My partner and I have recently started camping and have decided that my 3/4 man tent is not ideal as when the weather turned on our last trip we felt a little trapped.
We are looking to buy a bigger tent - we are not too fussed about having lots of bedrooms and would like something which isn't too time consuming to erect (e.g. nothing longer than an hour!) so we were thinking a type of tunnel tent as they seem most straightforward.
We would like a large living area so we can set out table/chairs etc and still have plenty of room - with maybe an outdoor area with a canopy also.
Any recommendations? Most of our trips tend to be long weekends, rather than long holidays however we would like a lot more space but not have to spend hours putting up a tent ! Sadly we cannot afford an inflatable tent just yet. Have been looking at the Outwell Montana & Bear Lake (ebay) but a little unsure...Any help would be gratefully received!
Even though there are only two of you it would be better to have at least a 4 man tent and a 6 man tent would be better.
Large tunnel tents are no more difficult to erect than small tunnel tents, especially if there are two adults erecting it but I would look for a tent with just 3 or 4 poles. It gets more difficult with tents that have loads of poles going in all directions i.e. dome tents and tents with pods sticking out on all sides.
I always recommend metal poled tents as these are easier to thread through pole sleeves, the poles are on the outside and the tent just clips to them, and they are far more stable than tents with fibreglass poles.
As you have discovered, a large living area with large windows is a must so that you can sit inside in comfort with table and chairs and still have plenty of room to stand and walk around.
A sewn in groundsheet is also a must these days as not only does it keep most of the bugs and all of the weather out but it means the inner bedroom pods can be left connected and the tent erects all in one.
I have the Coleman Da Gama 6 which has 3 bedrooms. This is the video for it (but shows the Da Gama 5 model).
This is the style I would recommend and all manufacturers do something similar.
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Topic: Help needed - recommendations?
