Hi, it took us 3 attempts to get a good one from Kampa and currently away in Cornwall on a two week break, the tent has been great to be honest but will give you a few pointers.
1) Although it's a polyester tent it does need to get thoroughly soaked and dry in order to shrink the seams around the airbeams, it absolutely chucked it down on our 2nd day and there was water dripping down the airbeam sleeves and puddling at the bottom. It then dried completely and has rained since with no dripping.
2) In wet weather try to avoid using the front large door in the awning / Vestebule, as this slopes backwards the water will always drop into the tent, you are better off using the side storm door, the clue is in the name I guess 😊
What it would say is we are amazed at how this tent has performed in the wind, it is rigid beyond belief much better than our old composite poled tunnel tent.
All in all we are delighted with it, great size and the 10 min pitching time is a real bonus after a long drive, the separate front vestibule is great for keeping all you kitchen equipment and supplies in leaving the living area uncluttered and spacious.
Have a great trip to France, you'll love the Croyde 6 Air.
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You have me thinking now I either try and set up the tent again before I go and get it wet(and dry) so it can shrink properly or just go and hope it doesn't rain in France. IF it does then I will just have to expect some pooling around the base of the air beams. I will probably take some extra towels to mop up in this case.
Love the tent setup tho - didn't find the pumping too difficult but that will probably be different in 30c heat. So much easier than the Trailer Tent its replacing.
Quote: Originally posted by Chunkwana on 22/7/2015
Thanks for your comments -
You have me thinking now I either try and set up the tent again before I go and get it wet(and dry) so it can shrink properly or just go and hope it doesn't rain in France. IF it does then I will just have to expect some pooling around the base of the air beams. I will probably take some extra towels to mop up in this case.
Love the tent setup tho - didn't find the pumping too difficult but that will probably be different in 30c heat. So much easier than the Trailer Tent its replacing.
we camped with my SIL they hadn't weathered their Croyde before trip and only had a small amount of water after a horrendous storm, so fingers crossed for your tent too.
Enjoy
------------- Duffs54
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So we stayed in France for 2 weeks - It rained a couple of times and each time we got wet, with big puddles gathering around 6 of the air beam bases.
The carped got soaked along with other things in the tent.
Due to other posters advising the issue self remedied for them we decided to try the tent out again before the end of the season so booked 4 nights in Solway. We only managed 2 - It was very windy and the tent felt like it was going to collapse with the beams bending inwards on multiple occasions and the awning was just flapping about.
Again we had puddles gathering around 6 of the air beam bases and you can see drips falling form about 6 inches form the bottom.
The tent has gone back to the shop where we bought it from to be sent back to Kampa for testing. We have been told to expect this to take about 5 weeks.
Oh no that is awful hope it gets sorted out, is it the PC or polyester that you have, 5weeks is a long time to wait, what if you had another camping trip organised?
Hope they can sort it out for you and if you like the tent that they give you another one.
We have just come back from a 3rd camp in ours (PC) we have had awful weather on each camp for at least 24hrs, storms and wind.
But we were on the south coast last week to this Tuesday, we had 50mph gusting winds from 2pm Monday until 11am Tuesday and very heavy rain throughout, it was the worst weather we have ever camped in.
The back beam when the winds started did bend inwards and really scared us so we checked all the beams and pumped some of the beams back up to 7psi, some had gone down to 5 or 6, made all the guys another 2ft longer along with the storm straps and re-pegged with rock pegs and sat it out.
we had to have each area closed as it was too windy having them all open at once,our dog refused to get off our bed all night, we did sleep and wasn't sure what we would wake to but thankfully all was ok in the morning, we weren't sheltered as we were in the middle areas, we parked our car along the back of the tent where the wind was coming from.
It was very very worrying but so pleased nothing leaked or broke.
So I hope your tent is faulty and it's replaced
------------- Duffs54
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Hi,we got that....50 mph winds against the back of the tent and the back beam bending right in on top of my card playing daughters! It was always easy to pop back up again - but I was really worried about going out and leaving it in case it collapsed and then rained....we had to in the end and it seemed ok, even though the wind didn't drop...I think having all the doors closed when we went out created some positive pressure inside to stop it folding in. Longer guys sounds like a good idea - in the middle of all the wind I couldn't figure out if it would help or not.
I think my old, very cheap fibre glass poles would have snapped in the same conditions...
I am definitely sticking with my aversion to air beams... been this week to a Camping shop and there were 5 tents in the returns pile - various tents, all with air beam problems. I probably should not have been looking at the returns labels but it was just to tempting
------------- I have NEVER been lost, though I do admit to spending several hours locationally challenged
More tentage = Campus Sherpa 4 - reproofed and still going strong
In Memorandum = Vango Quest, Khyam Chatsworth, and a frame tent OH wouldn'try!!!!
Hi. We purchased a Kampa Hayling Air this summer and had 3 trips in it so far. It leaked slightly the first trip which we now assume were just the seams and have had no problems since.
My biggest shock, was how big the tent is in its bag. Its the same size (erected) as our old Vango Icarus but this is 3 times bigger, and takes up most of the boot!!!.
However, i would reccommend as its really easy to put up and take down, some of our trips were in scrawly winds and the tent didn't budge at all, very impressed.
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I think there are good and bad points about airbeams out there.
But I am glad we made the move, in our other tent we would of had just one holiday, poss two at a push but we managed three this year unheard of just because of no poles,I think we both got a phobia about those blooming nipple things hurting our thumbs again.
It's massive and sitting in the spare room looking at me, can't wait to go again next year.
Quote: Originally posted by duffs54 on 25/9/2015
I think there are good and bad points about airbeams out there.
But I am glad we made the move, in our other tent we would of had just one holiday, poss two at a push but we managed three this year unheard of just because of no poles,I think we both got a phobia about those blooming nipple things hurting our thumbs again.
It's massive and sitting in the spare room looking at me, can't wait to go again next year.
This made me laugh as those wretched clip things for poles are one of the major reasons we went for an airbeam too! Whatever the knack is, I never developed it!
After 9 weeks Kampa have advised our tent is beyond repair and we will be getting a full refund. It took Kampa 4 weeks to pick the tent up from the retailer and 5 weeks to investigate the issue. Apparently they have a big backlog.
I did like the tent when it didn't leak but won't be getting another Croyde 6 air. We found it difficult to find pitches on sites we liked in the uk due to the size.
That's a shame you have given up but glad that you got a refund, hope you find another one to suit you.
Pitches shouldn't be a problem we normally mention the size of our tent, we have had 6yrs camping in a 430 x750 or similar sized tents and have never had a problem also have always managed to get the car on the pitch too.
So don't be disheartened by a large tent, it's lovely having the extra room, but it might mean you start filling it up with stuff lol
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Topic: Kampa Croyde 6, to air or not to air ???
