My wife and I are first time campers, and we'd really appreciate some advice. We went into GoOutdoors this weekend with the Hi Gear Zenobia or the Kalahari 8 in mind, simply due to size, but we came out with a whole different outlook (we are going for a package regardless of which we buy). Whilst there we saw the Hi Gear Voyager 6, and since then I've also found the Outwell Palm Coast 6. We prefer these tents because of the large, well-ventilated and lit living space, which would make it perfect for us. We have a toddler so that space would be very welcome in wet weather. There are very little reviews for the Palm Coast 6 available at the moment though, so there's not a huge amount to go by. The reviews on the Go Outdoors site aren't as good as the reviews for the Voyager 6 though. I've figured out that the Palm Coast 6 is an updated Whitecove 6 but that's been slightly improved for Go Outdoors, although I can't really find any specifics on this.
Between the two, there's not much. They're both very similar in design, but the Outwell obviously has it's brand name backing it, and I particularly like how the guy ropes fix to the tent poles on the Outwells, using their own special fixing with the velcro tab that goes around the pole as well, making it more sturdy. The drawback with the extension addon for the Outwell is that it doesn't have a door, it's just open so you can't actually use it as a proper extension in bad weather, whereas the Hi Gear Voyager has a porch with a door in it. The Hi Gear is rated 4000HH, whereas the Outwell is 3000HH. We like that you can remove each individual divider in the rooms in the Voyager. You can't seem to do that in the Palm Coast.
Ideally, if our budget allowed for it, we'd be going for an Outwell Montana, so I think that's best to save as an upgrade in the future. To be honest we would have walked out of Go Outdoors on Saturday with a Voyager 6 if they had them in stock. I only started looking at the Outwell's afterward due to their brand name being one of the best. But does that necessarily mean that the Hi Gear Voyager 6 isn't a good tent? The reviews on here certainly seem favourable enough. I think Hi Gear are now Go Outdoors, but are their tents of a good quality? We're basically looking to buy something that'll give us a good number of years use before we look to change up, hence why this decision isn't easy right now. As for price, they're both bang on the same amount, at £550 for the tent, the footprint, the carpet, and the porch / extension. In essence is comes down to buying a brand name that has more behind it vs something that is potentially an "own brand" that has everything we need for the same price, but that might not be the same quality. What are your thoughts?
All help is greatly appreciated!
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Sorry cannot help you with the Voyager or Outwell but for a view on HiGear (GoOutdoors) tents, I have owned a HiGear Mojave 5 for the last 5 year with it being owned, but not used, by my parents for a year before that.
I have the carpet and extension porch (in blue whereas the tent is green) and, I know I don't use it much each year, have had no issues at all with the tent or anything else from them.
Well maybe one thing ...... my HiGear cheap folding chair finally gave up the job on my last camp a couple of weeks ago after I had returned from having a fudge sundae at a local ice cream farm
Thanks for the helpful reply :) Sounds like the sundae did your chair in! Well, at least the sundae sweetened the deal a bit! Go Outdoors have a Kentucky Hi Gear chair on offer for £15 at the moment, so get yourself a replacement!
Currently we're leaning toward the Voyager Elite. I'm going to pay Go Outdoors another visit today to have another look. We've also found the Vango Icarus 500, I know it loses a berth but it doesn't look that much smaller and with the porch also seems to fit the bill for our needs, but it's a much cheaper package. Would that be a better starter option? We have other equipment and kit to buy so every little helps!
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Hi,
I'm not really the best to be giving advice as like you I'm new to camping, having been pestered into it by my nine year old lad. I wanted something I'd be able to put up on my own, and didn't want to spend too much cash until I knew we'd both enjoy it, so I went for the Hi Gear Enigma 5. It's been totally brilliant, easy to pitch and with the canopy it's absolutely huge for the two of us. It's about 100 quid cheaper than the Icarus, for the tent, canopy, carpet and footprint package and we've been three times so far. It withstood howling winds on the first trip, and a five hour torrential downpour in a thunderstorm the second time. No leaks and felt totally secure. I don't have anything to compare it to cos I'm new to it all, but in terms of quality I think Hi Gear is outstanding. My only regret is I didn't invest in it years ago. My son wants to live in it!
Quote: Originally posted by Rifraf1 on 25/8/2015
Hi,
I'm not really the best to be giving advice as like you I'm new to camping...
You may think that but I've found your post incredibly helpful already! I've been thinking about scaling down to a cheaper tent option to see how things go for now, and your suggestion is a very good one. I'll have a look at the Enigma to see how that fares! Thanks for your input :)
Hi Gear are generally a good mid-range label, usually with a few less features than the equivalent sized tents by makes that are more high profile such as Outwell and Vango.
For the three of you it is wise to look for a 5 berth, and tunnel shapes are the easiest to pitch. Sales and bargains appear at this time of year as it is the tail end of summer ( hah! " What summer?" I hear you cry) and retailers are keen to shift remaining stock. Just keep trawling through the reputable retailers. I know everyone seems to know Go Outdoors these days, but look on line for Yeoman's, Millers, Blacks, Outdoor World a direct, Cotswold Outdoor, Allweathers, World of Camping, and Cross Camping. These are all sellers I have used at some point in the past and have had good service.
There are still cheaper options. I got a Gelert Ottawa 6 for £92 brand new off Ebay, Porch for 60, groundsheet and carpet for 50 all from separate suppliers.
Massive brand new tent for £200, but.... its very heavy, takes 3 people to put up, and is very tricky and cumbersome to dry out when you get home afterwards. I cant get everything back in the original bags, and wouldn't want to, because they would be too heavy and too bulky to get back in the loft.
Check out some more displays, and the weight. Package options aren't always the cheapest.
Thanks so much for the replies. They've all been very helpful and have caused me to think long and hard about the options available. In the end we've gone for the Outwell Palm Coast 6. We went to look at this tent properly at Go Outdoors this week, and we decided that over a bunch of the other tents we were looking at (with some having very limited availability everywhere we looked), it had everything we think we're going to need to start off :) We like the fact that it has the cover over the entrance, and really like the shape and layout on the tent. Hopefully this is a tent that will last us a good while before we look at an upgrade :)
The Montana is on offer for £500 at GO at the moment.
You can make your own footprint and just buy the carpet for the hi gear frontera (the one in GO that is similar shaped to the Monatana 6P but a tiny bit smaller).
Don't forget that your family may grow and also your young one will grow up up too and require more space.
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Topic: Tent camping first timer - family tent...
