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The first time we used our Orchy 400 it was great - survived a very windy wet night with no problems, However......

I was camping in the Forest of Dean this past weekend & as you know it rained a lot over Saturday night, when I got up on Sunday morning we found a pond in the tent & all our stuff was soaked.

The taped seams had lost their waterproofing & water came in. On top of that the, zip on the front door had let water through as there was no velcro to keep the flap of tent cover over the zip.

Have we got a faulty tent?

I love the way the Orchy is set up with the amount of windows/sunlights to let light in, but want to make sure that our tent is faulty so if we get a like for like replacement it won't leak as well.

It was only the second time out, but it's been a year since the first time out.

The pitching this time was better than the first time (practice & all that), I don't know if we can exchange it - any idea how long the guarantee lasts?

Also the first time we pitched it, one of the tightening straps near the front door broke so it can't be tightened any more!

I think we just have a faulty tent!

Quote: Originally posted by AndyT23 on 15/12/2009

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The girlfriend and I are still arguing about whether I'll be parking my motorbike in the living area of the tent if we're out in the car somewhere together when on hols... 

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Hi everyone on this forum, I'd noticed this post a couple of pages back and thought you and any other bikers might be interested in this tent which is in the clearance section of 'Outdoor World'

http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/sunncamp-mx-tourer-plus-tent-p-2108.html

It will save you getting leakages all over your lovely Orchys!

Having seen the pitching video of this tent that involved 3 people, I am now leaning towards a tunnel tent such as the Saline 400 now, as I believe I may be able to pitch this up on my own.

DK

OoooOoooh!!! It's nice to see that whilst I've been away there's been plenty of activity here and some GREAT Orchy pics! I'm drooling! Gorgeous! Love the matching wind canopy!

Hey Jodie! We're off the the New Forest in June! When/where are you camping? We're off to St Leonards. Haven't been there before so it's sooo exciting trying somewhere new!

OK, just managed to replace my old gallery pics with the new ones...

And yes, I agree the guy rope across the side door is annoying, but we managed. You just have to remember it's there. We did previously try tying the guys to the poles but decided this time to peg them down properly. Think we might try another way next time. Going to get some foam pipe insulation to put over the tent poles where the canopy rests because we were in danger of the canopy rubbing against the tent again. I wedged some dishcloths inbetween which seemed to do the trick, but I had to keep checking them as they kept slipping. It only really happens when there's a strong wind. I was going to try C-clips as suggested somewhere, but on inspection they wouldn't work... nowhere to clip them to! We still need to try the large canopy with the Orchy yet. We'll have to in July as we won't have the utility tent for cooking in.

Anyway, another weekend of wind and rain and the new tent is FANTASTIC! I have to say I love the Blue Palace even more than the Pink! It seems much lighter. We don't use the bedroom curtain as it wasn't practical for us. In the old tent the airbed was too big and the curtain didn't fall right, so since then I didn't use it. And I like to have easy access to all my stuff... I guess it's personal preference, whatever you feel comfy with. Might try it again though, as now we have the folding camp beds that don't take up as much room, but then I have my small folding stool as a bedside table... so I wouldn't be able to use that...

Hi Noobs. Yeah it's a toilet tent but we use it for the camp kitchen. It fits just nicely.and it's so good to be able to cook in the wind and rain. I think it all depends on the site and their maximum pitch size and the size of your main tent. We've used it twice now and haven't been charged. One site was in Devon last June with the big tent and the pics above are North Wales, but we're regulars there so we didn't expect to get charged extra. It's not that big though, I'd say about a metre squared. It's best to check the site rules. I always shop around and get a quote telling the site owners what we've actually got, so that there's no nasty surprises. If they charge too much, I look elsewhere.

Only just over a week to go until Dorset! I can't wait! Just hope the weather turns nice again...

Oh don't talk about car trouble! On our last trip we had the car packed and ready to go and... IT WOULDN'T START! Fortunately we suspected the battery and after a lot of hassle getting a battery we got it sorted. It was the biggest camping nightmare we've ever had! Hope you manage to get the car sorted Noobs!!!

Hi Chelz,

It was us that fitted the C clips too our Orchy canopy but it was the large one with windows and looking at your pics the small canopy seems to sit much further back on the tent than the larger one ? Our elasticated section of the canopy rested just over the door pole, not as far back as the dome poles ? And the rear section of your canopy looks to be far more open too the sides of the tent, more of a scooped shape, if thats the right word !!, than ours ? When in place our canopy looked like part of the tent, fitted quite snug, yes we had a gap on both sides but nowhere near what you have. The larger canopy seems to fit much better than the small one thats for sure ! We got our one originally for our Diablo 600xp and again it fitted well so I am thinking that perhaps the later universal one's, or the smaller sun canopies, are slightly different to the full canopies ? I will try and dig out some pics if I can of ours and post them so you can see the difference.  

Quote: Originally posted by Noobs on 29/5/2010

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Hopefully I should be getting the car back this morning so I can get back on track with sorting a toe bar for it then we're off,hopefully!

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