We currently have a Wynnster carmarthen which we bought this time last year. We love the tent, however have had so much aggro this year with C&CC about 'the size' of it that we are considering changing to something else. (It's not that big - but is a cross shape, not rectangular and so therefore falls foul of their 'no wider than 5 m' rule)
We have looked at a Sunvalley (either 6 or 8) and would like to see a Sunncamp Vario 600 as well (unable to find one up to see yet). What we do like is the SIG, porch and 3rd 'room' for storing stuff in. What we don't like so much is the pitching in the rain as it goes inner first. (Also it doesn't pitch properly in our garden as we have a rectangular garden - so we have to leave the rear porch down and put the front porch over the top of the swing - it works as long as you remember to hook the swing seat out of the way when entering and leaving!!!)
Any ideas on these tents and anyone able to suggest any other alternatives please? I'm a bit wary about getting a replacement that is also very large, just in case it falls foul of some other 'size' rule that I am currently unaware of!
Thanks
(by the way there are 4 of us - 2 adults, 2 children)
Hi - 2 adults, 2 children. At the moment we sleep 1 child and 1 adult per bedroom (not enough room for 3 in the bedrooms), but am hoping next year that the little one will consent to share with her sister.
It's got to be full SIG, I have looked at tents with 'riser groundsheets', they seem much too drafty so I still prefer the full SIG.
Budget.... as little as possible! However I wouldn't want to spend a lot more than £300.
We have a Campus Indiana 8 for 4 of us, it's a tunnel tent, 7.4m by 3.5m I think! It has a large double room and 2 smaller ones, which you can hang or not, we usually only put up 1 of the small ones leaving the space for a kitchen area. It has a large living area which will fit a table and 4 chairs nicely still leaving plenty of room. It doesn't have a porch or a SIG and costs about £199.
I personally like the tunnel tents, easy to put up and I like the height of them.
Hope you find what you are looking for ... there are some sites that will accomodate your large tent, have you looked on the "UK Caravan and Camp Sites" forum there is a post on "Sites Accepting Large Tents"
Quote: Originally posted by georgiegirl104 on 17/8/2006
Hi - 2 adults, 2 children. At the moment we sleep 1 child and 1 adult per bedroom (not enough room for 3 in the bedrooms), but am hoping next year that the little one will consent to share with her sister.
It's got to be full SIG, I have looked at tents with 'riser groundsheets', they seem much too drafty so I still prefer the full SIG.
Budget.... as little as possible! However I wouldn't want to spend a lot more than £300.
I would suggest for your short list to view typical full-SIG tunnels:
SunValley 6/8
Montana 6
Sunncamp Haven & Vario (2006 model)
Vango Aurora
Gelert Quebec & Alaska
This design would give you the larger end bedroom where you could easily get 3 in to sleep or even the kids in a zipped bedroom next to you.
The good value ones in the above list are the Gelerts, which will easily get for £150-£200; however, they are also the ones that are pitched inner-first. The Aurora would also be good value and does pitch as one (outer-first), however, you need to be comfortable with the bedroom slope, given the design.
------------- Big Bunny
Robens Valley Lodge & Cabanon Pyramide 6 "... kids you distract the bear, while I run to the car...."
I have seen the Sunvalley 6 and really liked it, haven't seen the 8 up. Have looked at the Montana 6, but didn't like it that much (can't say why). Also with the 'porch' at the side it is over 5 m wide by a small amount - not sure if site owners get a tape measure out?
I haven't seen any Sunncamp's up around us - we might try Towsure at Birmingham at the weekend to see if they have any on display. (we live near East Midlands airport).
I have seen a small Aurora - it was the 4 man version. Looked very small to me, but the 8 man with porch might be more generous (don't know where I can see one of those though).
I think the Alaska is non-SIG. I have only seen one Gelert tent up (not either of the ones you mentioned) and I was concerned about two things. One is the lack of guying points for a large tent (not many!), the second was a quality issue. The one I saw had a huge rip across the bottom of the porch and half of the (few) guying points were ripped off.
Anyway, this has given me something to think about. Thanks for your help.
I don't think it needs to be 5 m x 5 m - just not wider than 5 m. I don't know how long you are allowed to go - presumably up to 8 m is OK (to allow for guying)?
Quote: Originally posted by georgiegirl104 on 17/8/2006
I don't think it needs to be 5 m x 5 m - just not wider than 5 m. I don't know how long you are allowed to go - presumably up to 8 m is OK (to allow for guying)?
so the length can be longer than 5m?
actually I just looked and the 500 is still over 5m in length
some friends of ours have the sunncamp vario 6+ and they say its absolutly brill, the best tent they`ve brought! really big and spacious in the living area. they did 2 weeks in wales with 2 small kids in it and loved it! while they were away they had the usual mix of weather... strong winds, heavy rain and scorching heat and they said the tent couldnt have been better!
Mansfield Outdoor Leisure have tents on display, including vario. That's where we viewed our vario 900. I think they've got the 600 on display. Wouldn't be too far for you to go and you might find something you like.
We had the same problem with the Outwell Nebraska XXL. Being a cross shape and about 7.5 metres wide we had loads of problems getting onto C&CC sites. We got rid of it and bought the Outwell Norfolk Lake instead. This is 4m wide and 7.5m long so is perfect for a C&CC site. The Sun Valley 8 is the same tent but made of polyester rather than canvas like the Norfolk lake. I was talking to the site manager at the last C&CC site we stayed at and he said most of their pitches are 8x8m, therefore allowing a 6m gap between units (3m per pitch) if a 5m tent was used. He said it's getting a problem now with such big tents being sold but the C&CC are looking to find a solution to this without affecting safety or number of pitches.
Hi - thanks all this has obviously got bumped up to the top again from a while ago! We have just bought a 2005 Wynnster Anglesey (for a great price!)- very similar to our Carmarthen, but with the bedroom pod at the back, so this should hopefully solve our problems.
We have also decided to hang onto the Carmarthen as well, and use it when we go to sites where size isn't an issue!!
So we are now a 2 tent family (well 3 if you count the play one for the garden!). I must now be disciplined and stop looking at other tents, however tempting they are.....................
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Topic: Need a smaller tent - any advice?
