Inflatable family tents?

4 man Decathlon here. Nothing to compare it with but have been very happy with it. £450 iirc, seems good qual to me (zips etc seem robust) but as I say nought to compare it with.

If you can hold out get one in winter when the prices drop!

“Now is the winter of our discount tents”?

“Now is the winter of our discount tents”?

Richard III was found in a Millets car park…

Weekend before last I camped next to a Eureka Aeris Northern Hill. Not my kind of tent, but I still thought it was lovely. Held up perfectly through the bit of weather we had, nicely thought out inside, easy to put up. Packed down smaller than you’d perhaps figure.

I won’t buy anything but an Airbeam from now on.

A couple of years ago we were camped at Horgabost on the west coast of Harris when we had an overnight gale. The tent thrummed a bit, but it didn’t seem too bad. At daylight when we stuck our heads out to check we were the only tent standing.

The only quibble is the entrance – there’s nothing to stop water pissing in when you unzip it to go out. Not a major problem in summer, but a real pest in the winter. I notice the later models have improved the entrance.
(Which reminds me – must get a flysheet to protect the doorway 🙂 )

The only quibble is the entrance – there’s nothing to stop water pissing in when you unzip it to go out.

Get a canopy or tarp:
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/camping/tent-accessories/canopies

That’s why we have that green canopy shown in my photo. Keeps the doorway dry and provides just enough space to cook in if required. Ours is the “Freedom Trail FT Universal Canopy” which is £35 from Go Outdoors. Only used it once but seems pretty good so far.

(Fancier canopies are available)

Ha ha. I’d love to see you putting our tent up properly in 15 mins. I’m not talking about slinging it up as fast as possible. I’m talking about putting it up properly keeping track of where the bags and ties are, putting stuff away as you go along etc.

The footprint has 8 pegs for a start and laying it out/orienting it takes longer than a minute, if you want to avoid creases and get it taut.
The tent is to big to unroll by flinging it out. It is folded before being rolled. Once you’ve unrolled and unfolded it you need to make sure it’s the correct way round and rotate if necessary.

Stumpy, I reckon you have the wrong tent… but also a bit of left over scouts ???

I often don’t repack the tent between pitches when with a car… I just roll it up (the groundsheet is often wet anyway)

Then I fling it out from the front .. if its really windy I’ll leave the car in front as a windbrake anyway..

Once it’s at this stage there is generally a bit of tweaking to get the inside flat, or you end up with areas where the groundsheet lifts.

If you have the groundsheet sewn into the inner you can split this…

I’ll often go and repeg the outer a bit later, once everything else is done..especially if it looks windy or if I ended up putting in pegs not quite where I wanted (usually when its rocky ground) but the focus is getting the tent up…

Due to the design that means you can be a bit sloppy and correct later but I still struggle to see how an inflatable can be that much quicker…

This isn’t a particularly expensive tent … from memory it was bought at Decathalon (though in France where they have more choice perhaps) and was a quick replacement to an expensive one that went missing with all my luggage flying from Italy

question – how essential is a footprint ? They seem to come as options on more expensive ones, but not on the Decathlon Air Seconds. I have a tarp that can be folded to approx size….

stumpy, to be fair, I have no idea! Only looked at internet pictures, and it
looks like ours, but a bit bigger with one extra pole and a couple of extra clips. Still, I’m sure you can shave a bit off your 45mins. Putting up ours takes about half the time if I’m actually thinking about it.

One simple investment that did speed up our erection a little bit (giggity) was buying an second mallet and peg bag.

We have a Kampa Croyde 6 Classic Air. The polycotton and air combined make it very big and bulky, almost half of the Octavia’s boot. It is however very easy to put up solo and even easier to put away.
Ian C – Footprint is pretty much essential to keep the tent clean and dry when packing away (sewn in ground sheet gets rolled up with fly sheet if not). If you do you own make sure its sits inside the extremities slightly, if not when it rains water will pool between the ground sheets.

One simple investment that did speed up our erection a little bit (giggity) was buying an second mallet and peg bag.

Forget mallets, you want an MSR Stake Hammer –

Other than that, I’ve used both the Vango AirBeam tents and awnings and both have been brilliant. They pitch all in one, so basically all you do is peg the corners, inflate three or four air tubes with the pump supplied then peg the rest and guy as needed.

Also, as a few folk have said already, because the beams tend to deform and spring back in strong winds rather than failing catastrophically, they are deceptively tough.

stevextc – Member
…but I still struggle to see how an inflatable can be that much quicker…

It’s definitely quicker as a one man job.
Roll it out, peg, inflate, guy ropes. Minimal faff.

Forget mallets, you want an MSR Stake Hammer –

Pretty! But I suspect a little more expensive than the generic rubber headed mallet from the bargain bin at Go Outdoors 😉

And I’m not sure I’d want my wife swinging that sharp looking claw next to an inflatable tent!! 😯

Watch out for those cheap mallets GrahamS – last trip we had I had a comedy “mallet on head” moment as the head came off as I was pegging out the tent. Flew off on the upstroke and clocked me on the nut! 🙂

We have a Vango Solaris 600 airbeam tent and it’s great. As has been said already, I can put it up on my own so the Mrs can entertain the kids whilst I do the donkey work 🙂

Nice and tall so you can stand up inside, nice big living area so we can play games etc at night. Will be buying a side awning for it soon so we have a bit more room to store junk and wet gear.

They are big and heavy, but no more so than equivalently sized pole tents (~20kg airbeam vs ~19kg poled, pack size is similar too).

I have an unused footprint for a Vango tent if anyone needs one (it’s the wrong size for my tent):

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-vango-tent-footprint

It’s definitely quicker as a one man job.
Roll it out, peg, inflate, guy ropes. Minimal faff.

Ah, yep I guess one-man (or woman)
I’ve always done family sized tents with 2 adults…. but I also choose family sized tents specifically on how easy it is to put up (which means actually seeing it in person)…. (I found more expensive isn’t always better in that regard)

I have a trip coming up with just me and Jnr … so I guess I’ll see how it goes with 1 adult and 1 7yr old….(with an attention span of a goldfish)

Based on my earlier post, I went to Decathlon at lunchtime where they have loads set up, outside, in the hosing rain. The Air Seconds Family 4.1 XL is the one I was keen to see :

here

Quite impressed with it in the flesh – very heavy rain, place was bone dry inside and not being affected by the blustery conditions. Seemed well enough made for weekend use so have ordered one in.

I take back my original advice on the Quechua ones then iain. Glad you liked what you saw.

I’d say a footprint is handy as a bit of extra protection for the sewn-in groundsheet tents. Just make sure you order something same size or (just) smaller. Something bigger will cause water to wick under and pool between tarp and SIG. Your tent will have a footprint size on the Decathlon website. Note size, go to eBay, search for “tent footprint” and there are any number of sellers selling tarps in a variety of sizes. Pick up a bag of the eyelet pegs while you’re at it. For the Decathlon 4-mans, a footprint tarp should be less than £20 delivered.

EDIT: don’t forget the pump! AFAIK, Decathlon don’t include one with the tent.

thanks DD – the tent footprint size is 4.8 by 2.9, which includes a tapered section of porch area. Decathlon do a 4 by 3 footprint for £13, so I got that, as I reckon the 5 cm each side will be lost under the pegs. Pump also purchased, along with some spare hard ground pegs and a new mallet. some great advice on this thread, cheers.

@iainc – how’s the headroom in the XL?

^^^ in the living section it is spacious – I am 5 ft 10 and my head was well below the roof, I reckon you’d need to be well over 6 ft to get close. The sleeping bit is similar at the entrance, quickly tapering down to where your head would be when lying.

That’s good to know, thank you. I’m 6ft and quite often find i have 50cm sq to stand up in most tents

I’ve got the Air Seconds 4.2 XL and it’s a great tent. Goes up quick and easy, plenty of space, and has stood up to some fairly horrible weather. Just been to get it out of storage ready for a trip to Wales this weekend.

^^^^ I looked at that one, but couldn’t really justify the extra cost – it’s usually just me and my 2 boys on ‘dads and kids’ trips while the better halfs do other things 🙂

GrahamS – Member
Forget mallets, you want an MSR Stake Hammer –
Pretty! But I suspect a little more expensive than the generic rubber headed mallet from the bargain bin at Go Outdoors

Ah, but the MSR Stake Hammer doubles as a heavy duty bottle opener. Not only that, but it leaves the removed bottle top absolutely flat, making it ideal for anyone with one of those beer cap headset caps 🙂

That aside, I think they’re about 20 quid, but the thing should last for decades unlike cheapo rubber mallets which routinely snap in use ime. They’re also dead sexy and draw endless compliments from passers-by of both genders. 😉

They’re also dead sexy and draw endless compliments from passers-by of both genders

Cutting quite a dash down at the annual Serial Killer Camping Club annual jamboree?

Cutting quite a dash down at the annual Serial Killer Camping Club annual jamboree?

annually held at Hoddam, innit ? 🙂

Not any more. Numbers have been dwindling year on year.

Just me left now.

^^^^ that’s scarey 🙂 …..heading there for a dads and weans weekend end of the month….

…..and now I know what your tent looks like.

Sweet Dreams. 😉

it’s ok, we have a GP and 2 First Aiders in the group 🙂

(edit, if you’re going to be there weekend of fri 30/sat 1st drop me a note and we’ll grab a pint..)

What’s currently also p*ssing me off is the number of tents on eBay listed as “New other” which have descriptions like “thanks for looking at my tent! We bought it last year and we’ve used it for three week-long family holidays, but it’s in really good condition, it just has a couple of little tears” …THAT’S NOT NEW THEN IS IT?

We have the Air Seconds 4.2XL. An excellent tent all round. I’m 6′ and can stand comfortably in the main living area. Lots a really useful well thought out features, such as the ground sheet stops short at the door with a decent lip so you can get in out of the rain and take your boots off on the grass without spreading water and mud all over the living area. Good storage, plenty of family space. It’s withstood plenty of weather, and as others have said, in the wind it flexes really well, rather the the usual snapped fibreglass poles of most equivalently priced tents of that size. It’s not light, it’s very bulky, but as a car camping family tent I really cannot rate it highly enough.

K

(edit, if you’re going to be there weekend of fri 30/sat 1st drop me a note and we’ll grab a pint..)

Would’ve loved to , but we’re away to Cornwall the following weekend so that weekend is gardening / packing / fitting roof boxes etc.

we got a berghaus air 4 after last year in the sales and asking on here, its great, super quick to get set up and great when you’re in it and stands up to weather fine. Family of 4 and me at 6’3″ no issues with space. only issues are it needs a porch / canopy, the matching berghaus one is almost as much as the tent was, so will try one of those one grahams has if i can cope with a green canopy on a blue tent! the bag it goes in takes up loads of room in the car and taking it down in the rain is no less a miserable experience than a poled tent and if you’re in a hurry you can’t just chuck the different bits in hte car and leave, ie flysheet/inner and poles etc its all connected and has to go back in the bag in a specific way! otherwise all good!

Fenboy, the porch for the air4 is quite pricey but it is huge.

thanks mr blobby, we’re going to try the cheaper canopy on a trip in a couple of weeks and decide if we need the proper porch then! it would be useful as the kids grow as it almost doubles the tent size!

Couple of Qs

Are you sizing up? I would always buy an extra persons worth of space i.e. 5 or 6 man for 4 people, but it looks like you’re buying a 4 man for 4 people, hows the space?

Where are dog owners putting their dogs? Inside the awning or in a room? 1 of my 2 dogs has been camping with me, but that’s either floorless shelters (a mid or a tipi) or tarps so no worries about traipsing wet or mud through

Fenboy, the porch for the air4 is quite pricey but it is huge.

If you wait until the end of the season it’s a bargain 😉

Are you sizing up? I would always buy an extra persons worth of space i.e. 5 or 6 man for 4 people, but it looks like you’re buying a 4 man for 4 people, hows the space?

Mrs Dubs & I have the air 4 for just us. We have the porch as well for a bit of extra room / bike garage if we need it.

right o! ta MRs Dubs will wait for the end of the ‘season’ and get the porch!