Discussion
Morning,
We need a new family tent for next year for two adults and two children (4 and 7 years old). Essentially what I'm after is a recommendation for the type of tent be that a big dome, a tunnel or one of those complicated things with rooms. Essentially what we want is plenty of room, somewhere where we can all sit if it's raining and some kind of way the wife and I can can sit under cover in the evening after the kids have gone to bed... usual stuff. What type of tent have you bought that works and doesn't take ages to set up and pull back down.
Thanks,
Mark
We need a new family tent for next year for two adults and two children (4 and 7 years old). Essentially what I'm after is a recommendation for the type of tent be that a big dome, a tunnel or one of those complicated things with rooms. Essentially what we want is plenty of room, somewhere where we can all sit if it's raining and some kind of way the wife and I can can sit under cover in the evening after the kids have gone to bed... usual stuff. What type of tent have you bought that works and doesn't take ages to set up and pull back down.
Thanks,
Mark
We bought a Lichfield Arapaho 6 man tent last year. It only cost about £120 & is perfect for normal camping. Granted, it probably last last more than 10 minutes on the North face of K2, but quite frankly I can't ever see my wife wanted to holiday there! It is perfectly waterproof & pretty easy to erect with 2 people.
The central dome is about 2.1m high, meaning that I can stand in there with ease & then it has two large bedroom areas coming off it.
It's not the best tent in the world, but is bloody good for the money.
The central dome is about 2.1m high, meaning that I can stand in there with ease & then it has two large bedroom areas coming off it.
It's not the best tent in the world, but is bloody good for the money.
We bought a cheap dome tent last year off Ebay for £70. I think its a Rage. Its 8 berth and is huge. Its not the best quality and the bedrooms are tight for 2 adults. We used it about 4/5 times in good weather. Don't know if it will hold up in very windy weather and how waterproof it is.
Also a few of the peg loop things have ripped and one of the zips has broken.
If you want a quality tent and want it to survive a wet and windy weekend go for a well known make such as Vango, Coleman, or even Sunncamp. We had a Sunncamp trailor tent and whilst being fairly cheap it was also good quality.
Also a few of the peg loop things have ripped and one of the zips has broken.
If you want a quality tent and want it to survive a wet and windy weekend go for a well known make such as Vango, Coleman, or even Sunncamp. We had a Sunncamp trailor tent and whilst being fairly cheap it was also good quality.
GreatGranny said:
We bought a cheap dome tent last year off Ebay for £70. I think its a Rage. Its 8 berth and is huge. Its not the best quality and the bedrooms are tight for 2 adults. We used it about 4/5 times in good weather. Don't know if it will hold up in very windy weather and how waterproof it is.
Also a few of the peg loop things have ripped and one of the zips has broken.
If you want a quality tent and want it to survive a wet and windy weekend go for a well known make such as Vango, Coleman, or even Sunncamp. We had a Sunncamp trailor tent and whilst being fairly cheap it was also good quality.
It's something decent that will last that we're after. We did buy one of those ebay jobs a couple of years ago and the main zip broke on the first trip. It was ok but pretty much exactly as you describe.Also a few of the peg loop things have ripped and one of the zips has broken.
If you want a quality tent and want it to survive a wet and windy weekend go for a well known make such as Vango, Coleman, or even Sunncamp. We had a Sunncamp trailor tent and whilst being fairly cheap it was also good quality.
There's plenty to choose from, but there's a lot of crap out there too. It really depends on what you're looking for, but if you want something that's going to pitch well, keep the elements out and last good few years it's worth getting a good one.
I bought the Vaude Badawi last summer as my family tent. I got a really good deal from the Cotswold shop in Betws-y-Coed. Their website doesn't show their larger tents any more, but it's a great size, plenty of headroom in the main compartment and the sleeping areas are not too large, so warmth is better. It is very well made too.
Wild Country, Nomad, Robens, Colman etc all do good family size tents, but it really depends on what you're looking for. A big frame tent is going to be a better place to live if you're going to be in the same place for weeks on end on a well groomed camp site. Something like the Vaude Badawi is great for weekend or even 5 day trips to the Lakes or Snowdonia etc where the ground isn't so level and the elements not so kind.
As mentioned above, Outwell are good too, but don't get one of their sealed floor tents. They're fine for dry climates, but as soon as you get any humidity you wake up with a paddling pool in your porch!
[Edit] Seeing as everyone is now adding some pictures, here's my offering!
It actually only has 3 poles in a geodesic design, so it doesn't take very long to pitch once you know how to do it.
I bought the Vaude Badawi last summer as my family tent. I got a really good deal from the Cotswold shop in Betws-y-Coed. Their website doesn't show their larger tents any more, but it's a great size, plenty of headroom in the main compartment and the sleeping areas are not too large, so warmth is better. It is very well made too.
Wild Country, Nomad, Robens, Colman etc all do good family size tents, but it really depends on what you're looking for. A big frame tent is going to be a better place to live if you're going to be in the same place for weeks on end on a well groomed camp site. Something like the Vaude Badawi is great for weekend or even 5 day trips to the Lakes or Snowdonia etc where the ground isn't so level and the elements not so kind.
As mentioned above, Outwell are good too, but don't get one of their sealed floor tents. They're fine for dry climates, but as soon as you get any humidity you wake up with a paddling pool in your porch!
[Edit] Seeing as everyone is now adding some pictures, here's my offering!
It actually only has 3 poles in a geodesic design, so it doesn't take very long to pitch once you know how to do it.
Edited by [AJ] on Wednesday 10th December 10:29
dern said:
paddy27 said:
We have this
That looks pretty straight forward to put up too... is it? The ones that look like moonbases with rooms coming off each side take a bit of work in my experience.Parents have one of these Trigano frame tents (Not ours in the picture but exactly the same)
Never needed to be waterproofed in its life, my dad got told that once it's been rained on the first time, the canvas becomes waterproof anyway by the fibres expanding, never known it to leak in all the years the family's used it, first time my parents used it, they were on Guensey when a force 9 gale hit
and besides some extra guide ropes to hold it down, it survived in one piece 
Still gets used today, after over 20 years worth of use
There's plenty of room in it for a family, since it can hold up to 6 people with some room, also has a kitchen area where you have a gauze screen to stop the insects getting in while you're cooking but lets the steam / smoke out
Never needed to be waterproofed in its life, my dad got told that once it's been rained on the first time, the canvas becomes waterproof anyway by the fibres expanding, never known it to leak in all the years the family's used it, first time my parents used it, they were on Guensey when a force 9 gale hit
and besides some extra guide ropes to hold it down, it survived in one piece Still gets used today, after over 20 years worth of use
There's plenty of room in it for a family, since it can hold up to 6 people with some room, also has a kitchen area where you have a gauze screen to stop the insects getting in while you're cooking but lets the steam / smoke out
Edited by Sf_Manta on Wednesday 10th December 10:11
staceyb said:
It takes about 15-30 minutes to put up. 5 poles through the width of the tent, peg one end and pull the other and it goes straight up. The bedrooms are individual pods that you attach to the inside of the main tent. I think its called a Vango Wyoming.
Sounds just the job - thanks.We've got a Vango Diablo 900 - top quality and loads of room with 3 'bedrooms'. It's the largest in the range which has occasionally caused problems - if you go to sites with defined pitches then it can be too big to fit. Mention when booking and it's generally OK though. Was about £230 I think and it comes with a genuine lifetime guarantee - ours developed a fault in the groundsheet (one of the anchor points started ripping away) and they sent us an entire brand new tent! Can't fault service like that.
have alook at the Wynster Curlew 8
we have the 6 version, which is slightly shorter, only having a 2 man bedroom at one end rather than a 4 man.
Its our main camping tent - and is in use for pretty much most weekends between March and October when we're away camping at race meetings. Our origonal Curlew we got in 2006 after high winds pulled some of the seams on our previous tent during a March camp at Harewood. Since then we bought a new Curlew in the sales earlier this year (about september) as the old one was getting a bit tired.
to put that in perspective - camping shops which have outdoor displays reckon their tents will last about 1/2 to 3/4 of the year - as the UV causes the material to go brittle overtime. Ours old one could probly go on for another seasons marshalling before the material has had it, but the new tent was such a good price we couldnt turn it down (about £100)
Our other family sized tent is the Royal Normandy 5 (a 3 and a 2berth bedroom) which is now the Avignon which comes in a 5 or 6 berth tent.
Its HUGE! about 3m x 4.5m living area in the 6 berth form (3x two man bedrooms)
we have the 6 version, which is slightly shorter, only having a 2 man bedroom at one end rather than a 4 man.
Its our main camping tent - and is in use for pretty much most weekends between March and October when we're away camping at race meetings. Our origonal Curlew we got in 2006 after high winds pulled some of the seams on our previous tent during a March camp at Harewood. Since then we bought a new Curlew in the sales earlier this year (about september) as the old one was getting a bit tired.
to put that in perspective - camping shops which have outdoor displays reckon their tents will last about 1/2 to 3/4 of the year - as the UV causes the material to go brittle overtime. Ours old one could probly go on for another seasons marshalling before the material has had it, but the new tent was such a good price we couldnt turn it down (about £100)
Our other family sized tent is the Royal Normandy 5 (a 3 and a 2berth bedroom) which is now the Avignon which comes in a 5 or 6 berth tent.
Its HUGE! about 3m x 4.5m living area in the 6 berth form (3x two man bedrooms)
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