We normally use our T4 camper , but have a trip coming up combining family visits, city hotels and camping where for a variety of reasons it’s going to be better to take the car instead. We’ve also been thinking of doing some cycle camping at some point so am considering a tent.

Said tent needs to be big enough to sleep myself and my wife and our 2 year old, with enough living space that we don’t go mad when it rains, but ideally compact and light enough packed up to split between us for (short) bike camping trips (using a trailer and panniers). Oh yeah and it needs to be cheap too!

I’m conscious that this is very much moon on a stick territory, but does anything like this exist?

I was thinking something like this, but a bit lighter:

http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/index.cfm/product/vango-beta-450-2011/fuseaction/products.detail/code/74110099/group/861/level/2

Anyone experience of anything similar?

Cheers all

I was going to suggest something similar to this. I reckon this would be adequate though Jack Wolfskin do similar tents though they are admittedly more expensive than this one

cheap light strong – pick two

maybe something like this?
http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/Brand/Wild_Country/Backpacking_Tents/Trispace_Green.html

Anything in the Blacks range?
http://www.blacks.co.uk/category/camping/tents/3-4-person-tents.html?sortBy=price-a

We use a MacPac Hemisphere for 2 humans and 2 dogs when we’re camping from the car, and it’s very spacious, with plenty of room for people and animals to be sprawling about. Geodesic is definitely the way to go if you want lots of useable space and you can afford a little compromise in terms of weight.

Thanks all.

TJ – I actually have a Blacks voucher (leaving present from my last job) – is the quality any good on their own brand tents?

this is a great tent.
family of four and been using it for 5 or so years.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/t4-1-b-172317144/

GoLite Hex? (now called Shangrila I think).

Or some of these interesting (but not neccessarily cheap) tents.
http://www.tamarackgroup.co.uk/acatalog/Tents.html
Choose 3 or 4 man depending on how much room you want. They’re typically around 4.5kg for roomy tunnels.

SprocketJockey

Its years since I used a blacks tent – so I wouldn’t like to guess.

ton – That Quechua looks great for car camping, but it’s 3 kilos heavier than the Vango one for about the same price.

The golite stuff looks awesome (1.9kg!!!!), but probably a bit pricy for us given that 90% of our camping is still going to be using the van.

Same goes for the tipi’s, Macpac and Trilight stuff unfortunately 🙁 …. we’re on a bit of a tight budget currently.

Actually, following AlexSimon’s post, I think I’m convincing myself that the GoLite Shangri-La 5 is the way to go…. just over £300 for a 5 man tent which weighs less than 2.6kg has got to be a good thing hasn’t it?

I can feel the “cheaper than a couple of nights in a hotel” argument coming on…

http://www.lovingoutdoors.co.uk/golite-shangri-la-review-comparison

Thanks for the advice all

That does look good value – they do a bundle for exactly £300, but says out of stock.
Make sure it’s big enough. It’s light enough for sure, but it doesn’t give you a sitting/porch area like some of the other tents you’re looking at.

They are really cool though. The shangri-la 3 is very popular tent. You just need to add some silicone seam sealant to the outer.

If you’re camping near woods, you can even miss out the pole – either hang from a tree or cut your own!