We have a canvas nomad tent ( This one)which we really like but with two young kids the evenings where the weather is rubbish is a bit of a pain. Last weekend for example. Kids in bed by half seven/ eight (4 year old and 12 month old) which meant sitting outside in a blowing gale and driving rain. We have a 4mx4m awning which I had up as a shelter so we were dry but it wasn’t great. Are there any other options for canvas tents? I appreciate the big Outwell style tents are the solution but my wife likes the aesthetic of canvas and to be fair I do enjoy being inside it, although with no experience of sleeping in a big outwell I can only speculate as to why.

One thought is to buy a second tent, Outwell Cloud 5 for example, just for sleeping in. Pitch that next to the canvas one and use the canvas for eating, relaxing, kids playing games etc. To me that seems a little pointless as you may as well go the full Outwell approach but it would solve our issue.

Suggestions of ‘toughen up princess, it’s camping’ as a solution most welcome 😀

but my wife likes the aesthetic of canvas

This. This is surely “peak STW”?

Get a tent that you’re happy camping in. That’s what they’re for.

outwell do ploycottom tunnell tents about £500

We have a polycotton outwell (in a sale c £250-300 iirc). Very comfy with no condensation, so I would imagine a similar experience inside to a canvas tent. We do have a coleman event/race shelter too that is always pitched for races, and whenever possible also at normal campsites. I quite like a bit of distance from sleeping fighting kids.

Two tents? Or hang a partition up inside?

Got to agree with scotroutes – seems absolutely crazy to sit outside in the wind and rain just so the tent looks nice!

Our tent (not particularly huge) has two bedrooms and a living area where we put a couple of camp chairs, table and light. So the kids can be tucked up while we enjoy a glass of wine and a chat or read in comfort and warmth.

Picked up a second hand outwell bear lake 6 for less than £300. Masses of space and internal living area for four. Family is very happy with it. Polycotton, so all those benefits.

Took less than an hour to pitch the first time, basically single handed. You’d need a big boot though!

Some friends have a 4m bell tent and I’ve spent happy rainy nights eating and drinking with them under an adjacent (Coleman) event shelter with a couple of detachable sidewalls. You just put the walls where the wind is and the firebowl where the wind isn’t. Seemed a good solution to me. Others use a large canopy with poles, fixed close to the ground at the edges.

*edit – yak got there 1st!

My mate arrived at the BBB last year with a canvas bell tent and an integral wood burner; it took ages to put up and tension and packed down to the size and weight of a small elephant. His reasoning was that it would last a lifetime. We agreed but only because you’d only put it up once before chucking it in the corner of the garage.
Get a Vango.

We have an Esvo Bedouin which has a separate inner compartment:

plus an optional external awning.

so you get a choice of evening locations when the kids are tucked in.

Karsten allow you to dasiy chain tents together so the kids can be in a satellite tent:

This. This is surely “peak STW”?

No, Gunz mate has out-STW’d the OP, by a long way.

Those Esvo tents look great Waswas. The awning going down to the ground on one side makes a lot of sense.

That said the two tent approach also doesn’t seem as daft as I first thought. The layout of the canvas tent with the windows and double doors would make it a nice place to sit, irrespective of the weather. We could partition our tent but at the moment the baby is in a travel cot and the four year old moves around so much in her sleep it is easier to sandwich her between the wall of the tent and me and there isn’t enough space inside tent to get all four of us in the portioned section.

I do like that Esvo though. Their tunnel tents look good too.

bit late for this year but these guys are the UK importers and do a number of display weekends – well worth a visit, imo, to see what’s available.

http://www.campingtravelstore.co.uk/others/tent-displays

This. This is surely “peak STW”?
No, Gunz mate has out-STW’d the OP, by a long way.

Thank you. I probably need to get out in the fresh air before I expire from indignation.