I'm seriously confused, I posted yesterday saying I would like to purchase a cabanon pyramide 6, when what I really wanted was a De Waard but I think they are expensive and I don't have time to get to Holland.
Now I've discovered Esvo can anyone recommend this make of tent, is it as good as De Waard? It is more expensive than Cabanon, would it be worth it? I found a post yesterday where somebody mentioned that they had this make but didn't give any more information than that, I can't find the post now!!
If anyone can give me any more info. or ideas that would be great.
Karen
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Have you looked at the Cabanon Bora Bora? This would give you more central head height than the Pyramide 6 and also has a proper kitchen cooking area at the back.
I've already looked at those and they are nice but not quite what I want. I want all cotton canvas, apart from windows. The bora bora has got a PVC roof I think, if it wasn't for that I might have considered it. I have a smallish Cabanon touring tent with that kind of roof and wasn't keen on it because of the roof.
I also like more natural lighter colours, too fussy ...I'll never find the perfect tent!
I like the look of the Esvo Snoek it's the cost that's frightening, I'm not sure if it is any better quality than the Cabanon Pyramide 6 to justify the cost.
I bought an Esvo last year - a Baars with windscreens (windscherms) and sun canopy (zonneluifel). We've used it in very difficult windy conditions and been very pleased with it indeed. The Baars has an external shell with internal innertent (binnentent) as standard and mine was manufactured from 300 Ten Cate canvas. I can put it up by myself (I'm 5'2") and it sleeps myself and five teenagers (not all mine I hasten to add) quite cheerfully. Even though it requires seemingly vast numbers of pegs it went up much faster than the nylon job next door in a howling gale and horizontal rain for the first time. Do beware the instructions though - they're in Dutch and don't make that much sense even with the help of native Dutch speaker to translate. The trick is to put the door poles up first and then the main pole, preferably after you've remembered to hook the inner to the main pole and fasten it. Peg from the main seams first and do them symetrically - the diagram is numbered. The quality of the tent is very good and I am confident that,with care, it will last for quite a while. It was much admired - why there are no distributors for Dutch tent manufacturers in this country I have no idea.
Getting it was an adventure in itself as Esvo don't accept British credit/debit cards but like money paid into their Fortis Bank account. I did get very confused and, in the end, drove to the Netherlands to their showroom and met a delightfully tall Dutch chap who teased me about not being big enough to own a Dutch tent and paid for it in cash (1290 euros) I recall! Visited a couple of really fantastic camping showrooms (near Aalten and Schjindel) and requipped not only my camping gear but also parts of my narrowboat (I live on the boat so the new lav went down really well with my daughter!).
I did look closely at both Randstad and De Waard tents whilst out in the Netherlands but found it difficult to justify the doubling of the cost for me. I would accept that they are better quality tents but for me, that wasn't enough to warrant the additional cost - they're a real status symbol in many ways (or purist's dream). The De Waard I liked would have worked out at 2500 euros and still be smaller than the Baars. Even over 20 years use (and I'd be 66 then) that works out at 125 euros per year. but then I've had seven tents in the past twenty years - all used by me and all given to others for various reasons so the chances of me keeping a tent for that period of time is quite remote!
Good luck, and if you do get an Esvo and need some help with the instructions email me!
Oh and there are also randstad... similar to De waard.. someone posted on the 'those dutch tents' thread to say there it was a great time to buy a Ranstad as they had a large order cancelled and they were selling a t a brilliant price.. there looks to be around a third off most prices.
Thanks for your replies but I bottled out of the Dutch tent idea and went for a large Cabanon Aruba Frame tent. After all I said about prefering it to be canvas and no PVC etc. etc.
Now I have a huge blue and grey bungalow with twee windows, loud curtains a kitchen and a toilet extention and sun canopy!
I would still love a Dutch tent but decided not to spend that sort of money on something unseen and I also realised that if there was a problem with the tent it would be even more difficult to sort out with the dealer.
I'm still to test my new purchase but so far I love it I even love the colour. I have had Cabanons before and think I've made the right choice for now and I can still dream about those lovely Dutch tents.
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