I'm new to the site so hope that I've chosen the right formum for posting this message.
Wife, two kids (4 years and 18 months) and I are looking for a family tent for holidays in Britain.
Ideally, looking for one bedroom tent that will be big enoough to last us a few years (or, if a two bedroom tent not one where the bedrooms are separated by living/storage area).
Mum and I are not as young as we used to be so would prefer something that we're not crawling about in so had been considering a five person Pro Action Nevada from Argos. Having read recent comments, however, I'm aware that some owners have had problems with roof leak and flimsy poles.
Would anyone have any other recommendations?
In anticipation, thanks for your help.
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
Some of the starter packs look good, the thing to do is get a cheap starter tent and try camping, if you like it (which I hope you will) look around at what other people have and see what you like before going for the more expensive units. Then start up grading your equipment when you can afford it. One burner cooker is ok to start with. Small kettle, pots & pans, try a weekend trip first. Most people are more then happy to let you look at their tent if you ask nicely. But please do let us know how you get on, may be a UK Camp Site Meet would be a good start as there will be lots of friends to help you .
hi and welcome to ukcs, i would sugest a two bedroomed tent, if you all want to sleep in one bedroom then have the other one to store your camping gear, its surpriceing how much stuff you can take, is there a local camping shop near you that has tents erected? i would go and have a look at them you will get a better idea of the size,space, of the tent, i cant see a one bedroom tent being big enough for your needs hope this helps
hello and welcome - i am a new camper and have two kids also- 7years and 15 months we have a saffari 6 - royal burden it has two bedrooms and can sleep six people the bedrooms are big enough for one double deb and a single bed depending on the type of beds you use. it is our hope that this will be satisfactory !!!
the other bedroom will be used for storage - clothes etc and the lving space is massive so big in fact that we have two blow up sofas, there is also a large extension type canopy- which is still part of the tent !! which we intend to do all our cokking in. e got the tent really cheap in a local camping shop but havent had chance to put it up yet so actually am not sure how it will stand once up but fingers crossed anyway.
good luck
foxy
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
hello and welcome to the site the inquirer if you can put your county in the profile we can give you more info on where to go and to help you in you choice try here god luck in your quest and looking foward to seeing your postings as how you get on
------------- geoff & annb,--
never lost just on tour
your just jealous of the little voices talking to me
Have updated profile and had a brief look at "Features / Tips" and "Company Directory" - I'm well impressed with this site!
I've enjoyed camping for far too many years to remember - mostly family holidays as a kid then hiking holidays. The crawling around in a two man tent does not appeal to the wife, however, hence the interest in something like a Pro Action 5 person Nevada.
Looking at Gelert tents as an alternative - believe they are more sturdy.
Any way, will let you all know how I get on.
Regards,
David
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
I went through the same scenario last yer. I have 2 boys 12yrs & 8yrs and decided to take them camping - the old "scout" never leaves you.....
Anyway, as a surprise to my wife I bought a 6 man tent at Makro - good size and I could stand up in it - it was a footpath tent and cost around £80. We had a few weekends camping - but towards the end of the season the tent started getting problems - guy anchor pounts snapping, zips becoming sticky etc. So we decided on a new tent - did lots of research (particularly on this site) and eventually bought a GELERT LOKON VARIO 5 for £150 from Buckscamping & sold the old tent.
I must say we were so impressed with the new GELERT.
Also last year I bought a Pro Action tent at Argos for the children - so they could camp in the back garden - again paid about £40 - and yes we had problems with the zip on the door so toook it back to Argos and got a refund. To replace the boys tent I bought a GELERT CADIZ 5 - quality of the GELERTS is excellent. We now use the LV5 for 2 nights and above and the CADIZ for one nighters.
Only advice I can really give is don't buy cheap - if your family does like camping it won't be too long before you will want a better quality tent. There ale lots of makes around and this forum will give you all the info you need - but for my money the GELERTS are brilliant.
Good luck & Happy Camping
Les
------------- No matter where you go - there you are!
one prob with tents from argos (so i've heard) is the lack of spares - if you buy a tent from another manufacturer eg:gelert, and something goes wrong, they will probably be able to replace/repair the relevant part. if you buy one from argos, i'm guessing the aftersales care will be along the lines of replacement tent or a refund if they've run out of stock. the argos tents might be ok if you've never camped before and aren't sure if you like it, but if you're fairly sure you'll enjoy it i'd go for something a bit more upmarket - and if you hate it there's always ebay! general advice seems to be to buy a tent for double the number of people who will actually be staying in it - that way you will have plenty of space for storage and rainy days. afraid i don't know much about the bigger tents (i've got a ridge tent and a kyham tourer 200) but gelerts have a good reputation, and there's plenty of advice available here! once you've narrowed the choice down, it's well worth going somewhere to look at them pitched - really helped me to make the final decision. happy hunting, hope you find something rachel
Hey The Inquirer i was excactly like you, i wanted to get into camping and got out the faithfull bible (the argos book). After finding out a bit more about different tents and what the terms meant i soon realised that the tents in Argos aren't that good, for instance all of the family tents have a HH (the level of water proofing, the higher the better) of 2000mm most people on here wont buy a tent unless its HH is atleast 3000mm.
I have recently purchased a Campus Harvard Deluxe tent, it has 2 bedrooms (one sleeping bit sleeps 5 and the other sleeping bit sleeps 2), in between the 2 sleeping parts is a living area, this tent is over 6ft high so you'll have no problem standing up in it. The tent cost me £120.
Campus do a good range of tents that would be ideal for you and your family.
It all depends on what your budget is, look around as there are plenty of different makes and models of tents out there.
Thanks again to everyone who has added to the post. This buying a tent malarky is certainly an interesting one.
I've decided to forget about Pro Action Nevada as, even though I am assured that Argos will replace tent / provide refund if it blows away / falls apart at the slightest breeze, I don't think this compensates for the possiblity of running around a campsite at 2a.m. gathering up beloved family and beloved belongings.
Have taken on board Les' (Lescarter) advice and won't be buying cheap as the last thing I want to do is put the rest of the family off camping, and as Rachel (zboo) says, if family camping ain't our cup of tea there's always ebay to recoup some of the expense.
Thanks Jon (jjb-uk) for bringing Campus to my attention - I'll give them a once over.
Regards,
David
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
Consider looking at tents were the bedroom can be either one big bedroom or two smaller ones, when a divider is dropped. Our Kos 6 had this arrangement. With young children its far better than crawling about at 2 am when one of the little ones want you. (Usually for a wee wee.) The advantage of this arrangement is that as the kids get older the curtain can be dropped turning it into two separate rooms.
I had the same concerns and a few more. Started on the first camp trip last year with wife 3 yrs and 12 mnth old.
As previous posters have mentioned, don;t buy cheap.
1. I wanted all to sleep together intially, with the ability to separate as they got older.
2. Also wanted to it to be spacious , airy and easy to setup.
3. A good price.
After a lot of searching I fianlly settled on the Aztec Sala 6. It's a brilliant tent, although needs 1.5 persons to setup the tent in 30-45 mins. It states it sleeps 6. Believe me it can.
It is airy with lots of windows and openings. It has 2 main compartments. I for sleeping, and 1 for the main living area. Both areas were important:
Sleeping: THe good thing about this is that the sleeping/inner compartment has 3 doors and 2 internal dividers. That means you can have the following compartments
1 ( 6 man space, sleeps all)
2 ( 3 man space each, 1 for the kids and 1 for wou with plenty of space per compartment
3 (2 man space each...I plan to keep the middled one as a buffer/storage space, just in case the wife needs a bit of "warming up", as it provides a level of privacy
It has is wuite tall and at 5'8" I was able to stand comfortably when changing.
Front Area: Loads of light windows, zips and openings. Good size area that provides ample kitchen, eating, living and play area ( for when it's raining).
What else:Its ventilates so no clammy interiors in the mornings. It's 18 kgs, but comes with a lifetime gurantee. I bought mine from outdoorfocus. the Sala 6 seems to have been discountinued but there seems to be a similar one called Viento (slightly tapered I think)
I've posted a few links that I kept when I did my reasearch. The "google cache still works on one of these"
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Family tent advice sought
Jon new camper from stevenage
) The advantage of this arrangement is that as the kids get older the curtain can be dropped turning it into two separate rooms.
