[Closed] Family tent recommendations?

Budgets going to be a biggie here.
I'd always check out Decathlon as they generally have a good balance between price and quality.
Not sure about the zip thingy you're looking for though.

have a look at some teepee ones if your interested in height. otherwise get to go outdoors/ big tent supplier and have a look around - you'll at least get a feel for what is on sale/ what you like / what you don't.

We got an Outwell six man tent for family camping, and it's spot on for that. We even put the udderlet in one pod in a travel cot last summer. The model we have is discontinued now, which is a bit of a shame. Including footprint and carpet (Yes, it comes with a fancy rug) I think we spent £250. I used it the other day for a blokey camping trip, and it's just fine. Takes a while to put up, but anything that size would.
It has two separate pods that unzip all the way 'round and open onto the main living area part.

I would suggest looking at the Vango range. We have a mid size one and it has survived a gale on the cliffs near Lands End! Well made ans some nice features.

We have a Vango Icarus 600

does everything you mentioned ( me, wife, 5yr & 2yr old girls and a dopey Labrador )

We use it for weekends

And for 2-3 weeks summer in France

We bought the extra front canopy and this makes it really good

Maybe not as well made as an Outwell but for the money very good

I would look at outwell, i am just about to buy the vermont lp, pricy but we have always used outwell tents, our present one the sunvalley 6 has been fantastic, we are changing it for one with metal poles and a larger porch area. they are 799 new for 2012 model, you may find the vermont l, 2011 for 599. I always think, buy cheap buy twice. If you don't like it they sell very well on ebay.
Take a look at the official videos on youtube from outwell. for the vermont LP.
We also have a hi gear gobi 4 tent for when i go just with my son. Really can't compare the quality with outwell.

Not 100% sure of your 'pod' requirements, but sounds like a Quechua Base Seconds might be close?

http://tente.quechua.com/en/tent/r-10,a-3,base-seconds-4-2.html

Super easy to pitch and take down.

slainte 8) rob

After much deliberation we've just bought an Outwell Bear Lake 4. Sleeps 4 in comfort in 2 bedrooms with a 'lounge' big enough to host a toddler going stir crazy in the rain. It's plenty high enough, I'm 6'2" and can leap around with wild abandon. It's a poly/cotton flysheet rather than nylon which gives a very pleasant (and quiet) ambience inside. It weighs 12x more than the Quasar from a previous existence as a mountaineer but it's never going to be carried more than a couple of hundred meters.

It's been up in the garden over the past few days of monsoon with not a drop of leakage or any stress from the wind. Overall impressions of the materials and build quality are very good, it looks like it'll serve us well for many years.

There are loads of videos from Outwell on Youtube.

...and you can easily undo a zip to turn the 2 bedrooms into one, it's a 10 second job. You can also drop one bedroom for more living space.

Not sure where you are but Yeomans have a few tent shows where there are loads of makes and models up for exploration. We went to the one in Darley Dale (Peak) which was a useful real-life demo given the crap weather last week. The chappie there said the only tents that didn't need fixing after a bit of weather were the Outwells.

Try ukcampsite.Co.uk for reviews, and a second hand classified section for camping gear. Its the single track for camping!

Lots of good tents around although my recommendation for a quality family tent would be Outwell. I have one and its far and above better than anything I have experienced before. Mine even has a carpet!

Heavy and expensive though.

+ 1 for outwell, fantastic quality, stood up to 5 years of family camping and still in great condition so well worth the money. We go camping between 4 and 8 times in the year, we have a small vango for short weekend trips as the outwell takes a bit of time to set up.

+2 Outwell. Just sold our Vermont XL as we've got a trailer tent but it was a great tent (albeit quite large).

Always buy something that's nominally at least 2 people bigger tan you need (especially if you have children) - you'll be grateful for the extra space when it's raining...

I thought Outwell were the cheap and cheerful end of the market and Vango/Terra Nova more towards the top end? Our 2/3 tent cost circa £60 form Go Outdoors and is starting to wear a bit after 6 years, but for the money I'd certianly buy Outwell again.

I would rate outwell tents higher than vango for quality and design at least in the family tent category IMHO. I thought the same as you scamper before owning an outwell, the material, stitching, zips and guy points are all of better quality than found on other makes.

We have been using an Outwell Nevada M with a front extension for weekend trips the past two years. We have found it very good for 2 adults and 2 kids. The front extension is a great addition to the tent. Lots of headroom inside, and the pods can be zipped into one. It is pretty quick to put up, I can put it up fairly easily by myself.

Before this we had a massive 3 x 3bed tent, that must have taken 2 of us over an hour to put up. Eventually we stopped using it as it was too much of a hassle to put up and take down. Sold it and bought the Nevada and have been very pleased.

If you can visit a tent display to have a look at what suits you best.

We have a Coleman 4 man tent from go outdoors

[img] [/img]

was 120 quid with the awning which is nice to have when you have a rainy day

[url= http://www.firebox.com/product/3644/VW-Camper-Van-Tent ]this[/url]

TurnerGuy 😆 what mpg do you get out of that

Hi,

We bought an Outwell Oakland XL last year which sounds like exactly what you're looking for.

Couldn't recommend it more!

We paid around £300 as new from Ebay and have since added a side and front extension, footprint and carpet in the end of season sales. Now set up with 2 bedrooms, separate kitchen and dining area!

Lightweight it isn't but very comfortable...

Although standing up is nice, I find being able to sit in a folding campchair is fine and that's why I give the Khyam Nomad a vote at £60 inc p&p from online sellers The centre part isn't massive though for a kid playing in admittedly. I've gotten something like 10 weeks in the British summer sun in mine and it's starting to go a bit crispy. I don't expect it to get beyond this summer. It's lasted me two years.

If you want a long lasting tent, I'd recommend looking around for a cheap new (or even secondhand) canvas bell tent. You can fit bedrooms in it at an extortionate cost, or make your own. They will last minimum 25 years if looked after, stitched and patched up. Environmentally they work out better, cooler in the sun, etc. and you can cart a wood burning stove and flue round with you to make drinks and warm it up relatively safely dependent on the age of your kids

What about a Bell tent ?

5m is £350ish and has well over 6ft in middle.

You can also have an inner tent which creates the sleeping area.

Or - buy an old frame tent off ebay. I've a cavernous Orange beauty which cost £40.

s4rpf - Member
We have a Coleman 4 man tent from go outdoors

What a fab picture 😆

I'm after a 4 person style tent that has two separate sleeping 'pods' and a living area type place. It has to be tall enough for a 6' person to stand up in, and the real crunch is that the two 'pods' must be able to be unzipped to form a single one.

My Wild Country Halo 43 does all of that, and is very nice to be in and pitch.... also has a porch at the front which acts as a very good garage for 4 bikes, while still having a door on the side that you can get in and out of.

Dave

I'm after a 4 person style tent that has two separate sleeping 'pods' and a living area type place. It has to be tall enough for a 6' person to stand up in, and the real crunch is that the two 'pods' must be able to be unzipped to form a single one.

A lot of tunnel tents are designed this way. Will you be taking lots of weekend type breaks or more likely camping for weeks at a time? If you're doing weekends I really wouldn't bother with some of the monster tents which are all the rage at the mo (we have a Montana 6), as it's just not worth the setup/packing time.

If you're doing shorter breaks then something like the Vango Icarus recommended above would be good. If you want to spend more and are taking longer breaks then the bigger Outwells are hard to beat, there are now 3 different flavours of Montana 6 for instance. Vango have a range of tents called airbeam which use "inflatable poles" looks interesting, definitely quick to setup, not sure if they're any good or not.

[url= http://www.decathlon.co.uk/camping-sports.html ]Quecha (from Decathlon)[/url] Tents are extremely good value and take just a couple of minutes to put up, the tent snob in me thinks that these can't be any good but they seemed to handle some absolutely bonkers weather as well as my outwells.

I'll prolly go Canvas for my next tent, Outwell have a range now, very expensive and very new, bell Tents kind of appeal but they're massively overpriced in the uk, and the crawling through the door bit and lack of "rooms" put me off. If you want a tent that'll last a life time and have the cash then [url= http://www.dewaardtenten.nl/index.php ]De Waard[/url] tents are probably the rolls royce of tents (site in Dutch only) but you can get other dutch style pyramid tents l[url= http://www.online-zeltshop.de/overzichtpagina3.asp?cat=1&id=21&arid=1162 ]ike this one which looks bonkers value[/url], blooming heavy though.

There's an ebay seller called 'nearlynewtents', they sell ex-display stuff, mainly Vango.
I got a four man/two pod Vango from them three years ago for half the new price. It was a fairly basic model, but seemed good quality and had some handy features.

also depends how much you plan to use it. We bought a Vango 5 man one from Go-Outdoors a few years ago for about £80 - it does us well for 3 or 4 weekends per annum , fits all your criteria, and had stood up to abuse of west of scotland weather and weans

I would love to get an Outwell, and probably will when the Vango dies, but it's not imminent. I think if you were using it more regularly then yes, go for a more quality brand, otherwise the Vango/Coleman/Decathlon ones take a lot of beating

Vango Diablo 600, its been ace for our family of 4 escapades and survived some nasty weather. Dead spacious and as a tunnel design has loads of headroom. Highly recommended, I think if you shop around you'll pick one up for about £200

[url= http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/index.cfm/product/apollo-500-tent/fuseaction/products.detail/code/74110100?cm_mmc=Google-_-GoogleBase-_-GoogleBase-_-741101004040 ]ours is very similar to this[/url]

After a bit of research and visiting a store that had a large display of tents we went for a [url= http://www.campingworld.co.uk/Models.aspx?ModelID=4592 ]Kampa Frinton 4[/url]

Seemed to be the same quality as the Outwells, but a bit cheaper, perhaps because they are not as well known over here. It has two beadrooms, that can be opened up into one large bedroom, or one can be removed for a bigger living area.

Only complaint is the guylines, the outer sheath wrinkles up around the core, still works, but I'll probably get around to replacing them one day.

Good reccomend actions there thank you. I'll br using it occasionally, mainly for long weekends and maybe the odd trip to France. Love the look if some of these premium ones, but really I guess I'm going to go cheaper as its not going to have mega use. Some of the vangos look good, and I think I had a 4 man Coleman bought cheap that lasted for years and never leaked. There's almost as much choice as there is in bikes!
I think a journey to Go Outdoors after my visit to TFT tuning could be in order tomorrow, it's all this nice weather we're having it's getting me ready for long summer evenings in the outdoors!