After procrastinating for a while I’m finally getting around to sorting a family tent. It needs to comfortably sleep 5′ have generous living space, be sturdy, weatherproof, reliable and easy to erect.

Been looking at Vango Tigris 800 XML Here, any other recommendations for similar price? All experience, good and bad would be appreciated,

I got myself a vango airbeam eternity – erects in 5 mins and loads of space.

The airbeam are super expensive no?

I’ve a Gelert Horizon 8 which I’ve only used once if it’d help out

Like this one with the additional porch

I’ve got a Coleman Coastline deluxe 8 man tent with built in groundsheet.

Looks fab and is very spacious, but takes off in the slightest breeze!

bump

I got a Vango Tigris 800xl last month .. Go Outdoors had last years on offer and with the special weekend discount at the time we got it for only £217!!! Got the carpet half price from them too but couldn’t get hold of a canopy from them so paid full price for that £105.

I doubt you’d find one now – we got It sent down from Glasgow – but might be worth a look. Don’t go by the website saying they have one in stock tho – ring the shop.

Anyway, we’ve yet to use the tent but we have put it up in the garden and I think even at the price you are looking at you won’t be disappointed. It’s a fair size and the additional canopy is massive (if you were looking at getting that). You could park you car in it!
Here’s a few pics of it in the garden

Canopy

We’ve got this a Vango Marista 700 and its awesome. Lovely big lounge area with a huge door either dude of the main entrance (with fly screens) … Great for watching the lil uns play whilst relaxing with a G&T 🙂
… A word of warning tho, it is a BIG tent much bigger than it looks in this pic… We’ve found that some campsites “tent” pitches are a tight fit for it .

Not sure how many rooms you need but I can recommend anything by Outwell. We bought the Nevada M last year from Go Outdoors and we are really happy with it.

Have a look in Decathlon if there’s a store near you.

i have one of these. It excellent

Got to laugh. That blue tent above is blooming massive. Doesn’t really fit in with what I see as camping but each to there own.

Fwiw my old vango 500 (I think) pitches in about 5mins. Doesn’t take up much room and has been all over Europe campsites. I can’t see the point in buying huge tents which cost so much, having all the gear etc etc. may as well stay in a hotel

I can’t see the point in buying huge tents which cost so much, having all the gear etc etc. may as well stay in a hotel

Depends how you define camping i guess.
this tent was a bargain as I’ve mentioned. We nearly bought it last year when it was full price so was an easy decision for us.

that aside, we wanted a big tent anyway.

It pitches in 20 mins, packs into an unbelievably small holdall given its size and When you have 2 Labradors and plenty of gear a cramped tent just becomes annoying.

I took a punt on this Vango something or other 800 last year at a car boot sale, bought it for £20 not knowing if it was complete/knackered etc and it turned out to be a good punt. It was bought off a fat family, and i reckon it was used once, rained, they got fed up, dropped it and packed it up.

Quick hose and mop out to get rid of the dried cut grass from the inside and all good.

Used it in the alps last year and the 4 of us had a double berth each

Will be perfect for the family with just one sleeping pod erected

I’ve been waiting for a family tent thread……

In addition to the OP, can anyone recommend a canvas tent which is the size mentioned but that isn’t a bell tent?

Noticed earlier that Decathlon site showed some good offers on family tents atm.

No direct experience of them myself, but they seem to be well regarded on here.

If you need to sleep 5, look at a 7 berth.

We bought this for MTBing, brill bit of kit and at least a 3-season – very heavy weight.

Sorry, but can’t remember its name and its in my mates’ garage.

I’ve been waiting for a family tent thread……

In addition to the OP, can anyone recommend a canvas tent which is the size mentioned but that isn’t a bell tent?

Cabanon Barbados is a canvas tent that sleeps five. We had one for a while and liked it. Problem is anything made of canvas is a complete liability in UK conditions, unless its small, in which case you can dry it out in the kitchen.
We have also tried the bigger tents – had an Outwell Montana and hated it. Hideous to put up (IMO). Just too big to be considered convenient.
We currently have a canvas trailer tent that gets used over the summer in France but not worth bothering with it in damp UK conditions. For the Uk we have a selection of smaller tents and tarps to fit the family. That way the kids can put their own up. Can get stung for using two tents though. Also can’t stand up which can be a pain.

Gotta love STW – can’t even have a tent that’s too big now for it still to be camping.

Zokes wasn’t allowed to be in the wilderness unless he’d hiked to some remote area of Timbuktu.

I’m surprised you don’t have to sleep naked in a babbling brook at the foot of Everest to be even classed as being outside.

Outwell Nevada M here, used it plenty now and it’s proving to be good quality. Double peg the bugger when it’s windy and it’ll take a beating.

It leaked a little on its first outing, end of Loch Leven in a 12hr monsoon but hasn’t let in a drop since 🙂

Cheers DJF – I’ve seen the Cabanon ones and blimey they’re pricey.

Size not really a problem; I have a garage I can dry things out in if I need to.

Maybe I’ve just swallowed the marketing around a canvas tent, but having spent a very comfortable evening in a friends bell tent, I realised how cold and condensation-y our nylon one is. Trouble is, I don’t want a bell tent and everything else I’ve found seems somewhat pricey.

Got a vango tigris 400dlx. Leaks like a sieve 🙁

Hey stox had a look about. That’s a hell of a good price you got that for. Still looks huge but thats a bargain

After having a ‘family’ tent that we used , but required so much effort to put up, and due to the size if it was underoccupied just remained cold all night, we went for two smaller ones,

much more versatile, bit of separation from the kids etc.

Family tent…Outwell Montana 6.

Ask this question on UKcampsite & you’ll get the above answer probably a hundred times over. Not cheap but having had plenty of “family” tents, the Montana is about as good as they get.

I don’t have an Outwell Montana (can’t afford one), but they really do look like good family tents.

I will not try and recommend anything else, but from experience I would say that ‘all metal’ poles are better in a larger tent. The fiberglass ones in our various ‘large’ tents don’t seem to be up to the job and have caused us countless sleepless nights and abandoned holidays when the weather is not perfect 🙁

+1 to that

Darrell – what tent is that and why is it better than the usual oversize dome / tunnel offerings from the likes of Outwell / Vango?

I’m really liking the look of the Montana 6, some good prices around too. Thanks for the recommendation.

Anything Outwell, as long as its a pitch as one, and has steel poles.

Update: Outwell Montana 6 arrived today. First trip away panned for this weekend.

Pitched the tent this evening in the garden and my god it is HUUUUUGE. I’ve only ever owned lightweight 2 man tents before so it is a bit of.a jump up.

In addition to the OP, can anyone recommend a canvas tent which is the size mentioned but that isn’t a bell tent?

there is frame tents like this: here

or a Dutch Storm tent: like this 6 person tent we have the smaller version – the Eldorado which is a 4 person sleeping area – but that great for the 2 of us.

In contrast to the advise above that ‘canvas is a liability in the UK’ – having got Canvas tents now, we tend to use them when away camping rather than our nylon tents.

In terms of tents we have:
(Canvas) Vango Force 10 (mk4) – dated late 70s
(Canvas) British Airbourne division tent (1944 pattern canvas)
(Canvas) 4 person Frame tent from the mid 70s – bought for £10 off ebay and get used at festivals like Bloodstock & long weekend motorsport events were we are away 2 nights
(Canvas) Hypercamp Eldorado – used in bad weather as the pyramid design is really stable in stong winds
(Canvas) 5m Bell tent – heavy weight canvas & dutch lacing includes huge wooden pole for the centre
(Canvas) 6 berth frame tent my parents used to take on family camping trips in the 80s and we used at last years British GP – which was its first outing in about 28 years
(nylon) Vango Tornado 300 – mostly used in the depths of winter camping
(nylon) Wynster Curlew 5 – good tent, stands up to bad weather well – liked this tent so much that when the original tent started to show its age after a couple of seasons of heavy use we bought another.
(nylon) Royal Normandy 5 – huge 5 berth tunnel tent we’ve had for about 10 years, very beaten up now, doesnt get many outing now.
(nylon) Vango Sigma 300 – bought as a stop gap

The benefits of canvas are that they are cooler in the hot sun – when at Bloodstock last year when everyone else was getting baked out of their tents we were still quite cool inside. Equally they are warmer at night as the canvas doesnt lose heat as quickly – so we can keep the Eldorado plesently warm using a tilly lamp or 2

They dont rustle like a crisp packet in the wind and quieter in the rain.

To us – if a tent is put away damp at the end of a trip then it needs drying out – doesnt matter if it is canvas or nylon – both will get mildew if they are stored when they are put away damp. So theres pretty much always a tent hanging on the stair bannister drying.

We have found with our use of tents with camping most weekend of the year for Motorsport evets we’ll get a couple of seasons out of a nylon tent, while a canvas tent will fade a bit but will keep going – the canvas poles tend to be more hardwearing – all our nylon tents (except the Tornado with alloy poles) suffer from the fibre glass poles fatiging and snapping – so often have to bodge a repair then replace the broken pole at home later

I’ve got a Vango Rio 600 and had it for years and its seen a lot of use. Been great.
Also got an Outwell which is superb, best tent I have ever been in, expensive but worth it. Wouldn’t bother for trips of less than 3 days as it takes longer to put up.

Thanks Lord S. I hadn’t heard of Hypercamp before.

Unfortunately, your advice comes about 2 days after the appearance of a Montana 6 in my garage. 🙁

I suppose I could send it back unopened, but I think Mrs BOAS might strangle me if I prevaricate any longer.

We went to Bridgend camping shop recently, and in their showroom they had enormous family tents that were like small houses. Brilliant, and turns out they are pretty cheap too.

http://www.bridgendcamping.co.uk/default.aspx?CategoryID=12&ItemID=KAMCROYDE6