New to the site and new to camping. I'm looking for advice on a tent and think I've narrowed it down to two.
Outwell Georgia XL
Outwell Idaho XL
Would the Georgia be warmer because of the two layers? What about condensation? Also, can you get any type of black material as my children do wake up early in the summer.
Thanks in advance
Matt
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Welcome to the site, I myself have not been a member for too long, and have found loads of info and saved a bunch of cash, following good advice on here.
You can't go wrong with Outwell, I have looked at them close up, and the Polycotton (TenCate) models feel very nice, I also notice that Vango have some nice Polycotton models as well, you may have gathered I prefer Canvas to Poleyester, although my backpacking tents are both a type of Polyester, purley a choice restricted by weight considerations, my family tent is new but made from traditional Cotton Canvas, if you can, have a look at Cabanon tents, they kind of set the benchmark, for the best of the best there is De Waard and Karsten, but at around 3k for a family tent that is serious investment for a tent. always make the effort to view a tent pitched, it is the best way to avoid any potential dissapointment.
Matt if you decide on the Georgia give me a shout, (see here) I can't comment on the Idaho but I'm sure that's a very good tent too. Do love ours, the room it gives you is excellent. Can't justify keeping the Georgia as well as the Dandy though unfortunately!
I also don't think you'd get anything with blackout material in/on but I could be wrong, hopefully the kids will be warn out from all the fresh air and sleep in longer!
Whatever you decide, welcome to camping and I hope you have a wonderful time!
Re children getting up early.......I`m always awake first when we are camping, not only do they go to bed later they get up later.......my little one is rarely up before 9am ( so wish she was like that at home)
On our first camping trip we pitched with the bedroom pod facing the sunrise..........best avoided if the pitch allows it.
Andi...looks like an excellent bargin
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Hi
Welcome to the site!
Outwell do a kids bedroom with a dark ceiling (available for both the tents you're considering) that might help you get a lay-in! It also has pockets for toys and holes to throw balls through if they are young enough to appreciate that.
One advantage of the Idaho over the Georgia is that it is more compact, which may be an issue. Some campsites have pitches that are marked out and, because of its more spread-out design, the Georgia may not fit on some of these pitches.
There have been a number of threads on the problems of finding campsites for larger tents and it tends to be designs such as the Georgia that have a problem.
Another thing to be aware of is the living space of the Georgia. Although it seems to be more generous, because of the dome-structure you cannot stand up straight in all of it. This is not the case with the Idaho.
My Minnesota is more like the Idaho than the Georgia and condensation has not been an issue; there are plenty of vents. But I did have to pitch it in quite heavy rain once and I was grateful for the flysheet-first/pitch-all-in-one design over the inner-tent-first design of the Georgia.
As regards the bit about not being able to stand up in the living area in the Georgia........with people of 6' and over not had a problem in any of the living area, yes the bedroom pods are not as high as the living area but seeing as you spend the majority of time in those lying down it was never a problem!
Not had condensation issues in the living area or bedrooms in the Georgia either, and we've had a fan heater on all night.
Thanks for the comments, are the pods sewn in with the tent inner or are they separate? (I am thinking of getting a kids room) What other stuff are you selling? and i take it the georgia XL is in good condition.
The bedroom pods are part of the 2 skins, the kids room goes inside the pod on the toggles provided so they get 3 layers!
If you want to email us at tunstallwood at ymail dot com I can send you a few pics we have of it up. It's only been up twice and not because we didn't like it (to be honest I would keep it if the OH would let me!!) but because we bought the Dandy.
We also have 2 different cookers one's a Royal 2 burner and grill, one's a camping gaz with a griddle thing and 2 burners, sleeping bags, ehu lead in a bag, hmm I can't think to be honest would need to go looking through our boxes of stuff but if there's anything in particular you want then ask I may have it.
Whatever you decide to buy just have fun!! Oh and a word of warning..........it's very addictive LOL
Andi
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
The Georgia was my first choice of tent when we were looking around but we decided against it - it is both wide and deep which makes a problem on some campsites, plus we didn't like the sloping bedrooms. We went for the Norfolk Lake, although it's huge, we can squeeze it into rectangular plots without tripping over the guy ropes everywhere.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Tent recommendations
