Had the tent (Holkham 6) all of about 10 minutes and managed to break one of the main poles that feeds over the top. I’ve found a few ‘tent pole repair’ places, anyone had any experience? Or any tips for replacing this pole? It’s part of a set of 8 joined by elastic so may well need a whole new set.
Also the tent came with a vestibule which is the same colour - blue - as the tent. I understand the polycotton version was made only in the Filey Classic brown colour so therefore the blue one I have must be polyester? Have yet to take it out and check!
Thanks in advance
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
I bought the Filey Classic around 2012 (beige/brown and polycotton).
Don't quote me on this, but I seem to remember mention (on here) of the forerunner being polycotton (That's the slight doubt in my mind!), blue, and called the Holkham. When the name changed from Holkham to Filey, I believe that's when they went with the blue polyester and brown/beige polycotton (Classic) versions.
Like I say, don't quote me on that! Hopefully a current or previous Holkham owner will confirm.
Now then, I can't help with repairing poles, or replacing sections of them, but If you read This recent thread...
one of my links in there will lead you to This slightly earlier thread..., which in turn will lead you to This Dealer...
As you may read, I bought the vestibule off them, and when it arrived, it came with a handwritten note saying they also had spare poles in stock. No mention of numbers, or prices, but assuming the Holkham and Filey are one and the same (with regards to size and shape), they may well be worth a 'phone call?
Yes that sounds about what I had read as well. Think I need to get the vestibule out and just check might be easier! Does it come with its own footprint?
Also do you have the Kampa footprint for your Filey? They’re about £35 so I was going to buy one but many (earlier) reviews slate them!
Funny I actually spoke to that very company earlier, they’re based up the road from Kampa and 2 years ago purchased much of the remaining stock when they stopped producing the Filey/Holkham spares. They’re going to check for me tomorrow whether they still have any of the poles left...
Yes, I think I've still got the tent footprint (I've cut and folded a few over recent years, but pretty sure this one is still intact... I need to get the Filey out for a slight repair, then it's going up for sale, so I'll check out the footprint, and throw that into the deal!)
It (The footprint) was probably an inch or two bigger than it needed to be, and I occasionally had to tuck it under, here and there, but I don't recall any negatives re quality etc. Not sure why they'd be slated? Afterall, it's only a plastic sheet to keep the underside of the sewn-in-groundsheet clean.
We never bothered with the separate (toggled, from memory?) groundsheet in our open front canopy (prefer the grass), but assuming you have one, no, it won't extend into the vestibule area. You'll either have a strip of grass there, or need to get an extra sheet. Knowing sloping doors as I now do, personally I'd leave it, so any rain (when going in and out of the front door) drops straight onto grass. At the most, I may use some of those holey foam jigsaw mats along the inside of the vestibule door.
Hope Camperite come up trumps, and that this time tomorrow, there's a spare pole or five heading your way.
I can confirm that the predecessor of the Filey was indeed the Holkham.
They changed the name after one season and then the window layout at the front to include clear pvc after another season. They then went beige!
AFAIK, they didn’t produce a blue vestibule in polycotton but the polyester version fits (friend of mine tried it).
Camperite are a highly recommended company both on and offline, I’ve used them many times and David is really very helpful
Ah, so if you have the blue polycotton Holkham (which didn't have the vestibule option), you can either go with a blue polyester vestibule, (Which the OP appears to have) or a beige polycotton vestibule (Which I managed to pick up, and has (only) one available in in my link above (But then, they only had one available when I bought mine!)
Makes sense. Thanks for the clarification, 3madboyz.
Your description rings a bell now... those front panels are mesh on the Holkham, if I recall? Mine (Filey) are large pvc windows... the only bugbear on the whole tent, for me, was that the curtains for these were toggled (EDIT... Velcro Tabs), when all other window covers were zipped!
I notice now that most if not all polycotton Kampa's/Classic's have polyester bedrooms and curtains, whereas mine (and presumably the Holkham?) was all polycotton.
It was David at Camperite that sent me the handwritten note referring to the spare poles they have. Service and delivery was as good as can be, and I stated at the time I'd be happy to use Camperite again.
Success set of new poles on the way from the very helpful chaps at Camperite.
I’ve got the polyester vestibule I checked, I’m advised there isn’t much point changing to a polycotton? Also the colour would be beige contrasted to my blue tent (not that I’d mind too much)
Just glad that they had some spare poles left :)
Don't forget to leave a review of all tents you've used, for a chance to win fantastic prizes
I'd argue all day long that a polycotton tent is miles better than polyester, and the same would go for a "proper" tent extension/canopy etc, but for what it (the vestibule) is, I'd have to agree with their advice... of the only two available options, a blue polyester is probably better than a beige polycotton, in the grand scheme of things. It's little more than a glorified umbrella, to keep wind and rain from the front porch. It's not like anyone is going to be sleeping next to it!
Next question... best way to fold the tent to get it in the bag? So far just folded it a few times over and then basically stuffed the hell out of it and pulled the bag together to zip it. Must be a better way?
Two ways, from laid flat on the floor, and looking from the front...
1/ Fold the left hand edge into the middle, then same for the right hand edge (so the two edges are now touching each other down the centre line. Then fold again, so it's now a quarter width, but still full length.
2/ I then read that there's a minimal chance of damage, as all the ring & pins are now in the centre of the bundle, so I changed it to fold one edge completely over to the other edge, then fold again. Same quarter width, same full length, but now all ring & pins are at the edge of the bundle.
From there, you go to the rear of the tent, and roll the whole lot towards the front, as tightly as you can.
You must always leave doors unzipped, so the roll squeezes out the air from inside what is effectively a bag of air!
If you must, unroll and roll even tighter the second time (Don't recall me ever needing to do that though).
Finally, don't try to lift the rolled-up tent into the floppy bag. Leave the tent on the ground, and feed the floppy bag over the roll, then roll the whole lot over (don't lift) to close the bag and zip it up.
I seem to recall "ribbons" to tie the rolled bundle up? I never bothered/had the need.
One other thing I recall is that both Kampa bags for my tents (I also have the Frinton 4 Classic) have what I would describe as "Slightly-oversized- bags", making this process even easier than the same process for other tents (including my latest/current tent, which is always a tight squeeze!)
A day of all things motorhome and campervan. The show is held both in the main indoor arena and across the grounds. Catering, hot drinks and food options are available. Easy access to the site and free parking included. Win one of five pairs of day tickets
Topic: Kampa Holkham/Filey Advice!
