Well said Jim1977. It's all about the law of diminishing returns. I would question is a £4k tent that much better than a £900 one. In my experience the answer is no.
Something middle ground is the way to go imho, buit we are all different.
------------- atko
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Just to add our recent experience, the air-tent concept seems great, but the Kampa Filey 6 was disappointing, the manual pump simply fell apart and had to be repeatedly repaired, and this new tent leaked water from the "ridge" of the roof in 4 places. Waking up to find wet floors and sleeping compartments with bowls full of water held in the compartment roof is not much fun!
We may have been unlucky but this tent is going back to the dealer for a refund, now wondering the route we will take i.e air-beam or conventional frame.
Camping, tenting etc is very much each to their own.
We all have different needs & expect different things from our set ups.
We have had 2 Vango tents ( not airbeams ) before each was good for our needs at the time & we thought we had the right tent.
We also own a Easy camp Kos 6 ...old frame tent which did us proud last year in France & which now my eldest daughter uses with her family.
We do have a Karsten tent & are a family of 4 & we have the main pod, a sleeping extension & a CA, EA FA & RA. Sorry about the initials but these are the 3 'awnings' we have attached to the front of our tent plus the zip on rain cover. Yes add these up & they do cost a lot of money.....ours was second hand bought from Karsten in Holland & for us was the only way we could afford a Karsten. It is 9 years old & still looks & feels like new ...many photos in the Karsten thread.
This set up works for us & we can say without a doubt it does stand strong in high winds as we were away last weekend & was visited by Bertha!
2 tents opposite us were almost blown flat if it had not been for the equipment inside then they would have been. Both were fibre poled tents & not airbeams.
The mains pod is up in 8 mins then we add the extras as we want or need them.
We wouldn't swap our Karsten tent for anything now....but i wouldn't expect everyone to like or want one.
I will say quality is second to non they were built to last & last they do.
Francais reckons that anything other than a Karsten is a toy.
Well Francais - let me tell you something, I'm a big kid and I simply love playing with toys.
Do you honestly think that Vango, Outwell, Kampa............. would come anywhere near the market with products which in many cases are three times the price of a poled equivalent simply for them to be considered toys. Frankly it shows you as a bit of a Camping Snob. I certainly wouldn't consider spending £4k on a tent. The £1k I spent on mine was plenty thanks very much. This is probably one of the most inclusive past-times you will ever come across and all the different equipment means anyone can come and take part- whether it's a Karsten or a 4 man with sleeping bags and roll mats in one bag - who cares!
As Gary says - they all get you to where you need to be i.e. tomorrow. As I've been saying on other threads - when it does go wrong the real measure is how well you're dealt with.
For me I'll spend my money and look for 5 years out of it - by then I'm ready for a change anyway!
Quote: Originally posted by Francais on 16/8/2014
Sorry steel, but my money would still go on the Karsten, with it's superior heaven Cotton Canvas and Heavy Duty SIG, and Tubes that handle around double the Air Pressure of all other inflatable Tents.
I have seen many Karsten Tents whilst in France and can say that they are the Dog's.
In fact I would even go as far to say, that Vango and Outwell offerings are like toys in comparison.
But as ever, you pays your money and makes your choice.
hi francais
thats an interesting post you write.
on this forum - I started the Karsten Kamping Klub thread - now into its 50th page - it looks to have been very successful with the support of the great folks on this forum, some of who have become and those that already were Karsten owners.
iv got a karsten 300 plus the various awnings etc. iv kept my outwell concorde L and even added the 2 available awnings for it recently. yesterday i bought a vango air tent and iv also got a little vango ark.
in my personal ownership, i would contradict what you write ( although of course you are entitled to your opinion ) but id hate someone to make a wrong purchase based on your scribblings!
the karsten does have various drawbacks. its very well made yes and its extremely strong.
however, its very heavy, iv got tired of using it for short camps which i did think id be using it for initially but not anything less than 2 nights now.
i thought id be using it for long stays too - but quite honestly, i prefer my concorde L with the 2 awnings - the concorde offers me space and luxury features, albeit without the robustness of the karsten.
the vango airbeam i bought yesterday goes up in a breeze, ( so to speak lol ) its easy and lightweight to carry. nowhere near the robustness of the karsten of course but the ease of use is the trade off.
on each occasion i camp i have different needs and not even my karsten pod and the variuos accesories at a cost close to 3k cost can satisfy all my needs all of the time - and hence i am so glad i have various tents to choose from.
the karsten is an excellent tent, i dont for 1 minute regret purchasing it. i love everything about it - but it does not fit every camping situation that i have.
and so for everyone else reading this thread - please dont ever think that because you dont have a karsten tent your tent is a toy - i love ALL my toys if you wanna call them that and my karsten is one of my toys too.
every one of my toy tents serves a valuable purpose - to enhance my love of camping - and thats what its all about to me. not the name on the front of the tent.
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After suffering several broken poles in high winds on an Outwell, I decided that a new tent was in order. I quite fancied one of the alloy poled Robens but went with an Airbeam after seeing a few Youtube clips of inflatables. To put it simply, I'm sold! I've used it a couple of times this season and it's been fantastic to put up/take down and live with. It did cost a fair bit mores than its poled equivalent but I don't think I would even consider a fibreglass poled family tent now.
I saw my first Karsten the other day and thought it was hideous to look at (apologies to those in the Karsten thread obviously). My Hilleberg is what I would call the Rolls Royce of tents. The weight, bulk and cost of a Karsten put me off but now I've seen one in the flesh, I'm even more glad I purchased my Airbeam. They definitely are the future of affordable family camping in the UK IMHO.
I love my Vango Airbeams - I had a small one to start with for just myself and the dogs a Velocity 300 and liked it so much we sold our heavier and fiddlier Bear Lake for a larger airbeam - the Eternity 400. They are far easier to put up and take down and wouldn't go back to poles now. A definite recommendation from me.
Hi Marty, sorry about that, I do love your comment that I am a Camping Snob, that is probably one of the best contradiction in terms that I have ever come across.
I can only comment on what I have seen, even stuff like a Karsten taking a Pepsi Wind Tunnel challenge against any other brand of inflatable tent, speaks volumes in itself.
But who am I to comment, my icle Cabanon Tent, with it's outdated steel poles and cotton canvas, cost me just £699 brand new back in 2008, oh what a camping Snob I must be.............not
Francais - I guess I don't like to be labelled as being as Mickey Mouse camper with my Toy resembling gear.
Like I said before, yip, each to their own, Karstens, Cabanons, Pro-Action...... Who cares about the Pepsi Wind tunnel challenge, I'll never be pitching in it.
I take it from your post that you don't own a Karsten though looking at the pics of the your Cabanon, it looks the business.
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Marty2711.
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Well I was just trying to get across that the Karsten is as good as it gets when it comes to inflatable tents. So that maybe newbies interested in the concept and not aware of Karsten could then make an informed purchase if thinking of buying an inflatable tent.
As for the Vango, Outwell, Hi Gear, Quechua, Sunncamp, Kampa and even Heimplanet offerings, they are obviously all fine inflatable tents and can be compared almost on an equal basis.
But I am sure that you all agree that the Karsten is altogether in a league of it's own, not just it's build quality which is arguably over engineered, but the whole modular concept, it is in many ways quite unique.
I don't know if I would ever buy a Karsten Tent because I would probably put the £5k towards a caravan.
I kinda missed my chance to buy a Karsten, because back in 2008 when I bought the Cabanon I was not even aware of them, probably just as well as the £699 I paid for my Cabanon was almost at the top of my Tent buying budget as it was at the time.
small castles are also about as good as it gets when it comes to over engineering and they can be extended, but they not suitable for every family to live in one either!
i certainly dont use my karsten for every camping occasion regardless of how its made!
each to their own of course!
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Topic: Vango Airbeam??
