I'm thinking of taking my 3 kids ranging from 16months to 10years on a 2 night camping trip on my own. We usually camp as a family with my husband so this will be my first time at doing it alone. We have two tents at the moment, a 4 man dome and we have just bought the Khyam Indiana 8. I would use the smaller 4 man dome as this is just about manageable for me to put up on my own but I was also looking at the 3 man 3 second pop up tents. They look so easy to put up that I am really drawn to them but do you think they would be suitable. I measured our dome and the 3 second pop up tent is slightly bigger than our dome but the dome has a v.large porched area on the front that you could put tables etc in and the pop up doesn't have anywhere that I can see to store boots etc or to cook in if the weather is bad. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
They are great tents and easy to use, but with 4 of you I think space would become an issue! As you have said there is nowhere to put anything. We saw a family of four using them last year and when it rained one day, they spent almost the whole evening in their car. We asked if they wanted to join us but they were German and did not speak much English!!!! In the end they went to a local pub.
I am sure someone will be able to suggest a good alternative soon.
I guess you could, but it would be cramped and you would not have much head height - so if it was for one night or two on a fine weekend, guess it would work.
Personally, if it is solo pitching you are worried about (and needing it to be quick, so you can get back to the kids), I would still go with an easy pitched dome.
Which 4 man dome do you have?
------------- Big Bunny
Robens Valley Lodge & Cabanon Pyramide 6 "... kids you distract the bear, while I run to the car...."
Personally, I like the idea of pop up tents but it would be the thought of folding them back up that bothers me. My son has had a number of pop up play tents and they have been a nightmare to put away
Thanks for all your replies. I'm not sure what 4 man dome we have. It says "Thasos" on the bag. You put the dome up and them there is a 2nd one with the fly sheet attached that goes over the bedroom dome. It is fairly simple to do so I think I will give this a go first before I go and buy something else. Being realistic I think the pop up will be too small, I just really liked the look of how quick and easy it would be to pitch. A friend has lent us his Tesco hexagonal quick up tent and I am going to experiment with this!
The US website has a video showing how to put it down that I found very helpful.
It depend on what you're doing during waking hours if the 3 second would be any good for you, and also how big your kids are. DH found it a snug fit for him & our 4.5 & 6 year olds. I'm also trying to decide if we should buy a 2nd popup for our 13 year old, or let him use the 3 second & get a quick to put up dome with some living space for eating/cooking in.
We also have a tarp from decathlon so if we go for a 2nd pop up we'd be using that for extra space.
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Topic: is a Quecha suitable form Mum and kids
