We are beginning our seemingly annual debate about which tent to buy for our small family of two adults and one child. Over the years, we have had (1) small two-man geodesic - weatherproof, quick to pitch, can't swing a hamster in it (2) small-ish two-man canvas frame tent - longer to pitch, a bit creaky in the wind, harder to dry, but spacious (3) enormous plastic tunnel tent - ages to pitch, extremely weatherproof, very spacious - a bit too vault-like (4) canvas tipi - very easy to pitch, weatherproof up to a point (didn't like combination of sandy pitch and high wind and horizontal rain), hard to dry, but quite spacious.
We have come to the conclusion that it is only possible to have two out of three - you can have spacious and quick to pitch, but it is not 100% weatherproof (tipi). You can have spacious and weatherproof, but it takes hours to pitch (big tunnel). You can have quick to pitch and weatherproof but extremely cramped quarters (geodesic mountaineering tent).
Has anyone out there managed to find a tent with all three? We'd love to hear from you if you have....
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I've just been looking at the Cabanons, and also the amazing Karsten inflatable tents...we have a Relum frame tent that got battered in Scotland one summer and I think the springs in the poles stretched a little...
We were dead set on a Terra Nova but a little concerned about (a) cramped quarters (b) UV damage to a plaggy tent....canvas is nice, but they all seem to be huge. And we have limited space to dry a soggy one.
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De Waard Albatros/Lepelaar with varioluifel or at least 3 windscherms and zonneluifel. Cosy, roomy indoor space plus cosy, roomy and totally protected outdoor space without being massive tents. Also should be able to withstand pretty much anything nature chucks at you bar volcanic activity. Not cheap mind but there's ways and means...
Well, I quite like my two 2006 version Vango TBS Oregons (600 & 800)...spacious, very robust and easy to pack up and dry out, for the size. It's a quick pitch too...20 minutes for the 600, a little more for the 800, with two of us. I can do the 600 on my own.
The only reason we upsized to an 800 after owning the 600 quite happily is that the kids (boy aged 11, girl aged 6) decided they didn't want to share a pod any more. But I think it shows we were happy with the tent if we just decided to get the same again but bigger. I don't like SIG tents, mostly because of the cleaning aspect, so I made a point of hunting down the 2006 version with riser groundsheet.
Knowing what I know now though about tunnels, I wish I'd got my hands on a Vango Vista 600 or 800 when they were still made. The version with small porch...2005? But I don't think I could have pitched one on my own, which was the top criteria at the time.
...We have come to the conclusion that it is only possible to have two out of three - you can have spacious and quick to pitch, but it is not 100% weatherproof (. .....
Another vote for getting all three with a Cabanon Barbados, or a Pyramide 6 if you didn't want a sewn-in groundsheet. MT
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
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Hi Izbiz
Karsten tents tick all three boxes. Very quick to pitch as they are inflatable, available in many sizes and are waterproof and stand up to strong winds. Karsten are one of the few tent manufacturers to give a guarantee that their products will cope with high wind.
LOL. I've been searching for the perfect camping unit for me & two teens for 6 years now, everything big enough and luxurious enough for teenage daughter's tastes was too big for me. (Big caravan, big motorhome - narrow road outside house - didn't work)
We leave daughter at home now - problems solved. Son & I are happy in anything, within reason.
But back to your problem. Quick to pitch, exceedingly weatherproof and spacious - have you considered a trailer tent? A Combi Camp would tick all your boxes.
------------- Caz
If you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, just keep going till you go round the bend.
Khyam quick to pitch, weatherproof, Polyester or Canvas, small or large you decide. We won't discuss cost cos' that bit hurts
We got a Khyam Excelsior last October and it hasn't even been out of its bag yet! I keep wanting to test drive it, but OH keeps finding other things to do.
I haven't yet told him we may have to take it to a park to put it up. He is easily embarrassed (god knows why he married me) and won't like that AT ALL!
Hi The Khyam XL I bought a few years ago for my 11 year old and myself ticked all of the boxes. Incredibly easy to pitch with a little help from my daughter, withstood terrible storms in Cornwall and Devon and the only water that ever came in was when we pitched in a large puddle! Actually I'm selling the tent now as I've obtained a man who likes canvas and can erect a Bear Lake 6 as well as the bell tent - sorted!Annabel
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Thanks for all the suggestions! I think the trouble is our requirements are too many and varied to expect to find one tent that does everything. I have to remind myself that it's CAMPING I want to do ie. the great outdoors. Any temporary outdoor structure will have it's limitations, we just need to decide on our priorities!
We do know that we DON'T want: anything we have to tow, kitchen/toilet extensions, lots of flapping fabric (curtains), pods (stick out too much), anything too vast ie. more than 4 or 5m max in any one direction, vis a vis (again, dimensions), crawling access (getting old!), lots of plastic windows particularly fake georgian bars....., tension straps to garrot yourself on in the night, dome shape (not windproof), cheap fabrics (won't last), lots of poles (aagggh), inelegant shape, too vast, too sloping........so we're not too fussy......
We know that we need to accommodate three large thermarests and so any tapering bedroom area is a no-no. We think we may like to put bikes inside if we go out for the day (security) but this automatically jumps us up a huge amount in tent size to look at....we also like being able to fit onto a pitch and have some grass left to sit on.
Current possibilities being investigated are Outwell Trout lake or Bear lake (ooh, a bit long with the sun-shade) (we had a Montana, and whilst being vast and very plasticky, we were impressed with the strength). We like canvas a lot - less noise, more comfortable atmosphere, will last for ever, slightly more eco-friendly, but are very concerned about the old question of drying it before moving it. When we were forced to move pitch with a wet tipi last year, it seemed that the temporary folding up whilst wet caused trillions of damp spots to start to leak - the rain didn't let up enough for it to dry out at all, and so then we had puddles everywhere inside and ended up driving home a week early....I don't know if this is a problem when folding up and moving all canvas tents? Were we unlucky? Has anyone gone to the lengths of taking a cheap, small plaggy tent with them to deal with this eventuality?
Sorry for rambling...getting slightly obsessed by all this....!! Any comments gratefully received...
Hi When we go away with the Bearlake 6 it's for a week or more and we stay in one place. The Bearlake withstood everything summer 07 threw at us and dryed remarkably quickly. When we go away for just a few days we take a canvas bell tent but we also throw in an Outdoor Revolution tent just in case - we've never had to use it though but it gives peace of mind.
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Topic: "Two out of three" theory of Tents
We won't discuss cost cos' that bit hurts 
