[Closed] STW Tentists, educate me!

Find your nearest GoOutdoors and/or Decathlon, they'll have a good selection, all assembled so you can have a look at them.

We used to have a polycotton 3 hoop Outwell that perfectly fits your brief. Very comfy with no condensation. It did 10 years of bike race and family holiday duties before finally biting the dust beyond economic repair at last years pivot 24:12. (wind/storm/carnage). If my kids were younger I would buy another. It's only downside, was it's size and weight.

try and go somewhere that you can see the various options erected, vicar.

It's quite difficult to visualise how much space different layouts offer from catalogs and footprint diagrams.

there's various tent 'exhibition' type things that run each year plus some retailers have large display areas they put all the options up in.

Polycotton is good - cooler and less condensation than nylon but much bulkier and you need to put them away dry to avoid problems. It's also 2 or 3 times the price.

Outwell is one of the 'go to' brands for family tents but there are others. Budget, as always will determine what you get.

speaking of drying - biggest thing is you need to have somewhere you can dry whatever tent you get - you're bound to have to put it away wet at some point when leaving a site so you need to be able to get it out and dry it when you get home.

Interested in this also having mainly been interested in backpacking tents in the past. Was wandering around Go Outdoors a couple of weeks ago and noted the Vango Icarus 500, which they had on offer for about £300 with some extras thrown in... Seemed like incredibly good value for the size, and my experience of Vango tents has been positive, but wondered if it is really any good? Do these things stand up to the weather?

OP - Do not buy new, it is madness. Get yourself on Ebay and get a full camping set-up for half what you would spend on a tent alone new.

Outwell Montana 6, ours has served us brilliantly from 5 days at a festival with brutal weather at times and standard car camping trips.
By a small collapsible wardrobe and decent self inflating insulated mats. The rest is personal choice.

If you have the garage space to spare I would recommend a trailer tent with an awning. A lot comfier than a tent and quicker to set up that it looks. Easier to pull and manouver than a caravan.

Added bonus of all camping gear is packed in one place.

good ideas esp the ones about Decathlon ! We have one of their AirSeconds tents, which sleeps 5, but usually just me and the boys (aged 12 and 16)as the Boss isn't into camping. It is very roomy, goes up, with air hand pump, literally in seconds (hence the name..) and has lasted a couple of seasons very well so far. Was about £300 and worth every penny IMO

as to the shape, we always went for oblong, rather than the different pods. pods were a right faff, poles all over the place and you take up a larger pitch with more wasted space.

nice clean oblong, maximum use of inside space, as few poles as poss..... i prefer the bendy poles over steel too, not as strong but lighter. we've had both and figured that if you were camping in weather that needed the strength of steel poles, we'd rather not be camping at all 😀

EDIT favourite one we had was an outwell nevada. went to that from the bigger heavier vermont.

Just bought a Vango Orava 600XL from Cotswold Outdoor online for £285 which I'm sure was a cock up on their part, it was cheaper than 2nd hand ones on ebay. The smaller 500XL seems to retail £350-550. There are loads of folk selling packages of lightly used gear on ebay which is where I found a tidy bundle of stuff inuding a gas stove, a picnic table, pots and pans and a few other bits and bobs for £55. Get to your nearest Go Outdoors and have a wander in and out of the tents on display, get a feel for what you like. Then buy a nearly new one on ebay!

We have an air tent with inflatable beams. It is a 6 person one, Halfords own brand, and gets used for a month in the Alps each summer. This will be it's 4th year I think. £300! It was half price in the sale.

I am sure you can get "better" tents, but in sheer VFM terms I can't see how to beat it.

When it dies of UV exposure, we'll get something similar. The Air element makes putting it up and down way easier. It can be done by one adult, although it is obviously easier, though not much quicker going up, with 2. I don't miss "pole wrestling".

Decathlon would be the best bet, have a look at their blackout tents as it will let you sleep and not wake up at 4am when it starts getting light in the summer

what everyone said; my 2p is that for 4 in comfort you probably should look at 6 man tents. Our Outwell Montana 6 had 2 sleeping pods, so 3 in each for full occupancy, which would have been a/ snug and b/ weird

Very impressed by Decathlon air pole tents last time I was in there.

Thanks for all the input guys, knew I'd get plenty of advice here!

I went for an air tent from Khyam, yet to use in anger, test pitch seems great quality. 2 trips planned this summer with our 4 and 2 yr old

Before you go to the expense of all that camping gear check out a few campsites that provide the tent and camping gear for you, there are a few about. Tipees etc. Go try it, see if you like it.

My brother wanted to get into camping as I'd been doing it all my life. Went out, bought the biggest tent ever, wardrobe, table, toilet, cooker etc. Tent comes in 2 bags it's that big.

He went camping once, took him about 2 hours to set up. When he took it down it was raining but he put it away wet and never aired it. It's been in the bag since in his loft. It was so much effort to pitch that he won't do it again. There are plenty of people like this that just flog it on eBay, used a handful of times.

Try before you buy!

bought a used trailer tent for £200

massive 11ft x 15ft canvas awning for lounge/kitchen, comes with kitchen/cupboards and stainless steel sink and cooker. also 2 x double sleeping compartments ie 1 either side of the gangway in the trailer, accessible via a single step up from ground level/awning.

it’s lush. as someone says, keep all your camping gear in there too, just hitch and go. it came with a few existing stitch repairs to canvas, but it kept us bone dry so far

otherwise, vis a vis tent designs can work well, we got a 4XL version from Decathlon ten years ago, and since only repaired one pole section, and that was our fault so the tent is doing v well for it’s age and many uses

I bought a bell tent a few years ago, complete with chandelier and carpet. it's great with and stays cool in the heat due to crem canvas. However it is very bulky and kinda does want to be in a trailer, especially if you have kids.

They don't have "rooms" so it within your essential specs.

Looking at Ebay and a trailer tent looks like you get a huge amount for your money, this in particular looks amazing value for money;

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223511263626

Not connected in anyway with the seller but you looks to get a huge amount of space for very little cost. If your probably looking at taking a trailer anyway for your tent an associated gubbins then a trailer tent could be a good solution

My advice: join UK Climbing and place a "wanted" ad on the classifieds forum. I did and I was bombarded with offers of tents at silly prices, ended up acquiring a brand new Wild Country tent for £80.

We have a Vango Orava 600 XL, great tent and can stand up to a bit of wind (Force 7 gusting force 8 in Co Donegal - wouldn't recommend it 😂). Loads of room inside, we have two 6 foot tables and a kitchen/cooker stand up inside ours, with plenty of room left over. Dog cage and other stuff in the porch.

I was told ... get an air beam tent and get the one a bit bigger than you think you need... (as long as your car is big enough)

Excellent advice

I'd go one further ..... try second hand.

Good luck