We have just decided to spend most of July away camping as DH has a break in work, and would like to be able to go to several places for a few days each, rather than stay in one place as we usually do.
This, of course means that our mahoosive and lovely Cabanon Espace 8 canvas frame tent is a bit impractical to take with us this year, it is easy to put up but takes time both pitching and striking.
We also need to have enough room for us and the dog, plus any of our adult/teenage kids who want to join us at any stage, which, knowing my kids as I do, could be the case or not, they tend to change their minds at the last minute!
On that note, if the kids did decide to come, we wanted a tent that would give us some privacy too, so a vis a vis tent was preferable, rather than one where all the sleeping compartments are side by side, fine when the kids were little but now they are older not ideal. Clearly a decent sized living area was a must as well, especially if the weather is wet.
Plus we didn't want to spend an arm and a leg buying the tent, as money will be fairly tight with a month of no work, but wanted something of reasonable quality that would last a few years.
We have a Vango Colorado 800dlx three podded tent, but that takes almost as much time setting up as the frame tent, and we find the sleeping pods rather cramped as you can't stand up in them, so that is not really going to fit the bill.
The tunnel style of tent with just 4 or 5 poles really saves time, so that is what I had in mind.
Yesterday I spent much of the day researching and after checking out various options, second hand on ebay, Vango, Outwells etc and the Hi Gear range from Go, I decided to look at Sunncamp, as our elderly but still fondly remembered Vario 6 served us well for about 8 years, it still goes out occasionally as a festival group tent with the kids and various friends, as it is pretty knackered and battered but still reasonably ok for that purpose.
Finding something that worked for us and was within the price we had in mind was easier than I thought once I had narrowed it down to Sunncamp, reading the reviews on here helped as well.
I decided to go for the Shadow 800 from Winfields, as it was down to £269, plus only £99 for the porch bit if we needed it and good prices on the footprint and carpet as well, just over £420 for the lot, and the added bonus of being able to pay it over 10 months interest free, which I thought was great and suited our purpose perfectly!
I feel that the price was brilliant, especially for a 5000mm hydrostatic head tent, not much different from what we paid for the old Sunncamp tent all those years ago!
So waiting in anticipation here now, we should have the tent next week, hopefully, and once we have it all that will remain is deciding where to go for our first outing in it! Exciting times!
Will of course post again to update once we have used the tent, and also will leave a review in due course.
Hope that Sunncamp quality remains the same as it was, has anyone else got a Sunncamp tent that they are pleased with?
Post last edited on 05/06/2015 14:45:36
------------- Enjoying life beyond kids, new love, living on a boat and a new lease of life in my mid 50s! Never too old to reinvent yourself.....
Mum to five - 4 girls, 31,28,25 and 22 and one boy, 20
Engaged! Wedding June 2020!
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
Good for you! I bought a Sunncamp the other day too, but it was a soft yellow and blue Frame tent, a little one (officially 4 person) just perfect for me and the dog. Vintage about the year 2000 I think.
I do love the frame tents, and ours is great for longer stays.
Sunncamp tents do seem to be quite decent quality from reviews I have read of various models, and not overly expensive either, in fact quite the opposite!
------------- Enjoying life beyond kids, new love, living on a boat and a new lease of life in my mid 50s! Never too old to reinvent yourself.....
Mum to five - 4 girls, 31,28,25 and 22 and one boy, 20
Engaged! Wedding June 2020!
just bought our daughter a sunncamp evolution 400 dl, bought off ebay but this is a brand new and was still sealed in the box hoping to have a play with it in the next few days and to see if their verano porch will fit it, yes I read the posts about rain dripping in from the doors, but this was such a bargain for £80
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
Just had a look at the reviews on the Vulcan 600, including yours, MonsterBear, it looks like a great tent!
kazo2014, that does sound like a bargain tent, hope you can get the verano porch to fit it! If not, a tarp set up above the entrance door will stop any water getting inside the tent when it rains, so should solve that problem.
------------- Enjoying life beyond kids, new love, living on a boat and a new lease of life in my mid 50s! Never too old to reinvent yourself.....
Mum to five - 4 girls, 31,28,25 and 22 and one boy, 20
Engaged! Wedding June 2020!
well the new tent has gone up in the back garden and my daughter and her hubby are well pleased with it, loads of room inside for the three of them and the dog, who while we where sat having a cuppa in the garden decided to make himself at home in the tent and fell asleep! the baby decided to go for a crawl and inspect the tent too
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
no there wasn't enough room to put the porch on it in there back garden, so they are just going to have to take that with them and then fit it on the tent, cant see it being a problem tho, there biggest challenge will be this weekend as having a trail run at fitting it in there car along with everything else, and esp having the gear for the baby too
Well, the tent and extension, carpet and footprint arrived this morning and although I haven't yet unpacked it to check, will wait for DH to get back from filming tomorrow to unroll it and have a better look, but I couldn't resist having a peek at the colour of the extension porch, looks lovely, a muted soft green and with the black trim it will look quite smart, I think.
Of course the moment of truth will come when we pitch it but so far so good!
We won't be able to pitch it though until we go away, so will have to just check that everything is there and have a check over it to make sure it is all as it should be.
Exciting times!
------------- Enjoying life beyond kids, new love, living on a boat and a new lease of life in my mid 50s! Never too old to reinvent yourself.....
Mum to five - 4 girls, 31,28,25 and 22 and one boy, 20
Engaged! Wedding June 2020!
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: Just bought a new Sunncamp tent!
