Hey everyone. Need to get a new tent this week and I'm looking for a pop up tent with a decent porch. Narrowed it down to either the Vango Swift 300 which looks fully pop up or the Gelert Quick Pitch quest 2 man which looks like it pops up and you just insert a pole into the porch to give it stability.
I prefer the look of the the Gelert purely because it looks like it has a larger porch but I know Vango always seem to make qaulity tents. I've seen reviews for the swift but I can't find any reviews anywhere for the quest. Anyone got or seen one? What's the sleeping compartment like because I actually want two people in there! I know that usually means going for a 3 man rather than 2!! What's the porch like on the swift as well? Good? Cheers guys and girls!
Many thanks, Michael.
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There is one called the 4.1 which has a large living area and then an outshot big enough for 4 people. Then there's the Base seconds with an additional inner which is tall enough to stand up in, or the XXL one which doesn't look all that big on the website but I've seen it at the Decathlon store and it's massive!
Thanks for that! Looks really good! Throws something else into the mix definitely. The Base one is slightly too big and expensive for what I'm looking for though. What do people think between the xxl and the vango and gelert?
Also just seen this
http://www.lichfield-outdoor.co.uk/Tents/Yana-3/flypage.tpl.html
Anyone had any experience of this? Looks good and over 3kg lighter than the quecha!
I've just bought a Quechua 4.2 and a Base Seconds to join on and make it bigger if we take the dogs. Had a trial run and they go up sooo easy - we even managed to get them down and b ack into the bag first time. Loads of room.
------------- Lesley x
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I would personally go for a Quechua over the Vango and Gelert every time! Quechua were (and still are) the innovators when it comes to pop ups. I've owned a few and for the money the quality is outstanding!
The Quechua Base plus inner which Victoria has looks great. Quechua have discontinued them but you can still buy them new on Ebay. But they do cost about £100, so it depends on your budget and how much you are going to use it.
The Vango Swift is a keen price but has noticeably poorer reviews on here than some of the other popups.
The Outwell Fusions look fab and have just-about-sittable porch space with windows but they are about twice the price of Quechua. Also (this may not be an issue for you if you have young knees!) the porch of the Fusion is lower height than the the main tent, so you have to get even lower down to enter the door. Not sure that I have explained that very well!
The low height Quechua popups on the other hand emphasise 'ease of access' and so the tents are designed to have max height above the doorway. The Quechua three person pop up with a teeny weeny porch is currently on offer with the price reduced from £70 to £50. Or for about the same price Q do a four person , fractionally higher tent without the little porch-ette.
Would be very interested in people's comments on the Outwells and Quechuas, has anybody seen both and able to offer a comparison? I can see an Outwell locally but not a Q.
Also, for one-nighters, do people recommend porch or no porch?
Cheers all
Post last edited on 17/08/2010 14:15:30
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
For one nighters I would think you wouldn't need a porch, as you'll probably find you only sleep in the tent, and if it's raining you probably wouldn't bother going camping!
I used the base second plus inner, no porch, but roomy enough to hold my moon chair as well as the airbed.
Quote: Originally posted by victoria1 on 17/8/2010
For one nighters I would think you wouldn't need a porch, as you'll probably find you only sleep in the tent, and if it's raining you probably wouldn't bother going camping!
I used the base second plus inner, no porch, but roomy enough to hold my moon chair as well as the airbed.
With a little one in bed early, we find the porch of our non-pop up overnighter invaluable for playing a game or chatting with a light on and changing without waking him up or stopping him going to sleep. Stores the boots, coats, breakfast and emergency bits. OK - our airbeds fill the inner tent so no room for these things in there - others may have room.
We find a rear entrance invaluable too - cools the tent very quickly once the sun comes up...
Helen
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I'm thinking about a small overnighter as a possible way to stop me fretting on a longer trip about overnight rain/dew on the last night giving me a big wet tent to wrestle with in the morning and dry off when I get home. Also a way to reduce the amount of packing, driving, unpacking to be done on that last day so that I can stay away until the last minute and still go into work the next day without feeling like a wet rag.
So I'm toying with the idea of taking down the big tent on the last full day (assuming its not raining) and packing that and most of the kit into the car, sleeping in the popup and then a v quick and easy getaway in the morning. It may turn out to more of a faff than its worth, but I'd like to try it.
I think a popup would be the quickest and easiest tent for this purpose, but I'm having trouble keeping minimal and within budget when looking at the different options! Hence my questions about porch or no porch, and Outwell vs Quechua.
Thanks again.
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
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Topic: Big popup!
