Hi everyone, first post, would be very grateful for your expert opinions for our 1st tent purchase! V.excited! We think polycotton would be best for us as we want longlasting and plan to camp in France ++. Any recommendations?
Am drawn to the outwell hawaii reef, DH hates the colour but it reminds me of my parents retro 70s frame tent. Also like the kampa classic filey ones but seem a bit too jaw-droppingly £££. Can't get to see one as no-one local stocks them. Any others I should be considering? The thing I like best about the hawaii one is the front bit that you can zip up for cooking/wet stuff or open out.
Also, is it worth waiting for sales at the end of the season or not, do you think? Thanks in advance for your ideas.
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Hi, going for polycotton is certainly wise as you will be considerably comfier than in polyester, especially if you plan on camping in France. As regards choice, it's difficult to suggest one particular tent, as everyone is different and your needs will be different to someone elses. If you are leaning towards Outwell, then the classic "Lake" range are the best ones to go for, though the most expensive. They have a much thicker and durable groundsheet than the ones in the "Sun" range or "River" range. Not saying the latter are bad tents, just not quite as luxury as the Lakes. I'm not an expert on the Kampa tents but do know they have a good few fans on here to give you a few pointers. One thing you also need to consider is weight. The big Outwell cottons are big heavy tents with big pack sizes and take up a considerable amount of space in the boot. I would recommend having a look at the pack size before you buy to see if you are happy to manage it. Me personally if I were to pick one of the Outwell cottons (I once owned a Wolf Lake) I would go for a Bear Lake 4 and get a front extension for it. The pack size isn't ridiculously big, it's fairly roomy, and you could put the extension on for longer stays, or leave it at home if you're only doing a couple of nights. As for deals, unfortunately, the prices of tents has rocketed this year, especially polycotton Outwells. However, keep your eye on Go Outdoors and Yeomans who occasionally put some good deals on. Go Outdoors recently had 20% off all tents on a weekend in April, and when you're paying upwards of £1000 that's quite a saving.
Like racey1979 says you would need to be more specific about requirements.
How many of you? What is your budget? What vehicle will it all need to fit in?
Would second everything that racey1979 has written about the quality angle. The Hawaii Reef does seem to offer an entry point into polycotton for the Outwell range, however I suspect that if you are going to camp a lot and in France you will soon want to trade up to something else. My own view was that the Reef range, whilst cheaper than the lake range, are still expensive.
The Bear Lakes are superb tents and you can add to them with canopies and extensions etc.
Have you looked around a display? Yeomans shows are now in full swing.
I take it that you have camped previously and now looking for your own tent rather than just looking for a tent in order to try camping?
Have you considered a Bell Tent - plenty of fans on here.
Just some thoughts.
Thankyou, really interesting points. If the Lake tents had a zip-up canopy/extension bit I would try and stretch the budget, but I don't really want to be moving stuff in and out of the main tent, and think I would have to do that with the Lake extensions as they are open? I would love the idea of an optional extension for longer trips, though.
Have now seen that the Holkham 6 is still available so maybe that would be a good option for us, with the vestibule bit. Is it worth hundreds extra for the Filey cotton? Not keen on bell tents I think because they remind me of the hell that was guide camp, and I like having separate areas for stuff so I can be anal about storage etc!
Budget is £700-800 ideally, although could stretch it for the perfect tent/would consider ebay. Car is hatchback + roofbox, although we are likely to upgrade in the next couple of years. There are 4 of us, 2 littlie at the moment, but we do like our space.
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I would go for the kampa polzeath 8, ticks all the boxes and not that bad a price. Will be upgrading to polycotton myself this year. Was going for wolf lake but after seeing the polzenth was won over but that's my choice. In the end you know best for yourself. All the best.......
For Southern France during July, we went for a "Cotton" tent (gallery), but having said that that modern "PolyCotton" canvas of to-day is a fine, along with the smaller pack size it offers.
Although in modern terms, as good as "PolyCotton" is, I would opt, for another modern canvas type called "All Season Polyester", from Cabanon, at first glance you would think that it is either "Cotton" or "PolyCotton", but in both respects "All Season Polyester" is both longer lasting and stronger lasting than either of it's counterparts.
Hmm I'm a canvas fan but the idea of spending £700-£800 on a first tent is pretty scary. It's really difficult to buy the perfect tent first time round, no matter how much research you do, you won't know what YOU need from a tent and what you like and dislike until you've used a tent.
I'd buy something cheaper and cheerful this year, work out what you want in a tent and then buy "the" tent either at the end of the season or next year.
------------- Piglet
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If the Kampas suit your needs then go for it. I must admit I had never seen the vestibule and it is a great feature. I'm not really up on the Kampas, but the polycotton offerings look fantastic, and are considerably better value that the Outwells. They certainly get a good enough write up so spend spend spend.
Quote: Originally posted by Melonian on 10/5/2011
Have now seen that the Holkham 6 is still available so maybe that would be a good option for us, with the vestibule bit. Is it worth hundreds extra for the Filey cotton?.
The Filey Classic is the Holkham 6 after a rename and colour change for 2011. The only difference (for your proposed setup) is the the blue vestibule for the Holkham is polyester and the new Classic range vestibule is polycotton.
When I first saw the Hawaii reef at outwell last august the tent was pitched indoors and I thought the colour was a bit bright and when I went into the tent I didn't like the way it made other people look. Now we have the tent pitched outdoors it looks far better and even better now 2 months down the line as it has faded just that little bit. Re which tent it sounds like pollycotton is the way to go for yourself and the hawaii reef packs up smaller than most of the lake range of tents which I think will be something you need to think about.
Gary cross.
Don't know a lot about the Holkham so can't comment. Pack size is really important as, almost certainly, the equipment will accumulate over the years!
Are you set on polycotton or canvas for your first tent? It is undoubtedly better for warm southern Europe conditions but as someone else suggest it's a lot to spend on first tent.
We camped with a Montana 6 for 5 years including Southern France. Fab tent and our kids were 1&4 when we started. With the awning it is a superb family tent with loads of space.
Have now upgraded this year to a Cabanon.
Maybe the Hawaii Reef is the tent for you. It certainly ticks the boxes and isn't frighteningly expensive like the Lakes or Cabanons. The bright orange will also fade over time! The only other point I would make about it is the groundsheet isn't of the highest quality so will need some looking after. Footprint or tarp underneath and seriously consider a carpet esp. with little 'uns. Adds comfort and another layer of protection for the SIG.
Let us know what you decide.
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We have a Palamos 6 (canvas) and a Vango Carerra 800 (polycotton) both are great tents which I wouldn't have any hesitation in recommending. We bought both last year for less than the price of one Outwell Lake.
hello there, we had a cabanon, very pricey new , but some great second hand prices, the lack of zig, lets them down for us, have just got a bear lake 6, by far the best tent we have owned, cheers, gary
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Topic: Which polycotton tent?
