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I can only comment in general as I have not put up a Freelander (but seen 'em).

I doubt it is any difernt to most tents of that syle and design, in that you might get a bit of water coming in, but with a good ground sheet in place you should be OK.

Other similar tents you may want to consider would be the Vango venture 500 (cheaper at around £80), as it has a riser groundsheet which would give a bit more protection. Then there is the Easycamp Napoli 500, which has a fully sewn in groundsheet (and slightly cheaper than the Freelander).

Both the Napoli and the Venture would also have better height in the bedroom, meaning you would not have to crouch down, like in the Freelander.

Quote: Originally posted by PamJade on 22/8/2006

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BB - many thanx for your suggestions. I should have added that I'm trying to restrict the weight to around 10kg for the odd occasion I'm travelling by train. My backpacking days are long over, but I can wrestle a couple of bags for short distances to rv with pals.

Despite the price I liked the Freelander, it attracted good press on here, albeit for shorter stays, and looks very easy to fight alone.

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Understand. In that case forget the Napoli, it is a lot heavier.

The freelander has always had good reviews on here so if you like it, go for it - it seams to be on sale for around £150, so you should be able to hunt out an end of season bargain.

http://www.cave-crag.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/productID/2033/groupID/20/categoryID/44/

http://www.outdoorgear.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci=product&wce=51190701&desc=KHYAM+FREELANDER+FLEXIDOME+TENT3+PERSON

... ps

if you want to save a bit more weight (it is jsut under 9kg) and still stand up - but pay a bit more (sorry) - I can strongly recommend the Robens Valley Lodge (I use one).

http://www.robens.de/Tent.aspx?b=Robens&bid=1&lid=1&l=en-GB&ID=101&pid=1

However, unless the extra 1.5kg is really import the Freelander looks the better value.... but thought it worth mentioning.

Hi, I have  a Freelander. It is a good quality weather proof tent ( I have camped in it during one very bad rainstorm that I can remember)  and  it is easy peasy lemon squeezy to put up the standing  height dome on your own. On the other hand, it is not particularly light weight or cheap and it only has one door - the full width flap-type door at the front which is not brilliant to use if it does rain. But on the third hand (!) , I have not yet seen another tent which does what it does as well and has a door arrangement that I would prefer.

A tent I would be interested to look at, and which others rate, is the Outdoor Revolution VRX 330S http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/membershop/bd_VRX330S.asp. This looks very very easy to put up, weighs only 7.5 kilos and costs only £63. It is less than standing height, but if your're only shortish like me then 150 cms in the living area is doeable for a day or two and the shortage of windows would be OK for that length of time too. I suspect the bedroom might be higher in the OR than the Khyam but don't know that.

For a longer stay tent that one can put up v.v. easily but would be equally comfortable for two, I suggest a Cabanaon Pacific. Pricey new but super duper to camp in and they do come up regularly on Ebay. MT

Thanx again BB.

The Robens looks great and a HH of 5000, but a bit too pricey, however well worth the mention thanx. I really wanted one under £100 but was tempted up to £150 for the slightly higher HH (2500) and easy set up. Khyam have them for £150 so I was hoping other sites might drop a bit more  cos there's still another £20 for the groundsheet.

The Wynnster is still a contender but hasn't had the same good reports on here as the Khyam is quoted more often. Tis cheaper tho which is always good!

Pam

MT, I've looked at your comments before as well, like BB they have been very informative thank you.

I was wondering if we could sneak in & out of the Freelander at the side bit where the window is, but from your comments I guess not. I looked at the VRX330s but thought it was too claustrophobic if I got stuck in it for a few hours and I'd really like to be able to stretch upright.

If we end up doing lots of camping as a couple then I might invest in a better tent.

Many thanx.

Pam

A couple of others you might want to consider:

• Easycamp Torino 500 - inner height 185cm, 7kg weight, £60
• Outwell Arizona L - inner height 195, 9.7kg, £110 (same design as the Robens)

Now the Arizona is on my shortlist!  I think I need to shorten my short list again. I like the door options on this one. Back to haunt the boards for comments - I'm learning a lot though, thanx folks.

Pam

Arizona 2006 is now slightly larger and 13.4kg, still a contender. 3000HH too

Pam

Hi Pam and welcome!

Just a few further thoughts that may or may not be helpful!

The Arizona offers standing height in the bedroom, unlike the Freelander.

I  looked at the freelander a couple of years ago when it was first out, but decided against it because the bedroom looked low and a bit pokey. I got an end-of-line Khyam Conquest 400 instead. This is a vis a vis style (i.e. double bedroom at each end) and weighs about 10kg. We have been very happy with this as a weekend tent, as we leave one bedroom out to make more room, and have made our own groundsheet that covers the whole footprint of the tent. It has been out of production for a while now but I have found it for £140 here from a company that does Khyam seconds, but I don't know anything about that particular seller.

One other point I would make about  the larger Khyams with the rapidex poles is that their packed size tends to be long and thin due to the pole structure, so it may impact on how portable they are for lugging on trains etc.