Quote: Originally posted by leothetiler on 16/9/2013
They do look good. Do you think you can squeeze in two adults and two kids aged 8 and 5 in for a night or two?
Yeah, I think you would fit no bother. I am a tall (5'10") and comfortably proportioned lady and I had my three children with me. My nearly 13 year old is 5'6" and my two boys are ages 9 and 6 and also tall.
You might need to think about what you sleep on. We fit in two SIM and two roll mats. I think the area of the sleeping compartment is 2.2 x 2.25 m so if you wanted to use airbeds or all SIM you would need to check sizes for fit.
It is cosy for four but totally possible. We did find that by rolling up sleeping bags and blankets to the sides we had plenty of room for sitting and playing games and having snacks on rainy evenings. There is plenty of room for even tall adults to sit upright.
I also think that folding it is totally possible for even a petite lady. There is no particular strength or reach required. You just need to watch the videos a few times and remember which way to fold and twist. It is sooooo much simpler than the pop up play tents my kids had when they were younger! Lol!
------------- Bee
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I am also wondering whether to replace my 4 berth pop-up with another similar or to go for a more traditional design.
However, during the 2 years we've had the Quechua pop-up, we've been relatively lucky with weather and it hasn't had to deal with particularly strong winds.
What's everyone's opinion on pop-up's ability to deal with high winds, heavy rains, storms etc vs a decent traditional dome or tunnel style tent?
Also, what about longevity - as mentioned, we've had our Quechua pop-up for about 2 years and don't get me wrong, it's had a fair bit of use and we think it's brilliant for the 90 quid we paid. But on the last trip, I found it had quite a big rip in it and you can tell it's where it's under a lot of strain - are pop-ups more likely suffer this kind of damage becuase of the force of the 'pop-upiness'?
Sorry if I've hijacked this thread for my own questions, I just didn't want to start another on the same topic as one already running - I hope my comments have in some way contributed to answering the OP's question.
Incidentally, I agree with the suggestions that you need to know how you're going to get pop-ups down before you go away - thanks to the advice on these forums, I realised this but absolutely understand why someone would be almost reduced to tears of frustraion in a camping filed - we'd never have got it down without watching the You Tube video and practicing until we'd got it right first.
The only reason we thought about replacing our pop-ups (which are great for overnights, and we have no problems with packing them up) is pack size and shape. Then, we discovered we can slide them under the roof bars/roof box and just bungee them to the roof rails on our car.
The golden rule is ALWAYS practice pitching/ packing in your garden/ park BEFORE you go away.
If your really concerned, find the relevant Youtube video (Decathlon are great for these) and watch that, even put the video on your smartphone/ laptop if you really feel in necessary for the first pitch. You can figure it out from the diagrams, but actually seeing the model you have being folded is MILES easier.
Newsflash: Popups really are a doddle, dont listen to the doubters!
Popups are only ever a problem if you haven't pitched and packed them atleast once. Thats madness with any new tent, but with a popup your just asking for trouble (and embarrassment) After a few times they are just ridiculously easy to do and you will see people looking over, enviously, at how easy they are to fold and pack!
You'll be done before other campers have even taken the poles out of their sleeves etc!
(Our 4 year old Pagoda style 4.2 finally got tested by a couple of really "good" Cornish storms... both last year and this. In the high gusts it will flatten a lot... the "eyebrow" also has an amusing trait of "winking" when the gust hits at a certain direction! Anyway, it did what popups do well... they "go with" the storm. They bend, buckle etc.... then when the gust stops.... they just pop back to normal shape as if to say "is that all youve got then, hmmm? Our 4.2 is still in mint condition after 4 years, the only sign of use being dirt on the guylines and on the mesh part of the bathtub floorplan. If it werent for that it could be sold as new. Great tents and the stitching is some of the best Ive ever seen on any of the tents weve ever had.)
Post last edited on 17/09/2013 23:10:08
------------- (Quechua popup addict!)
Planned for next year, hopefully!
Summer Solstice wild camp.
Chilled in a Field, July.
Crantock, August. Fouth year with the fantastic Quechua Base Seconds 4.2!
..... and the odd night wild camping in my Argos 1 man tent...
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Topic: Pop up tents
