Inflatable tents, whats good?

Really pleased with ours (Berghaus Air 4). Camping in the Brecons last week. Raining when we got there and tent was out and up in minutes. First time with the air Porch too so took a bit more faffing but not too bad and a lot of extra space. Survived some pretty foul weather.

CountZero – I have the same tent, as per previous threads. I bought a tarp sheet for it in Decathlon and it fits perfectly – this one

My Quecha Air Seconds 4.2XL has been out in some vile weather, and shrugged it all off without any problems. Worst it’s been out in was a couple of months back in Dolgellau when I went to help out at the Pig Duathlon (which ended up cancelled due to the weather). Strong gusts kicked up during the Friday night that weren’t forecast and trashed the event site. I woke up at 4am with the top of the tent pressing against my face, but as each gust died down the tent just sprang back into it’s proper shape.

Quecha Air Seconds 4.2XL in 50mph gusts… by durhambiker[/url], on Flickr

To be fair durham – it doesn’t look like you have enough PSI’s in those poles mate

They were at 7psi. It was incredibly windy, bad enough to completely destroy 2 heavy duty gazebos.

Are there any bike portable air tents?

Are there any bike portable air tents?

I quite liked the look of this in Decathlon – they do it in 2, or 3 man and one air tube does the whole tent. They had it blowing up and deflating on show in the Sheffield branch. I’d say it’s borderline bike portable, but the addition of the pump makes it less so. £80 for the blackout version

They were at 7psi

Bar shirley?

Nope, 7psi is the recommended inflation pressure.

Given the air bars are about 8 inch diameter, 7psi feels pretty solid. I have used ours in a pretty decent breeze when others with fibreglass poles were getting worried. The 4.1 just sat there, planted and swaying a little in the wind 😀

They were at 7psi. It was incredibly windy, bad enough to completely destroy 2 heavy duty gazebos.

I think the tubes in the 4.2XL are a smaller diameter than the 4.1, so maybe that’s the explanation?

Like I say, they were inflated to the correct pressure. I wasn’t bothered by the tent deforming, as I said the weather was horrendous, and it sprang back into shape as the gusts died down. It would also probably have stood up to it more turned 90 degrees. Either way, if that had been a traditional tent with poles, it would have completely collapsed with me inside it.

I’ve owned a total of 5 Quechua (decathlon) tents.

They have all been fantastically well made and excellent value.

I can confirm that in high winds both their large 4 berth popups and air beam models are designed to “go with the wind” in severe gusts. I’ve never had one fail on me even on sites where I’ve woke up the next day and about a 3rd of the tents have been wrecked/abandoned.

Sorry to sound evangelical. I’m a bit of a tent nerd and I really rate Quechua tents.

This is my favourite I have to say. Not an air beam, a pop up believe it or not. I call it the pagoda tent. Seen this blown totally flat to the airbeds in Cornwall and just shrug it off.

(Looks oddly small in pic as no reference of scale. I’m 6ft and can stand up in the living area. Not my actual tent though, can’t get stw to display my pics! …)

Happy camping! 😀

Iainc, that’s brilliant, thank you so much for that! I’ll get an order in tomorrow morning. It’s not so much Greenman, the forecast from Friday looks pretty good, just Thursday that’s looking a bit iffy, but I’ll be camping for over a week, in October, actually nine days two years ago, so having something under the tent for an extended period will make such a difference when I pack it all up.
Thank you all for your help, I can’t tell you how much it’s appreciated! 😀

TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR – Member
I quite liked the look of this in Decathlon – they do it in 2, or 3 man and one air tube does the whole tent…

Thanks. The idea of a tent you can just roll up and not have to worry about hard pieces like the rods has appeal.

I have the decathlon air seconds and am very happy with it. Will get a ground sheet on the advice above.

Just waiting for some decent weather!

Currently looking for a tent for my family of 4. Decathlon air tent look good value, but not sure about lack of porch and not sewn in groundsheet

Currently looking for a tent for my family of 4. Decathlon air tent look good value, but not sure about lack of porch and not sewn in groundsheet

If on a budget then Berghaus air 4 at Blacks for 429 and a deal for the air porch at 99 quid (usually 250.)

Currently looking for a tent for my family of 4. Decathlon air tent look good value, but not sure about lack of porch and not sewn in groundsheet

The groundsheet isn’t sewn in to the front living area, but still forms part of the tent (i.e. isn’t loose), it’s just open at the sides – it’s lipped up by 6″ or so – didn’t cause any problems in foul weather the other weekend

Millets have 15% off at the mo, The berghaus Air 6 comes out at £509. You cant get the discount on the porch (£99) when you use the discount, so Ok if you only want the tent.

Are there any bike portable air tents?

I quite liked the look of this in Decathlon – they do it in 2, or 3 man and one air tube does the whole tent.[/quote]

My wife has the 2 man one of those. I wouldn’t even consider it for bike portability. It’s cool, but not small or light. She bought it as a fun present for car camping when it’s just her… Apparently the 5 other tents we have weren’t enough 🙂

Looks like they had inflatable tents in 1933 🙂

Liking that 30’s inflatable tent! Their ideas about cycle camping are possibly a bit different to ours at a guess…

Oh, and groundsheet ordered, thanks Iain. 😀

urrently looking for a tent for my family of 4. Decathlon air tent look good value, but not sure about lack of porch and not sewn in groundsheet

Well, it’s got that huge great ‘living room’ area, which kinda acts as a porch, but it’s not open at the sides, which I prefer if the weather turns foul, as it’s a big area you can actually stand up in, that’s comfortable to lounge around in and read or whatever without getting wet.

Yay! Tent and pump arrived, seems I can carry it on my back by putting my arms through the carrying handles, so that makes life easier, only needing to shrink-wrap smaller items to my little folding trolley. Now I can smirk at everyone else struggling along with a weeks worth of booze and enough kit for a Boy Scout jamboree! 😉

Very timely thread this – am looking to get an inflatable tent for the 4 of us, the decathlon ones look quite good – from the feedback here anyway.

Has anyone used the Vango air tents ?

As I’m wondering what the differences are between the outwell , berghaus, vango inflatable tents and decathlon – as there is a helluva price difference?

20% off at millets right now.

Judging from tonight’s forecast, and the fact it’s raining here, I think the groundsheet is going to prove its worth.
Rest of the weekend looks spiffy. 😀

I’ve got a gelert Bala air 6 it’s very good up in five mins then probably ten more to peg it Down and about 10/15 mins to pack up too. If anything it’s a bit too big for my liking but that’s my fault not the tents. Decently priced too they are in sale at 385 at the moment

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent pump for an inflatable tent that doesn’t require you to stoop down when pumping? Just got a Sunncamp tent and the pump that comes with it is rubbish in a number of ways, and I’d really like to get one that’s a bit more comfortable to use.

Anyone got any recommendations for a decent pump for an inflatable tent that doesn’t require you to stoop down when pumping? Just got a Sunncamp tent and the pump that comes with it is rubbish in a number of ways, and I’d really like to get one that’s a bit more comfortable to use.

This is the Decathlon one – inflates on the up and down stroke. Depends how much you don’t want to stoop. Costs £15

the decathlon one is great. 0-7psi in about 10 strokes

I’d actually rather a single action one. I find pulling up whilst stooped over really uncomfortable on my back.

Kneel down then…

Unless you’re seven foot tall, you won’t be stooped over that much, the double stroke speeds up the process dramatically, which means you won’t be pumping for very long, and I’m six foot, with a bit of a hinky back.
Believe me, the Decathlon one is as good as you’ll get, it’s about as tall as a track-pump, for reference.
I’ve got the same Decathlon tent as in the photos on the first page, and each tube took barely two-three minutes to pump up to full pressure, you’ll spend more time stooped over putting the pegs in.

Just pumped my Air Seconds 4.1 up out on my patio, it takes up practically all the available space! Takes about 1½-2 minutes for each air tube to full 7psi.
It was still a bit damp, so a day of dry breezy weather will dry it nicely and it’ll give the little spiders that were all over it chance to escape. 😀

I bought a Vango Edoras 400 a couple of months ago on eBay, unused. It’s brilliant, although they’re pricey when new (but often on sale).

It has two sleeping pods with “black out” liner, although they’re still pretty light inside on summer evenings, and it’s easily tall enough to stand up inside. It was actually really easy to put up – my 4 year old loved helping with pumping up the beams and, yes, 7psi is the recommended pressure. At that pressure they were stiff and solid and held the tent up very well – fortunately we had nothing worse than some light gusts of wind (although absolutely torrential rain) to challenge it, but it felt like it would withstand some mighty winds.

It was so much less faff than an equivalent solid-poled tent I’d definitely recommend it, for speed of pitching and convenience. It went up – honestly – in about ten minutes and was easy to take down, although completely removing the air from the beams (and the rest of the tent) and rolling it up took a few minutes longer than expected.

Interesting reading. I was away camping with the family at the weekend and suitably impressed by the speed/ease of putting these things up.

Currently in the market for a bigger tent so looking at the Vango Capri 600xl though Decathalons offering does look great value!

One little tip when putting away the Decathlon tent, involving those silly bits of string they supply to tie it in a roll; buy a pair of cheap webbing belts with plastic snap buckles. I found it a bit of a phaff trying to tie those bits of string tight enough to hold the roll secure, so I went into town and found Millets had some Peter Storm webbing belts with snap buckles like the ones on the bag, but a fair bit wider, only £7 each, and a piece of piss to just slide underneath, wrap around and snap closed, then just pull the end tight. Sorted. 😀
Might well work ok with other tents like it as well. Of course if there are extra pairs of hands available, then it’s not a problem, but for one person it just makes it much easier.

I just sit on mine til it fits 😛