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Hello All,

We're new to family camping. I've done the mountaineering thing in the past with some friends and a little Force Ten but those days are long gone! I'm looking for a family tent. We have 4 children (age range 2 - 10). We haven't got a fortune to spend and we only have a Fiat Multipla so we need something fairly small and light. After much internet-based research I think I like the look of the Coleman Magellan 9. I'd welcome any thoughts.

The best views of it I can find on the web are at http://www.outdoorfocus.co.uk/tall_fibreglass_steel_tents/Coleman/exponent/Coleman_Magellan9_photos.htm

Looks a bit dingy (perhaps because it's in a warehouse?). Also, I can't tell if it has any venting at the top. Could this cause a problem with condensation?

Also, I'm wondering if the living area will be big enough for 6 of us in the rain.

As I say, I'd welcome any thoughts on this tent, or Coleman in general, from the pros and also any suggestions for an alternative. (Outwell and Khyam seem to be the top brands - or is that just marketing?)

Thanks in advance .....

My first reaction is get along to a good display of tents and try looking at them in the flesh so to speak.

Let us know where you are, and I'm sure other local members will direct you to the nearest display.

I haven't seen this tent up but based on your link:

 - the Magellan looks as if it has a seethrough/clear vent cap on the central dome, which generally means a nice bright living area underneath. And there are at least two large windows on the front porch area, so I wouldn't think it would be dark inside at all

 - I like the colour, that it is fly sheet first but has a sewn in groundsheet and that it doesn't weigh a ton, and therefore presumably has a relatively smaller packsize

 - there are three good sized bedrooms for a family your size

MT

Good point Kenton - I'm from Staines, Middlesex. I've asked Coleman to send me some information on local stockists but if any local members can beat them to it that would be great.

And thanks Merry Terrier for pointing out the clear vent cap.

PJ Camping stock Coleman, and they have a store in St Albans where we bought our tent from.

I would call before you travel that distance to check they have one on display though.

I am a lover of Coleman, we have had a Coleman Tri space,a fantastic tent, the quality is the best I have seen, my husband, or the boss as he thinks, also liked our tri space.  We decided to change it for a sewn in groundsheet tent due to a new addition & we looked at both the Megallan & the Outwell Montanna, I love the megellan, however, much more workable living space in the Montanna, as you have the bedrooms at one end, although the Coleman is very light in wheight.  Inside is quite dark, due to the darkness of the material, even with very good roof light type windows & the other windows, however inside the Montanna is very bright, (maybe a problem for us witha 5mnth old to get to sleep).

You need to have a good look around & see the tents up, check with local stores on their displays, hubbie convinced me we should buy the Montanna, & we put it up last weekend, we made a good choice I think.

Have a good time searching

Sharon

Update...

Thanks Kenton for the tip on PJ Camping. We went along to have a look at a Magellan 6 to give us some idea of the 9. A few things put us off. It was a bit dark and dingy compared with most others, though the colour is probably very practical. It's packed size is 80 x 40 in spite of being very light. One unusual feature I noticed was some holes (with little draw-strings to close them up) in the SIG for pegging out the inner tents! Also, it hadn't been properly pitched and we couldn't help wondering whether the shop had run into trouble pitching it. I emailed one web-based seller about availability of this tent and was told that after they had received their first delivery of this tent they had unpacked and pitched one themselves. They had been so unimpressed that they had returned the whole shipment and would not be selling that particular tent!

Anyway, we wandered round the rest of the tents and spotted the Outwell Sun Valley 8 and decided that was the one for us. We liked the integrated screenhouse where we can have a table for dining and store muddy boots etc. Also it packs down to the same size as the Magellan 9 (though it's 10kg heavier). All in all it seemed like a more practical family tent than the Magellan.

I've already spotted the tip in another thread about the 4m x 5m tarp. being a perfect fit under the SIG so any further tips from seasoned Sun Valley users would be most welcome. This will be our first try at "family camping".