I've been deliberating over this for almost 12 months now. I haven't camped now for about 6 years, our tent is just too big for a weekend break & for me to manage on my own and my OH hates camping so longer holidays are not going to happen
I want to get a pop-up tent that is small enough for short breaks and quick & easy enough for 1 person to set up while being big enough for 1 adult & a couple of kids.
During my research, the Quechua 2 seconds Xxl iiii caught my eye but so has the illumin version - which appears to have a few extra bells & whistles for £80 more. I like the idea of built in lighting (again that's less to carry) but is it really worth so much more?
I can find plenty of feedback/reviews for the std model but nothing at all for the illumin - so I'm drawing on the expertise of this forum - which one would you get?
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Thanks Campernic, I agree that a couple of head torches aren't worth £80 and we do have head torches already :-) - as well as some serious re-chargeable lighting - but it all gets a bit bulky when you just want to take a boat round to a secluded bay & wild camp for the night on the beach.
it also appears to have a different/complex ventilation system & you can open the whole roof up "for stargazing while in bed" however I'm thinking, the more zips & flaps, the more chance of drips & leaks, but it might stop the condensation problem???
I see you have Quechua tents, what do you think about them generally?
We had the old style xxl iiii, just the standard variety and it was brilliant. We had it as a weekend / short stay tent to save us from using the bigger polycotton all the time. I ended up being as fond of the Quechu as the Outwell.
The xxl iiii got a tear in it after a couple of year's use. I wasn't bothered because I'd only paid 90 quid brand new from Decathlon in a sale.
So this year we bought a new one of the new layout but the illumin fresh version difference of (I think) £135 for the standard model, £200 for the illumin, so £65. Both versions are a bit wider and the headroom's a bit higher than the older layout.
To be honest, I shared your concerns so we trialled it the other weekend and it got a good test because it poured with rain all weekend and we even had a thunderstorm - not a single leak.
I take the points about paying the extra for the lights but we like them, it's a bit of a novelty. We didn't get to try the rollback roof because of the weather so still looking forward to that! Apparently, the illumin is made of a material that keeps the tent cooler - can't comment on that either yet.
The tent is white so might get dirty - it certainly picked up a bit of mud on it's first trip.
Hope this helsp - if you get one, let us know what you think.
Cheers,
Marc
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Quote: Originally posted by IDDC on 04/7/2014
Thanks Campernic, I agree that a couple of head torches aren't worth £80 and we do have head torches already :-) - as well as some serious re-chargeable lighting - but it all gets a bit bulky when you just want to take a boat round to a secluded bay & wild camp for the night on the beach.
it also appears to have a different/complex ventilation system & you can open the whole roof up "for stargazing while in bed" however I'm thinking, the more zips & flaps, the more chance of drips & leaks, but it might stop the condensation problem???
I see you have Quechua tents, what do you think about them generally?
Cheers again :-)
I have three, a four man 'basic' pop up (discontinued, the biggest they do is a three man now), a four man base seconds used as a utility tent and a Base Seconds 4.2 (also discontined but replaced with the Family XL) which is the one with the central living room and two bedroom pods at the side. It is sometimes called the Pagoda style one in the range.
I can dock the Base Seconds and the Base Seconds 4.2 together to make it a modular system.
I also have a Vango, a couple of Gelert tents, a Lichfield and a Easycamp and of them all I'd say the Decathlon Pop Ups are of a superior quality, in that the fabric is stronger and thicker, and the flexible poles are practically bomb proof. For quality, you could not fault the Quechua range.
I often go camping on my own so the pop ups are great for pitching and not too bad for putting away once you've got the knack.
The problem is stopping yourself buying more than one! I'd like a little one now to complete the Quechua family I have!
Firstly - Thanks ukmarc - you've answered my question, I think I will pay the extra then & go for the illumin fresh &
Thanks campernic - you also answered my question and I will stick with the Quechua pop-up rather than another make. (My what a LOT of tents you have!!)
See! I knew I could rely on you guys here at UKcampsite with your expertise to tell me what I really wanted to know.
Thanks for taking the time to reply - it's much appreciated :-)
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Topic: Quechua 4 man pop-up
