use and can be left fixed in place for the season. I think this is the type I noticed on the motorhomes recently and the people seemed to take them up and down quickly which I suppose with a Motorhome you need to.

But then I like the apparent simplicity of something like the Sunncamp or Maypole basic options….   Oh and the inflatable….!

Im very aware if the saying ‘buy cheap buy twice’ so I tend to always buy the best in the first place, but I want an easy life and quick setup and take down which is what we have at the moment……

Just an update, Ive ordered the Fiamma caravanstore 360xl with matching ground sheet, storm pegs and hanging hooks which will be handy. 

I was going for the 440 version, but you have to leave 15cm free space below the awning rail for it to sit.  We have a door light which is within 10cm so it may not have fitted snuggly if at all so I decided better safe than sorry.