Karsten do 10% off from Sep to Christmas, so there's a £300-400 saving there at the minute! Their UK supplier is Camping Travel Store, but Karsten also sell used tents from their Holland showroom, so there's a good saving to be had that way. We bought new from CTS, but I know a few people over on the Karsten Klub thread bought used direct from Karsten (they will ship to the UK).
Good luck on your new tent hunt
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We both like the look of the Karsten, but the cost is making us exhale loudly at the moment. I would definitely need to have a good look at one before we bought anything, so I'd imagine a winter online purchase is unlikely. Unless we can find a day to go to the camping/caravanning show in a couple of weeks but I doubt we can find the time this year.
There seem to be quite a few negative reviews of the inflatable tents mentioned earlier in this thread which is also putting us off those - it seems even the over £1k tents get mixed reviews.
We opted for the kampa croyde and love it had 3 camps so far and its withstood 50mph winds. The new one for next year has some changes there is a thread about 2016 tents on here.
Love the Karstens but bit out of our price range sadly
Hi. We decided to get rid of the Euphoria for the following reasons:
1. The weight made it very hard to manage.
2. In order to enclose the front you have to put on the front awning - this adds time to set up and extra bag to pack.
3. The non-toggle in groundsheet for the front awning proved a nightmare this year with the rain and a sloping pitch.
4. Got a reasonable price on it.
5. Next years tents were enticing me!
The Rhapsody initially appeared to be a much better option. Although it's competing with the Studland 8 and Outwell Phoenix 7ATC - which is part poled/inflatable - not sure how well that would work but i'm looking forward to seeing more of it. and I don't think there are any other pc inflatable tents that size to choose from.
Apart from the above issues the Euphoria was a lovely tent.
Shout if you have any other questions on the Euphoria.
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Having just read the recent posts by Jim1977, whilst he doesn't leave me with much room for additional comments, I would just like to say "I agree with every word"!
Can't comment on the SE, but for the pod and components we have, I have to say that, 12 months on from purchasing new via CTS, we are absolutely delighted with what we have, how we use it, and how it was presented to us (as in, the customer service from CTS)!
Admittedly, it's probably easier to please just a couple, as we are, rather than a family with kids, but we've now used all our components, in various set-ups, mainly for 2 and 3 nights in the UK, but now for a full 12 night main holiday in France... plus a "quick-pitch 1 night stopover" en-route (albeit only September, so no mega-temps to contend with!).
Yes, it was an expensive gamble to take, but I got the impression, throughout my extensive research (inc. 3 visits to the CTS displays), that we were backing the clear favourite, and with the 12 months experience we now have with it, plus continued research/discussions with fellow Karsten owners, I have to say "No Regrets"!
Of course, it isn't perfect, and likely never will be, as we all have different ideals, but I honestly believe that the clear favourite we backed 12 months ago has now crossed the line... a full 7 lengths clear of the chasing pack!
Apologies for the above... I appreciate it's not strictly in keeping with the two tents mentioned in the thread title, but I felt Jim deserved a little back up!!
From a personal point of view, reviews are always good to read but we are still struggling with the initial cost.
We are relatively convinced that we want to buy new and relatively convinced that we would like our budget to be under £1500. We think that waiting for the displays to get going next year is the way forwards for us (we can't make it to the show this coming week) and we might even invest the several hours journeying to CTS and Cross to check stuff out and talk to knowledgeable people.
Thanks for all the input to my boring questions! :)
NEC is a great place to start as its a chance to see all the tents much earlier than they go up at displays elsewhere, but Karsten weren't there and I doubt if they would be next year.
CTS normally have an early show too though to see Karsten, I think it was about 9 Feb this year when we went down and saw them and put our order in. That normally means you get the new tent in time for Easter hols to start using it. Too early for Cross Camping to have their display up then though, so really it's 2 trips to see everything....
So we are off to the NEC tomorrow. We have the list of tents that joy_family mentions above to look at. Does anyone know if Karsten are there this year? The tents section of the shows website is not currently up and running.
Hopefully we will get some good ideas on what to go for!
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: Croyde Classic Air vs Euphoria 600
