I really like idea of simply throwing a few things in the car on a Friday evening (quick notice) driving less then 2 hours and going camping for 2 nights. We cannot do this with the Outwell Montana 6P.
Not having to spend an hour packing the car, putting the
roof box on etc.
My wife wants the new Outwell Rockwell 3 which would be fine if i knew she did not want another child in the next few years (which would eventually make it to small for 4 of us).
She wants a tent that she can stand up in to cook etc. I am thinking of the Hi-Gear Gobi. However I want a simple setup, any suggestions?
Many thanks
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That's ok if you can manage without any of your equopment that's all well and good but we take same amount of stuff for weekend as we do a week! We bought a smaller tent but it took jus just as long to out up as the big one so now we just take the kampa croyde for however long we go for. Takes us an hour to out everything up and together so we still go on a Friday and come home on a Sunday
We have a 4m bell tent for our 1 or 2 night breaks (and cold 3 nighters), whilst it takes the same amount of time to pitch as the 5m it's easier to heat and doesn't look empty with only our few day equipment.
Last weekend we went for a one nighter and only took a tent, SIMs, sleeping bags, pillows, cool bag, small kitchen unit (for toast & coffee only), EHU, heater, toaster, kettle, crockery & cutlery, lamp, couple of picnic rugs, folding chair for me and obviously our clothes & toiletries.
Even this is excessive to some here but for OUR family camping I feel it's as basic as I can comfortably go. Our longer camps we take our trailer and have tables, chairs, campbeds under SIMs, igloo maxcold cool box, freezer, real carpet, sheepskin rug, bunting & solar fairy lights!
Apart from a couple of occasions I have always gone camping for just two nights, mostly mid-week now I am retired. I get bored if I stay much longer than that in one place.
At one time I too got fed up with the two hour pitch and all the time it took loading and unloading the car and bought a caravan. However, I found collecting that from storage, loading it, and all the towing and safety hassles that are involved with caravanning just as frustrating, so went back to a tent again.
I think the secret is to buy a tent the size you need but one that is very easy to erect. That normally means for me, a metal pole tunnel tent which, once the poles are in, pulls up like a concertina...even easier if there is more than one of you. The tent I have at the moment is a 6 man tent and there is only one of me, but it is the easiest to erect tent I have ever had...size doesn't matter!
Also, if you keep things specifically for camping and keep it all in one place (if you can) and store all the small stuff like crockery, cutlery, lamps, and anything else in a large plastic storage box, then packing the car on going away day is a simple task of just picking it all up and throwing it in the back.
I think we all take far too much gear which we never use but take it 'just in case'. I have now tried to cut down on everything excepts necessities...not easy.
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For short trips we take the Wichita without extension but we always have the tarp. The Wichita goes up quickly. It is the extension which is a pain. If it was only me and the wife, we'd get by with the fellpine.
I had the old green Gobi 4 for about 4 years was ideal for me for weekends and myself and daughter for holidays...Never let me down even in rotten weather...
Jelboy.
------------- Campers of the storm,Into this world are born
Some days are Diamonds...Some days are stone...
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I have reduced my number of tents as I camp less now but my favourite is my Vango Typhoon 200 which is easy to erect and has a double entrance which is good but the older I get the less I enjoy crouching down to get in and out.
So for that reason I have just purchased a new Vango Aura 200 for a great price. They do not make it any more but I found a supplier online who had some left.
I had the 300 version a few years ago and really liked it and the 200 is just a wee bit smaller but still has full sig and room for table/chairs and seperate bedroom pod.
Its 170cm height so just need to bend slightly as I am 174cm tall but thats not an issue.
I found the 300 very stable due to pole configuration and no doubt the 200 will perform the same.
------------- It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.
Quote: Originally posted by ddlkc on 02/4/2014
We did exactly as you bob61 regarding tent caravan and back to tent for exactly same reason and we also have our camping gear in boxes ready to go
Great minds think alike. I also used to have the Outwell Carolina 3 which was the predecessor to the Carolina M. Unfortunately I sold it in a mad moment of thinking I wanted to give up camping a couple of years ago. My present tent, the Coleman Da Gama 6 was an ex display model and took no more than 20 minutes to erect on my own in my garden. I haven't had chance to go camping in it yet but hopefully will do soon.
Agree about the Icarus, we had the 500 and so easy to erect and ideal for 2/3 people.
Wife doesn't come tent camping now so a smaller tent suits me better on my own.
Although we have a caravan I still enjoy camping when I can manage it.
------------- It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.
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Another vote for the Icarus here, we had one and it was up in no time at all :)
------------- March 2015 Aberford 1 night
April 2015 Skipton 3 nights
May 2015 Aberford 3 nights
July 2015 Lake District 7 nights
August 2015 Aberford 3 nights
We started off with the Gobi 4 for two of us and a dog. We've since moved onto to a 5m bell and now a dutch pyramid. The Gobi was great, never let us down and had plenty of room. We added the Rock 5 canopy to the front to allow for extra living/cooking space. Once you get the hang of pitching, it can be done really quickly. We often took it away for weekend breaks.
If you're interested we're going to be selling ours soon. Tent, footprint, canopy and carpet...
Thanks all, today we gone and got a Hi Gear Gobi Elite 4. Want to keep it simple and basic, which hard to do with Outwell as there are too many "might needs".
Quote: Originally posted by delabane on 06/4/2014
Thanks all, today we gone and got a Hi Gear Gobi Elite 4. Want to keep it simple and basic, which hard to do with Outwell as there are too many "might needs".
Looks a lovely tent but with poles criss-crossing perhaps not the easiest to erect.
For overnights and 2 nights - we have the Vango Kairos 400 and the simplest of gear (SIMs, Vango pillows, sleeping bags, wash things, picnic blanket for carpet, fabric chairs, suitcase stove, saucepan nest, pasta shaped bowls, water container, folding buckets for washing up and fire bucket, emergency repair kit, backpacking table and a ready-made kitchen-in-a-camera bag setup, which provides folding cups, cutlery, utensils, washing up bits, mesh colander....etc). Quick to grab and does everything needed. Tent is full height (so no crawling) and takes about 10 mins to put up and guy single handed. The nearest equivalent is the new Vango Kalu 400 which also has a dedicated awning for longer stays, but in our mind has far too many windows and lacks the cooling and pole sheltering effect over the doors of the old Kairos 400 design. Plus it requires an extra pole for the same floor space. Must admit that I would like the mesh over the exterior door -although I have a plan of how to add that to our Kairos...
For 3 or 4 nights, we have more luxury with high level chairs and table and our standard crockery and cutlery boxes, plus the Kampa Bude 4 tent and Vango small sun canopy. The long poles and pole sleeves of this tent make it slower to pitch but has the front door for the canopy - which fits a treat and allows us to sit outside in the evening without too much hassle.
We wouldn't want to take the 1hr pitching time required for our wonderful Vango Columbia 600 for a weekend and you don't miss things for just a weekend when you are out and about much of the time.
------------- Love our set-up and need no more tents or gear, so trying to stop looking!
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Topic: Weekend Tents
