I've been on the hunt for a good "tactical" weekend tent for 1-2 nights, considering inflatable and bell tents as good candidates in the hunt for that quick, hassle free pitch.
Now, I've been working on the assumption that our our Bear Lake 6 is too big and too much hassle, but is it?
This weekend my parents offered to have the children (3 and 5) Saturday - Sunday. Game on I hear you say!
Kids were wisked off with the olds by 0930 Sat morning and the BL6 and enough gear for wife and I was in the car by 1000 and we were off to Norden farm (review to follow) in Corfe to pitch and walk the Purbeck Way.
Getting to the site and deciding a pitch in the top field, from opening boot to finishing pitch and furnish was complete in a little under 30 minutes. Likewise the strike was completed in the same time. Amazing!
Goes to show how easy things are when les enfants terribles are absent. We missed them of course.....
So, I shall stop my search for that easy pitch tent, stick with the Bear as the comprehensive unit and save myself a few quid.
Hoorah!
P.
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Great post, and yes I agree.
I have found that just to pitch the tent itself only varies a little between the big and small ones and that includes an Outwell Concorde inflatable (which I have just sold as I did not see any time benefit).
What does make a difference (especially when packing up) is the amount of kit we end-up taking!
------------- Current tent line-up (all outwell)
Yellowstone falls - for week or more
Clear lake - Flyball team entertainment
Cedar lake - not been used yet!
Trout lake 6 - short weekend trips
Trout Lake 4 - for just me and the dog
Concorde L
Thanks Jack, good to know the experiance is shared. It's the kit, not the tent as you suggest.
One feature on the tent that did save alot of time was the side tensioning bars, this makes the unit stable without being pegged or guyed out meaning I could limit the amount of guy lines (4 in this case,x 2 porch and rear x2 only).
With only the minmum pegs in the time saved was enormous (4 guys and poles only). One of my bug bears with this tent is the complete overkill on guy lines and pegging points. It only needs a fraction, Sure if windy weather was forecast then they'd all go in.
One other good feature that comes with the tent is Mrs Porbeagle, she's very handy in these situations.
It's not the tent that takes up the time. I arrived at a campsite that had only just launched camping pods. The owners insisted on upgrading me to one (they were very kind and yes it was February and I suppose they thought they were doing me a big favour) and so a little reluctantly, I left that new tent in it's bag and weekended in the pod instead. Come Sunday I discovered it took me quite a long time to pack up, my chair, my cooking things, my beds and bedding. I decided that the tent would have only taken but a few minutes to drop and pack away. It's not the tent that takes the time, but the crap (cough...important camping equipment) that you put in it!
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A disadvantage for me with taking a big tent for short stints is having to faff about drying it when I get home.
The weather is just not dependable enough and having it lounging about the house drying would be disastrous as I would worry about the dog or the kids damaging it.
For short breaks I have something smaller that can be draped easily to make sure its dried out thoroughly.
We have just done 2 weekend camps stright after each other with our Montana 6 and we noticed our tent went up as quick if not a bit quicker than a halfords 4 man tent, I was looking at a weekend tent before as I thought the Monty was to big but I totally agree with the pervious posts it's not the tent but the rest of the gear that takes the time & space!
Well I bought a bell tent hoping quick pitching time would enable me to have also shorter trips ( I also wanted cotton canvas). I used it first time 10 days ago and completely agree with previous comments. It's packing the car, unpacking, pitching, packing, unpacking at home... - possibly 8 hrs all together plus driving. Admittedly it was our first trip with very young kids (14 months & 3.5 years) but I must say even though I tried to take only the basic stuff it took ages to pack. I don't plan any weekend trips any time soon. I could have spent this time relaxing on the beach instead. The main reason we did it was to test and see what it is like camping with kids this age and what other gear we really need.
My first pitch took more than half an hour but mostly because by the time I got to the campsite I was exhausted and hungry and constantly distracted by my kids and ...wife. I think pitching it by myself in 15-20 minutes is doable when there are no young 'helpers' around.
We have just bought a weekend tent because it is quicker to put up, but mainly because of the drying aspect. Our large tent only just fits in the garden so there is no way to dry it in the house. We have also found that if we go with a large group of other families having the smallest tent is better, as the kids don't tend to gravitate towards the smallest tent (and turn it upside down)!
Mind you we have yet to use it!
I totally agree with where the most time is taken.
It's with all the 'stuff' we take...not the actual time of pitching the tent.
We do really only take whats needed ..( as nothing else fits in the car! !! .
There are four of us so beds bedding, table, chairs, eating ( plates, pans etc. ) food, then just clothes but it all takes time !
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Topic: Single nights in large tents
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