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Hello everyone,

Thanks for the great advice!

 I've been intrested in the Quechua tents, watched the pitching videos on their website and must say I'm impressed with the speed they go up, but not having a SIG is a bit of a drawback. After a good soaking at Speirs House a couple of years ago a SIG is a definate must!

The Icarus 500 and Kyham Nevada caught my eye because they suit our needs well, but I'm worried they would make the Monty redundant.

The Tigris 400 is a fine suggestion and have also seen the Coleman Coastline 4

I think a visit to the tent shop maybe in order!!

Quote: Originally posted by aturner on 11/2/2011

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I know I'm going to come across as being a bit nuts here but most of our camping trips are weekends and we haul a Vermont L and a trailer load of gear! We usually make around 15 weekend trips a year, and the odd extended weekend too. For the extended ones we break out the Norfolk Lake.

We have tried a smaller tent but for us, when we do that, the camping experience just isn't what we signed up for!

We're 'glampers' and pitching, along with all ancillary items, takes 2 adults an hour now that we have it off pat. Breaking camp takes around 2 hours and is fairly stressful if the weather looks iffy but perhaps this is normal?

My point is really this: For us, we'd prefer to spend 3 hours over a weekend pitching/de-pitching and have the rest of that time in a tent that is, for us at least, without compromises.

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For me it's not necessarily about it just being the weekend (as you say it doesn't always take that long and the benefits of having the bigger tent are good).  I wanted something that I could put up solo if I wanted to go with the girls during school holidays.  No way I'd be able to put up the Montana solo.

My Quechua has just arrived in a ginormous box.  If I don't get on with it I'll sell it later in the year, but wanted the base seconds as a utility tent regardless.  Just need some dry weather to try the pitch and pack away

We have 4 tents as when it comes down to it we use our tents as accommodation when out and about (either holidays, a long weekend or just to see a bit more of an area than a day trip will allow). We certainly don't want to have a massive pitching job at the end of a day out when all we want is food, but we also like our comforts for longer stop-overs.

Our top spec steel poled Vango Columbia 600 takes about 40 mins to pitch and then about 20 mins to fill which is fine for longer stays and oh so lovely....

But for weekends we want comfort and the little extras but a much faster pitch time - so we have the Kampa Bude 4, which can be up and fitted out in less than 30 mins, but much smaller in living space (OK for 2 adults and a child when compact camping).

But even this - my OH says is too much effort for overnighters and touring, so we now how a bargain Vango Kairos 400 for this purpose - with its 5 minute pitch and enough space for sitting inside and the basic boxes and holdalls.

The 4th tent is the low dome Coleman Rock Springs with its removable inner and a SIG only in its front living area. This comes into its own for one-night stop-overs on the way to the main camp as it is small enough to drape over a table and dry off in the big tent. Wouldn't use for longer though as prefer standup height generally and isn't the best of quality.

I know 4 tents may seem excessive (well we actually have a second Columbia stored to replace the current one when it eventually gives up - making 5 tents), but we only paid anything near the standard price for the Bude, the rest have been bargains (1/3rd to 1/2 price new) so we have our ideal flexible set up for the price of one 2011 family Outwell tent.

It means we can get away whenever we want knowing that we don't necessarily need to take the trailer and can even get away using the vintage Landrover if we want. We also don't have to worry about how long its going to take to set up the tent at dusk when we're hungry and the little-one is tired!

I guess its down to what sort of camping you do...and budget of course! I must say that I would not recommend either of our weekend tents for a family of 4, we are only a family of 3 and I think that is their capacity.

Tip though with children and a smaller tent, dump their airbeds in the adults' inner during the day and put a rug on the floor, turning their inner into a play space... makes a smaller tent much more liveable". The Outwell Childrens' inner tents are an attraction here, although we prefer a zipped or loose divider to check on our son, which isn't possible with these. The TBSII system for the Vango fibreglass tents IMHO give Vango tents the edge on stability in windy weather...

Anyway good luck with the choice...

Helen

Hi everyone,

Its nice to hear about your experiences with your tents. When I was a kid we were used to the traditional two pole tents and a ground sheet was a luxury, and the weather always seemed to be sunny.(Rose tinted glasses 'n'all that).

When in my teens I didn't have a tent, and at festivals I used to blag the odd  night in friends fibreglass poled dome tents, which were ideal for the occasion, but more often than not there were too many people in each. I always carried a survival bag for these weekends which came in useful on more than one occasion when things became too much of a squeeze, so I'm not adverse to 'ruffin' it for a night or two.

Remembering back to Reading festivals of the early nineties I was always drier in my survival bag than some of those with tents!

A few of years ago when my family were old enough, we decided to take the plunge and go back to camping. We bought a 'cheap' tent off ebay and went to Speirs House. We booked for a week in August expecting good weather for the whole forest experience,  how wrong were we? After days of torential rain the site was not in the best state when we arrived, but ever the optimist we carried on regardless.  This was when I wished I had done a bit more research on modern tents.  Our tent at the time was a large fiberglass poled dome tent with a separate ground sheet and three offshoot bedrooms with inner tents. I had based my decision to buy this on the tents I had seen at the festivals. As there was no let up in the rain we spent several miserable days in a tent that leaked like a sieve and as draughty as a wind tunnel, we cut our holiday short and returned home. Not the best introduction to camping for the children!

When we got home that particular tent went straight in the bin. Undetered by that experience we researched modern tents more thoroughly, having seen how well the Outwell tents had coped with the weather. After advice from a couple of specialist camping shops we eventually settled on the Montana 6.

We have now been away several times in the Monty and found it to be exactly what we should have bought first time round. We have camped at High Yedmandale Farm in April with no EHU and at Waterside farm at Pooley Bridge in the Lakes the same week of the dreadful floods, and the tent has stood up to everything the great british weather could throw at it. The children love camping now whatever the weather.

Now, because of work commitments and school holidays, it seems we have to book our camping trips weeks if not months in advance. Although the Monty is perfect for these longer stays, I feel that we a missing out on the freedom and flexibilty of a smaller tent for impulsive, spontaneous weekends away when the sun is shining.

I want my children to experience the outdoors in the same way I did as a child - eternal sunshine, warm nights, bbq burgers'n'burned sausages, the smell of fresh cut grass, flowers in full bloom, furry four legged visitors, nightime hooters and early morning birdsong. Roll on 'Summer'!!!

Oh and but the way keep those sugestions coming! The shortlist is not short anymore! Guess what i'll be doing this weekend?

Cheers

Quote: Originally posted by spudz on 08/2/2011

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What about something like This.
Lovely, snug, easy to erect, cotton canvas tent (made in the UK too I believe).

Airbeds???
Always felt airbeds just performed like a large heat sink, sucking any heat away from my body towards the earth. Much prefer a quality insulating mat like a Therm-a-Rest or similar, but each to their own.

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Quote: Originally posted by spudz on 08/2/2011

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What about something like This.
Lovely, snug, easy to erect, cotton canvas tent (made in the UK too I believe).

Airbeds???
Always felt airbeds just performed like a large heat sink, sucking any heat away from my body towards the earth. Much prefer a quality insulating mat like a Therm-a-Rest or similar, but each to their own.

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