we got an outwell nevada m tent, which you may think is easy enough to put up, and youd be right. but........still seems to take a while with all the guy ropes etc, and we always looking to make things easier.
just trying to make it easier for us to 'get up and go' on impulse when the weathers good. are those quechua pop up tents really any good? or are they a bit of a faff? i spose the holy grail is a decent size tent, thatd just pop up with minimal guy lines, SIG, and be roomy enough for 2 adults, possibly a kid or 2 if they fancied it.
also interested in your storage idea. keep everything in your trailer so ready to just drive away? kitchen stuff all stowed in an ingenious box ready to pack?
thanks
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I think the bigger the tent the more guy lines needed to keep it safe in the wind, we have a 5m bell tent which although only one main pole and an A frame entrance there are many pegging points to ensure it stays put. We also have a pop up utility tent (2.5m x 2.5m) which has only 4 guy lines so is quick to pitch but it's just one square room and a bit of a wrestle to flatten.
I have a wilkos plastic set of drawers for my kitchen camping items, on long stays it comes out of the car into the utility but on short stays I just leave it in the car. I'd love to leave everything ready in the trailer to go but it has to be tipped on its end to get out of the back garden so we load it outside the front door.
for speed of pitching up in less than five mins and even less to take down have a look at the Vango Airbeam range no ploles just tubes of air to pump up and they give you the pump too, the pop up tents are easy to put up but not so quick to take down and put away
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We're looking at the Airbeams....
Sadly due to back injury, we are selling our Outwell Trout Lake 4 having found this to be one of the simplest and quickest to put up for us.
I'll help peg out the airbeam and then hand the pump to the kids to crack on and finish.
thanks for the recommendations. i dont think a bell tent would suit really, and airbeams are out of our price range. i spose ill have to accept theres maybe no perfect tent for us. we've become 'fair weather campers', or rather should i say 'not awful weather campers' and just fancy the thought of going for a weekend on a whim (when the weathers not bad). obviously the less faff involved, the more likely we are to go :-)
I think it's all in the mindset, personally. These tents NEED the guys securing, so it's all part of the job.... even if it is a ba** ache!
Even for our weekend set up, we are looking at 30mins from opening the boot to get the footprint out, to having the tent stood up. another 15mins to straighten out and peg the base, then Muckerette goes in, and starts setting up, bedroom first, then living area, whilst I attack the guying out. Tarp next, and then the cooker set up and kettle on.
The best we have managed so far, all done and dusted, is about 2hrs 15mins. (An hour and 50mins for "winter mode".... no tarp and no cooker.)
It sounds a lot.... probably a hellof a lot, to some, but we take our time, and work at a comfortable, and stress free pace. We avoid the arguments you hear mention of in these forums, and we pretty much feel, once set up, that we are relaxed and happy, as opposed to knackered and stressed!
If that's what it takes, to have a wonderful weekend away, then so be it!
Of course, we could shave a lot off that time, but then we would be sleeping on the floor, with no carpet, and be eating off our knees! There's a price to pay for having the home from home touches, and it ain't all financial.
Each time we go, we shave another minute off (for instance, we now fill the food cupboard at home, before we go. Lift it straight out the car, plonk it in the tent, DONE! No setting up the cupboard, and emptying 3 or 4 carrier bags of Baileys and biscuits, so best part of ten mins saved there, alone!)
Back on the subject of guys.... I have seen, more than once, folk who don't bother to peg every guyline. A couple who come with us (in the summer!!) were into that (bad?) habit last year.
Personally, I'd rather spend that extra time guying it all out, and sleeping a little sounder in my bed at night.
As with a lot of things, it's each to their own, but I can't see tent manufacturers wasting their time and money on fitting guylines that aren't needed!
As with the ba**ache of lumping all the gear back upstairs when you get home.... or getting the tent back out to dry it off. It's all a part of the total sum.
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Topic: easiest `good quality` tent to put up?
