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I'm STILL trying to decide what tent to go for, I stumbled across these (probably the 700 DLX rather than the 500), but I see it pitches inner first - does anyone have any experience or advice on this tent?  It looks like a great space for UK (probably rainy) camping with 2 adults, 1 toddler (hopefully more to follow soon) & the dog!.

Thanks

hi, i recently purchased the aspen 700dlx it is a truly awesome tent, the only 2 draw backs for me are the fact that it pitches inner first and the weight of the pole bag is very heavy. for me very minor draw backs for such a great tent, we have not slept in the tent yet but i pitched it locally the other day. it took approx 15 -20 mins to get the inner pitched which is not bad, considering we had 1 quick look at the video the day before. so it was waterproof in about 25mins max, i think with a bit of practise i can get this down to about 10-15 mins to get it waterproof. so unless it is very heavy rain it wont be to much of a problem. next is the weight of the pole bag as mentioned very heavy but then i don`t intend on carrying it that far anyway, only from house to car and back again. we are a family of 4 plus a dog and the room in this tent is very generous with the main bedroom having enough room for a double air bed plus luggage and still room to walk around in and likewise for the 2 smaller bedrooms with a single air bed. the extended porch is a lot bigger than first seems giving plenty of room for all cooking equipment, wet gear etc. leaving the enclosed living area very comfortable, roomy and cosy. as i said before i can`t praise this tent enough, just can`t wait to sleep in it.   (oh and somerset camping are doing a very good deal on them) good luck on whatever you decide.

rich

Hello, my name is Robin and I live in the Netherlands. After I saw the Aspen 700 dlx I had too have it so I bought it in the UK because I could not get it here.

I have put it up and I must say I have compared to a lot of tents but every time this one is the best for me. It is just a logical tent. Because it pitches inner first there is almost no stress on the fabric. The inner hangs over the complete length of the pool an the flysheet just rest on the poles with no stress on it from a hanging inner. I Bought mine from jrleisure. It was on sale.

I hope this helps you with your decision,

With regards, Robin

ps some pictures:

We bought the 700dlx last year and found it awesome! loads of room,

plenty of head room in the bed rooms plus a great porch area

like everyone says a bit heavy and  a bit of a pig to put up till use to it

but once pitched        THE BEST!!!!   

 Billy

Hello Badger73,

I would like to know, I am going camping this weekend. If you are interested in pictures of me putting it up from first till last. If so let me know then I will make them to give you an idea about the tent and the pitching.

Hope to hear from you,

Regards, Robin.

Robin,

That's a really kind offer, it would be really great to see the photos if possible, have a great weekend camping!

Badger

we have just returned from our first weekend away in our new aspen 700dlx, i hate to repeat myself but what an awesome tent. it took about 45mins to pitch, then i played about with it for about another 45mins but that was just me being fussy lol.  when we set up all our kit it was amazing just how much space, was left over to lounge around in. all the kitchen equipment fitted into the porch area with ease and still had loads of room, to store extra stuff like wet gear etc, as we later found out. on Saturday the weather was OK so we opened up a couple of the vents (which there are loads of) to get some air through the tent. had a lovely comfy night woke up Sunday and the sky was a bit overcast so we all went for a walk down to the beach. when the heavens opened and we got soaked right through, we finally trudged our way back to the tent. where the aspen really came into it`s own (amazing comfort) we all stripped off our soaking clothes, in the porch area and hung them up to dry. before opening the inner tent keeping everything inside dry warm and cosy. once we were dried off and inside the tent, we opened a couple of curtains up to watch the rain outside, with a nice cold can of lager while the kids watched a dvd lovely warm and comfortable. on Monday the weather was lovely, not a cloud in the sky. so once again we opened all the vents up, including the sky lights in the bedrooms. which actually open up to allow air in, which i found out by accident and sat outside for most of the day but when entering the tent it was still quite cool, with all the vents open. all in all a lovely weekend made even better by a truly magnificent tent. i remember reading on here before about people who had bought this tent and started to call themselves Team Aspen well i can now call myself a proud member of Team Aspen.

rich

Hi all, Do you want to leave a review please for all to see?

http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/search.asp?m=1002

Cheers  Ratty

hi ratty,

 i will definately leave a full reveiw, as soon as i get a little more time. off to work now.

cheers,rich.

Hi rich

Welcome to Team Aspen! 

Billy

Hello Badger 73, I totally forgot to post the pictures as promised.

Would you still like me to do this, or did you already purchase a tent?

With regards, Robin