New to camping, as have decided that we would save alot of money by camping instead of hotels,etc.
With this in mind we need to invest in good value for a family of 4 - 2 adults, 2 kids and maybe the dog too. Needs to be fairly easy to put up and also quite good head height as my husband is 6'3". I was thinking of a maximum budget of £175.
Have noticed that Millets have a selection of Eurohike& Coleman tents on sale at mo. any thoughts??
Thanks so much
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Hi purpletam and welcome to ukcs. Will the kids be sharing a bedroom pod? A tunnel would probably suit you better as you want head height and easy to put up.
------------- Always Kate unless Jay is looking over my shoulder :) x
this one gives great headroom and is under budget. There's some others on there that might suit you too.
Your theory that you'll save lots of money might prove to be wrong though, as the amount of kit you can get sucked in to buying could see you regularly parting with your hard earned cash. We started of with foam roll mats, then camp beds, then airbeds, then coleman comfort airbeds, then added reflective mats and fleece liners, now got a double height coleman comfort. And that's just the beds! So you see, it can get quite out of control!! (Don't even get me started on tents, bought the 6th last week!!!)
If your thinking of taking camping up seriously, i would suggest you upping your budget to get you on your way, after all, next year or whenever, you will have all your gear, and will cost less in the long run, I would be looking in the region of £300 for a decent good brand tent, plus accesories IE : cooker , sleeping bags etc.
When i first started out, I forked out £700, for tent and acc,s, that was years ago,
these days it would you that to stay in a static FOR A WEEK.
P.S. To UKCS
Bob.
------------- Regards Bob.
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I think the Vango Wyoming from Millets is a good buy at £149. I have a Vango as a second tent and really love it.
Yeomans are holding a tent exhibition in Mansfield next week, and Millets have one in Nottigham at the end of the month. If you could get to those it would give you the opportinuty to see tents in the flesh.
forget millets a bit pricey try camp specialists look online much better sites than millits royal coleman vango many more all godd makes 175 will get u a good second hand tent but not really a top notch new 1 welcome to the best campsite on the net freind
If your thinking of taking camping up seriously, i would suggest you upping your budget to get you on your way, after all, next year or whenever, you will have all your gear, and will cost less in the long run, I would be looking in the region of £300 for a decent good brand tent, plus accesories IE : cooker , sleeping bags etc.
It depends whether you wanted this year's model or not. The RRP on my tent was £300. When I started looking at it last year in a tent display it was about £260. Now they have bought out a new model you can get them for £115. (I paid £160 ). It's a wynnster so is a reasonably good brand.
The downside of buying an older model is that you probably won't find it in a tent display.
I'd go to a tent display, if possible, so you can get an idea of the style, if nothing else. Then look for good prices on the internet and come on here and ask for people's experiences of that particular tent. That way you should get a good tent at a good price. It is expensive if you go and buy everything at once so get reasonable basics and upgrade. (Just to warn you, you will keep upgrading forever, whether you need to or not.)
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If you are new to camping I would get the best quality tent you can and make sure it is not too big. Try a tunnel tent, we bought a podded tent last year and many sites won't take it as it is too wide on many pitches for fire regs. We really like outwell tents with SIGs.
Quote: Originally posted by Beccylovespurpl on 12/7/2007
Quote: Originally posted by hrob487 on 12/7/2007
If your thinking of taking camping up seriously, i would suggest you upping your budget to get you on your way, after all, next year or whenever, you will have all your gear, and will cost less in the long run, I would be looking in the region of £300 for a decent good brand tent, plus accesories IE : cooker , sleeping bags etc.
It depends whether you wanted this year's model or not. The RRP on my tent was £300. When I started looking at it last year in a tent display it was about £260. Now they have bought out a new model you can get them for £115. (I paid £160 ). It's a wynnster so is a reasonably good brand.
The downside of buying an older model is that you probably won't find it in a tent display.
I'd go to a tent display, if possible, so you can get an idea of the style, if nothing else. Then look for good prices on the internet and come on here and ask for people's experiences of that particular tent. That way you should get a good tent at a good price. It is expensive if you go and buy everything at once so get reasonable basics and upgrade. (Just to warn you, you will keep upgrading forever, whether you need to or not.)
Limiting your budget for your first tent is sensible, at least you will find out if it suits you and what your needs will be in the future. Lets face it, as it will be your first tent you don't know what you want. The pegasus beccylovespurpl is on about is very similar to this years model - the Pheonix. If you can see a pheonix 6 on display and like it, the pegasus is the same size and proportion but different colour and no SIG.
Sticking to a cheap outfit to try out camping is a good idea. Our first tent was a £400+ canvas tent that was reduced as it was an "old model" and we had 4 or 5 good holidyas out of it before we upgraded. We now have a £1200 Cabanon but thats because we love camping.
If you know anyone who goes camping you could ask to borrow their kit for a trip to find out if you like camping or not. Then if you do, it might be worth spending a bit more money on a better tent that will last you longer.
Hi All And thanks soo much for all your kind advise. Regarding the tunnel tent option i'd like some space between the kids and us grownups, is that possible with a tunnel? £300 for a 1st tent seems a bit pricey but i accept you get what you pay for in most cases. I can't see why we wouldn't get into camping , hubby is certainly very keen and i've only put him off before becos of a bad experience camping with X, new hubby is nice, calm and gentle, everything X wasn't,so should be fine. There is a tent display i know in Northampton which we'll probably check out and the one in nottingham too.
If you get a vis a vis design, it means that you have bedrooms each end of the tent with living area in the middle, giving you some space. I'm sure you can get a decent tent for less that £300. Don't buy the first one you see, come away and find the best price you can online. Like has been said, you can get a bargain on last year's models. I've bought two and saved myself around £350!
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Topic: family size tent - any reccommendations?
). It's a wynnster so is a reasonably good brand.
