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I've been discussing going camping with my wife and we and our two girls (3 & 4) will possibly be off under canvas this year, more likely next (though we may have acquired a dog by then as well!)

Budget for a tent of £150-£200 so lots of tents, brands etc to choose from and I was mainly looking at Vango gear, based on experience of their tents (about 25 years ago!!) possibly Colorado 600DLX etc but then, today, I found a brand new Wynnster Pegasus 6 on eBay today and won it for £150....

A couple of questions I meant to ask here before actually buying a tent:

1. How do recent dome tents cope with changes of temperature?  I went camping about 4 years ago in a borrowed tent (possibly a Gelert by I can't remember) and had big problems with the tent changing shape as the sun warmed it up meaning that one of the fly peg loops ripped a seam along the lower edge because everything tightened up when the sun heated the tent up

2. What size is the 'average' pitch in the UK?  I did read some comments before from owners of large tents (Vango Diablo?) having problems with some pitches.

Hopefully I haven't made a mistake with my somewhat hasty purchase - The Pegasus looks like an excellent layout, though the second bedroom could be a bit bigger.  I think the girls will have to go on a double airbed rather than two singles... 

Thanks for any advice - I'll be ba back with many more queries as I build up my kit I'm sure :)

Peter

Hi Peter & welcome to the best forum on the www  I must warn you though - this forum is as addictive as camping itself!

I don't know anything about the Pegasus, but I can tell you that Wynnster is a good brand of tent. I'm sure someone else will be along later today to advise you.

Congratulations on your purchase 

Nope,. you have made a good choice - its a nice tent. I had the SIG version last year, the Anglesey. which is similar.

One tip is to take some furniture polish with you to spray on the poles - you have some long poles to thread on the main dome and these can be a bit of a pain with friction. make 'em slippy and it is a whole load easier.

I have not had the problem with tempurature you describe and I have been out in some pretty hot days/weekends.

I am not aweare of an average pitch site, however, some sites do have dificultly dealing with lots of wide spreading tents (like the multi-room domes). A genral rule of thumb that gets used is 7x7m. Your Pegasus is just long and does not spread out that much - I never had a single issue with the Angelsey, which is the same size - so I doubt you will have any .

Finally put the girls, being young, either on self-inflating mattresses or ready-beds, which are narrower, usually something like 50-60cm.

The Pegasus got some great reviews in the camping magazines last year.  Don't know about particular tent but I have a huge Wynnster dome tent that's been up in rain and shine during last 2 years with no problems with poles etc.

Good choice, hope youre pleased when it arrives, certainly sounds like you got a good deal.

Kate

I've got Pegasus 5,I believe there is not a lot difference between the 5 and 6. The two person bedroom is a bit tight for two. It is however a good tent and the living space is large and windows allow plenty of light to come in.It has good storage pockets in the living area and bedrooms.The doors give you plenty of options if the weather is poor.We pitched ours on 12 differentsites last year over 40 nights and there was no problems with the size.Some folk had problems with erecting it,posts on this site from last year may be useful.If you have difficulty finding them get back to me and I'll post new advice.    Mick

Thanks for all the replies - Sounds like I haven't made a mistake then :)

I did see some previous posts suggesting only putting the poles through for the main dome and then putting the rest through when that's up.

Itching for a decent day to try to put the tent up in the garden and see how I get on...

Yep!

We always put the main dome poles in and the porch, pods etc. after.

If you have ready beds as we have used, then take sleeping bags for inside them or duvets for over top they really aren't warm enough, but have advantages for little kids.

Enjoy I know you will.  Don't worry about all the kit etc to start take what common sense suggests and work it out from there after a trip or 2!!!

Shirley x

Hello and welcome. As others have said, that is a good price for a well designed tent, and fitting it on a standard pitch should be no problem.

Regarding your question about synthetic tents and the weather - the fabric will stretch when wet, so some tightening of guys may be needed, but not TOO much, as when the sun comes out and everything dries, that is when the fabric may tear. So it is more a question of making minor adjustments to tension according to how the weather is affecting the fabric. It sounds like the tent that ripped had been over-tensioned when damp.

As for the rest of the kit you need, you can build it up as you go along. The important things to get right are your sleeping kit (beds and bedding)as a bad night's sleep will ruin a holiday!  The essentials are something to cook on, lighting, and fold away furniture. You can make do with pans, and other kitchen gear from home to start with, (even bedding too if you wish) or get cheap picnic stuff from Poundland, or other shops of that kind. Places like Lidl and Netto often have outdoor kit in them.  (We got a double self inflating mat last year from Lidl, which makes a great  insulating layer in the bedroom - would be fine for your girls to sleep on).Torches are essential, and if you are a night time reader, a cheap head torch is great.

For you own bedding, a lot of us on here love our Coleman Comfort dual chamber airbeds - a bit more costly than ordinary airbeds, but reliable and great lumbar support.

So good luck in the rest of your bargain hunting - and welcome to the wonderful world of camping!

Thanks for all the advice here - We finally got out for our first trip last weekend and the tent was excellent.  The size of the 'living' area was great when the sun went down and the temperature cooled off as we could still play games etc with the children before tucking up for the night :)

Looking forward to our next trip (and beating the hour or so it took us to get the tent up!)

Hi Peter. We bought same tent a few months ago - I love it.  Last time we did not bother putting up the 2nd bedroom and me, OH 2 kids (15 & 7) and the dog all fit very well on airbed in the larger room.  As you say the floorspace is fab for cards and games on an evening.  I really do love the tent and think it is easy to put up too (and its the first tent I have ever put up!!.

We are just sitting trying to decide where to go for a 2 night stay this weekend in our lovely tent :)

happy camping

Lorna

We have a Pegasus7 and love it.  We went camping for the first time after Whitsun, it took us about an hour to put up the tent, but since then we can do it in about 35 minutes now.  The furniture polish on the poles tip was brilliant.  As you say the living space is just great.  It rained alot quite heaviliy and we have no leaks at all.  Cant recommend this tent highly enough.

Jo