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Hi, we are thinking about buying our first tent and have seen a Wild Country Halo 43 (2007) new for £149. We both camped as children and are thinking it would be the way to get maximum holiday for our budget.

I can't find any reviews for this tent, I appreciate it is last years model. Does anyone on UKcampsite have one of these?

I am impressed by the fact the tent shop bloke said only the Wild country tents survived the Easter snowshowers we had, but I sincerely hope never to be camping in the snow, so not sure how useful this is!!!

There are 2 adults and 1 child age 4 and we anticipate really only using the tent as "bed and breakfast" facilities.

Can anyone advise?

Many Thanks

Doh! Thanks for that. I apologise for not thinking of doing a search. I couldn't understand why none of the big sales websites stock wild country but now I know it's because they're more of a mountaineering tent company.

At the risk of sounding completely stupid, will this be just too much and too techy for a novice camping family? We are probably more likely to pack up and come home in extreme weather. It did look really good on the showsite. But wouldn't want to be over horsed as it were (to mix my camping and equestrian metaphors a bit there)

£229 for this year's colour or £149 for last year's colour?

Do seasoned campers really buy new tents each year to get the new colour?

Is it like Radley bags? I know what I'd rather spend £149 on.

Thanks Irn bru for your help.

Clare

I am a big fan of Wild Country tents - we have a Homestead 5 and a Halo 104.  They seem not be marketed widely, possibly because they straddle the boundary between mountaineering/backpacking tents and family tents.  They are owned and made by Terra Nova, who make some very serious and sturdy mountaineering tents and distribute through the more specialist outdoor shops.  The larger Wild Country tents (eg the Halos) tend not to be stocked by these shops, and at the same time tend not to be stocked by the more caravan orientated camping shops.  As a result, you don't see that many around. 

However, I would strongly recommend them for well thought out design, build quality, sturdiness and aftersales backup.  For my money, they beat the more popular brands like Outwell, Wynnster, Royal, Coleman, Vango, etc.  Try and find someone who has owned/used a Wild Country tent and will not recommend it ? 

Hi

We have a Halo 73 and absolutely love it.  It is known affectionately as The Big Blue Blob.  We stayed in it during fierce weather last summer and it didn't budge.  Most other campers simply left for home.  The 73 has ample room for our family of 4 (2 adults and the 2 teens).  The living area is large enough for 6 camp chairs and a small table and the porch is perfect for a kitchen.  There are loads of pockets which are great for cameras, magazines, etc.  As the main dome is steel poled the tent seems very strong.  We have the 2006 version which has different shaped windows but I don't think there are many differences other than the cosmetic (plain blinds not striped, etc) 

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a Halo tent but I would probably opt for a slightly larger 53 if there was not too much difference in the cost.  This would give you slightly more flexibility and also some storage room. 

Good luck with your purchase

Well it's bought now, brought it home yesterday and seriously contemplated taking it up the park to have a go putting it up- it's about 6inches too big to fit in our yard. Looks like it will get it's first airing next weekend at a friends but we can't sleep in it there as dd will be "sleeping over" in house with their dd and can't expect them to deal if she wakes, so first proper use will be bh weekend in fil's back garden. cheap at least!

I was expecting some sort of instruction booklet and thingy to send off for a guarantee/registration but doesn't seem to be anything in there. I read a couple of other posts said instructions on a label in other brand of tent- is that common? what if you can't manage to get it up enough to read the label?

Thanks for all the advice pre-purchase. I love this site!

Clare

Hi Clare

We had a small instruction booklet with our tent.  Very basic instructions but the tent was really easy to pitch.  If you look at the wild country website they have the instructions http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/Product_Information/Pitching_Instructions.html  Hope this is of some help to you.

Jo

Thanks Jo,

I knew someone on here would know! Is it easy enough for me to pitch on my own? As the summer holidays loom ahead and I only work 2 days per week I thought I might take dd off for some girl time but I don't think she'll be much help at 4 years old. We'd have to stay pretty local if oh had to come help.

Clare

Hi Clare

I'm not sure about the halo 43 but the 73 needs 2 people.  I wouldn't worry unduly as most campers would be only too happy to help you if you looked like you were struggling.  I've just remembered that the pitching instructions were in the peg bag.

Good luck

Jo

Hi Jo, I've just looked in the peg bag-nothing! I did fid a label that said !Warning! this bag is heavy- lift with two people. Handy to know but wish I'd seen it before I carried the whole thing to the spare bedroom on my own!

Clare

Hi Clare

I'm sure if you contact Wild Country they will send you a copy but to be honest the ones on the link above are all we got. The tent bag is heavy.  The halo 73 bag is in 2 parts the poles and the flysheet although they can be joined together but I think you would need a crane.  If you are camping by yourself I would open it in the boot and carry it bit by bit, it may take a little longer but camping with either a bad back or a hernia would not be much fun!

Jo

Hi Jo, if you're still watching this post you might like to know that we found the instructions at the bottom of the pole bag (after we put the tent up using the one pager from the internet) It took 4 people- mainly because they were all trying to help- too many chiefs not enough Indians.

The tent was fab, the weather was horrid, I can't wait to go camping properly not in a back garden with a steep slope.

I reckon I could get the tent up on my own if I had to.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction. It may amuse you that I tucked the instructions into one of the many tent pockets for safekeeping and there they still are- tent packed away now. so I won;t be registering for my warranty just yet.

Never mind, good excuse to get the tent up again.

Clare