After a brief departure from canvas as we thought we'd try motorhoming, we have now come to the conclusion that as a family of 3 (our son is 14mths) plus dog; tent camping suits us best 😀.
We previously had a Kampa Holkham 6 Polycotton but sold that as it took forever to put up & was huge for just the two of us at the time. We then bought a Frinton 4 which was nearly perfect but we sold that when we bought the van.
We are hoping the family will expand so want the tent to be roomy & are now thinking of the Filey 6 Air as we loved the layout of the Holkham 6 which was the same & we have seen a demonstration of the Filey 5 air at Winfields.
Is the air system as good as it seems? We will be predominately camping for weekends with the occasional 4 day camp. I'm just worried it's too large for weekend camping?
Any feedback on the Filey 6 Air would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Mrs MacP
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We have the Filey and a Frinton 5. The Frinton for short breaks and the Filey for longer holidays. Love the Filey's features, its' layout and space. Its a little on the large side when there's just two of us, which is most of the time now, but this comes into its own each year when the inevitable thunder storm hits in France and we then use the space to eat inside. Have had dinners for 4 and 6 inside in comfort. I think if you use both bedrooms in the Filey, you'd probably enjoy the extra space of the main area too.
The quicker pitch time for the Air makes it practical for short camps, and you'd have one less bag without the bulky metal poles. Need a good inflator though!
Hope this helps a bit?
------------- May '13 Rozel, Jersey
July '13 Cognac, France
August '13 Domaine Les Gonies, France
September '14 Domaine Les Gonies, France
August 15 Gonies, France
August 17, Gonies , France
Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. The Frinton 5 was the other tent I was considering as we found the Frinton 4 very easy to put up & the quality of Kampa's materials along with the sleeptite system is hard to resist but I think it's going to be a bit snug for 3 (hopefully one day 4) of us plus the dog.
Your response as really helped but my fears to bed so your response was very helpful 😀.
Hi we had a Kampa Filey Air 6 and found it a lovely tent, lots of good features and very roomy, however one word of warning the pack size is huge! I don't want you to be put off but this is the reason we sold it as we struggled to fit anything else in the boot of our Estate car once that was in, gave my OH nightmares! As I said if you have the room I would recommend but just wanted to prepare you for the pack size! Have fun!
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We went from a Kampa Filey 6 with front vestibule to the Kampa Filey 6 Air - as we liked the size and space the Filey offers but needed something easy to put up.
The good points - very easy to put up (we had an electric pump), great space, the inner lining works well on a hot day, and the darker sleeping areas are good - although most tents have those now. Having the integral front door for the porch is better than the vestibule setup.
Unfortunately we had a few quality issues with the Air - the first one let (a lot of) rain in resulting in puddles at the base of every air pole - we had to soak them up through the night. That one was swapped for another which let air out of several places - and both had other minor issues.
We've now swapped over to a Vango Evoque 600 with front awning, which offers similar space, plus flexibility for weekend and longer trips. Hoping to try that out at the weekend.
As others have said, also beware of the pack size of the Kampa Air - it is huge. And the bag is dreadful for the price you pay. If our issues are "one offs" then it's a great tent, we just lost faith.
We also have a Frinton 5 - a great weekend tent, and our Filey 6 was also a great tent, which has now been sold on.
Thanks everyone for the feedback & for highlighting the pack size issue. This has really made us think as we currently do not have a roof box & as we hope to add another little person to the mix this is a big consideration for us. I *thought* I was pretty much decided on the Filey 6 Air but you all have really made me think. The main positive of the Filey 6 was the vestibule would house our kitchen stuff thereby keeping it away from our 14mth old son, leaving the livingroom a safe area to play & we thought the side annex would be great as a toilet pod as I really don't fancy this in one of the bedroom.
Funnily enough when we were in Winfields looking at the Filey 5 air next to it was a Vango Lumen 600 XL airbeam & my husband commented on how light and airy it seemed in contrast to the dark blue of the Kampa. He was very impressed by the space and brightness but we were put off by the lack of vestibule, that each airbeam had to be pumped up separately & not convinced that the darker bedroom lining would actually be much darker but perhaps we were too quick to dismiss the Vango's.
I need to do some research on the Evoque 600 as I didn't realise you could purchase additional awnings, this would work very well for us for one night stays and longer trips. Many thanks Steve for your honest opinions and for opening our eyes to an alternative.
The Evoque also has a much better fabric than the Lumem. The Evoque and front awning make a superb flexible package. If the Filey 6 is to big then the Evoque and front awning should save you about a third in pack size.
------------- Gary Cross - The masked camping guru.
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Yes we have as popped into Winfields & they were advertising it. Seems exceptional value, especially compared to the competition but we are now starting to steer away from the Filey6 due to the pack size mainly.
The price of the Vango we are considering now seems very steep but we want to make sure we make the right choice & won't end up selling the tent on because it's too big/heavy/a faff to put up etc.
Hubby now thinks we should put it on hold till next year & see what the 2015 tent ranges are like :(
Thanks for the heads up, it's certainly a great price.
There are a number of retailers now who have a few Kampa Air tents at silly prices. Kampa have a whole new range of Air tents for next season so they have helped the retailers to clear all the stock. So fill your boots as this really is one if those get'em while you can deals.
------------- Gary Cross - The masked camping guru.
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Ooh, a new range of air tents sounds exciting! I think we are going to wait until next season to buy now as none of them currently out there seem to tick all our boxes. Perhaps I'm too fussy...! Tempted with that Kampa offer but I can't get my head round how cold that blue colour looks like it would feel.
Possibly Youlbury. Like Leeds123 I think we are going to wait for 2015 & see what the new designs are like. It's certainly opened my eyes to other manufacturers. I've had a Vango tent in the past but it was the wrong choice for us & Kampa materials seemed streets ahead but this is no longer the case so we will be watching carefully.
As always this site is just excellent for honest opinions.
------------- Easter - Solway View Dumfries & Galloway
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Just for info we have just come back from our first camping trip with a Filey 6 Air, and had mixed experiences.
Yet to speak to the supplier and the problems are "fixable" but here goes:
1) The manual pump supplied by Kampa is rubbish and it had to be held together by gaffer tape.
2) The clear zip weather seal on the front wall/porch is much narrower than the one on the side door and is very easily damaged (this jams the zip and on our tent with two young children it will now need cutting away...I don't think it does much sealing anyway!)
3) The tent leaked through the ridge seam wherever the hoops crossed it. The leaks were enough to leave a washing bowl of water on the floor, and emergency repair with Fabsil improved the situation greatly, but we still had drips (it was in a storm however)
4) Due to the faulty pump we couldn't be sure we had the correct pressure (we were very careful not to over pressure the tubes)
The earlier comments regarding the pack size and weight are "bang-on", you need a trailer and we are going to use a very large roof bag instead of the pathetic bag supplied with a RRP £1200 tent!
Omg Cessena....you could be talking about our exact filey 6 air experience. After four uses we have returned ours under the sales of goods act as not fit for purpose!!
Kampa admitted to us that the pump is a poor design and isn't upto the job so have redesigned for next year.
I was stuck at a campsite two weeks ago with dog, child and all my stuff unloaded and the pump was working properly, after 45 mins it wouldn't inflate. That was the last straw. How can you reply on an inflatable tent if it won't inflate!!
Please return to whoever you brought off under sales of goods, I will happily provide info re ours to back you up.
The quality is awful, the seems kept catching when trying to get out for a midnight wee with a 5 yr old, pools of water at the base of the Airbeams, faulty pump, clumps of thread hanging inside, awful quality bag that offers no protection..
We have now switched to the Outwell Vermont XLP, back to trusty frame tents.
So glad I was just imagining the problems but sorry to hear about your experience.
Good luck and keep me posted, I woud, be interested to hear what your retailer says.
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Topic: Thinking of buying a Kampa Filey 6 Air
