Let me get this straight out of the way: my wife and me haven't camped once. We just decided that we'd like to give it a shot, because it would enable us to do things like the North Coast 500 (we're from south wales), see the country basically.
We don't know anything about tents, but here's a few things we figured out in the last few days. First: we'd very much prefer some kind of Coleman tent, because at least from what i can tell in comparison (i think we compared it to a Vango Nightfall tent, as well as a Berghaus Nightfall), they have by far the darkest "inner tent sleepy.. thing". As in, they're actually dark, whereas every other tent we walked into just basically coloured that inner tent black and called it "nightfall".
We have no idea what makes a quality tent, i did read into hydrostatic head etc, but as far as companies go, no idea. Vango, Coleman and Outwells seem to be popular, same with Hi Gear and Berghaus, maybe?
Don't know which of these makes the "most reasonable" quality.
By that i mean, it's going to be our first tent, we don't know how much we'll be camping (or if we're even enjoying it), so a £800 4 people tent is probably nice, but also probably not particularly great for a first choice in our case.
From what i've seen, Coleman tents are basically decent all around, not too badly priced, and not too bad in quality. Is that assumption correct?
I fell into a hole where i initially "decided" on a tent, based on, well.. not really much, i am having trouble seeing the difference between things like the Meadowood 4 and Castle Pines 4, for example (other than colour and a few different guy line positions?). The prices also seem to vastly differ (i've seen the Meadowood 4 anywhere between £350 and £710?).
I basically would like to ask for recommendations, for someone who wants a "bedroom" as dark as possible, price below £400, reasonable quality, sized like a 500 sized Vango, or a Coleman Meadowood 4 etc. Is Coleman our only option there, and it's just a case of hunting down a decently priced one and cross fingers that it does what we need it to? We've seen the "L" variants of Coleman tents, but these are too much for us - we're just two people, and the tent for the majority is only going to be pitched one night, with the occasional weekend - don't need a palace in a bag for that. We can't even figure out which ones are recent releases, their webpage really isn't that helpful in that regard.
Any help, pointers or advice is appreciated.
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ok so the Castle Pines 4 has a higher hh rating being 6000 mm and the other tent being 4000mm the pinewood is slightly heavier tent to carry even tho its the same size when packed or pitched. the bedroom door on the castle pines is fabric whereas the other is mesh. price difference seems to be approx £100 between the two tents, if it was me i would pay the extra for the higher rating of the castle pines
dont forget to look at olpro tents or decathlons quechua as they also have very similar designed ones
We enjoyed the NC500 when it was newly promoted & quiet. If you’re doing the NC500 with a tent, I assume you’re planning to stay on sites with toilets - the site search here on UKCS will help you choose. Bear in mind that it takes time to put up & take down a tent, so I encourage you to stay 2 nights & explore locally for a day rather than always moving on, which isn’t that relaxing. The official website is informative too.
Whatever tent you choose, have an awesome trip.
If you have never been camping beg, steal (buy used) or borrow a tent for your first trip. You can have in your head the ideal tent, but you only find downsides when you start using it.
In the UK you need a good 'all rounder' which can handle 4 seasons in one day (especially in Scotland). Larger tents are great if you need room and somewhere to sit etc if the weather is poor.
They aren't so great if you need to erect it in a howling gale or heavy rain or live in it in similar conditions as fear of it being blown apart will always be in your mind (been there, got the T shirt and that was in Scotland in a small two man tentj. If you are touring and it takes ages to erect and dismantle each time it can quickly become a chore.
We have a full blown Outwell 5 person tent which was great for longer stays, but for shorter trips the three person Vango or Khyam are far better as they can be fully pitched (including every guy rope) in 30 minutes max, the Khyam quick erect is closer to ten and its down in seconds.
Hydrostatic Head is merely an indication of how thick and therefore how robust and waterproof the material is. 5,000 is the minimum I would consider for UK use.
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You seem to be on the right lines. Every purchase involves compromise, as you can see from the advice here. If you’re doing single nighters, then a pop-up is the thing. If you’re staying longer, and using it as a base, then something bigger. I saw some advice, to do with motorhomes, but it works here - buy the smallest you think you can get by in. Less to load, less to erect, less to put away.
As first timers, I’d advise you to invest more on bedding: keep off the ground, and avoid airbeds that are bags of cold air. Foil backed picnic blanket; self-inflating mat, maybe on camp bed; good quality sleeping bag. And a beany hat. Being toasty in bed gives you a better night sleep; just the racket of the dawn chorus to wake you!
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Coleman, or something else?
via mobile 31/8/2024 at 12:31pm
