Hi, new to this and needing to pick some more experienced brains...
We took our 4 berth Coleman-I-forget-the-model-and-it;s-in-the-loft tent for our first longish family camping trip this summer. Only being able to stand upright under the very apex, by the end of a fortnight I felt thoroughly hunched.
So I'm looking for a taller tent with a decent-sized living area (at least 2.5m each way) in among all these end-of-season bargains. They give centre heights, but there is usually no indication of the fall-off from that height. I'm not looking at frame tents, due to price, weight, and vast size - we did 2 weeks in Germany with our boot packed only to the cargo cover, no roofbox, we like to keep it compact.
I think I've got it down to the Vango Colorado 600 DLX, the Outwell Colorado 8, the Wynnster Mercury 9, and the Sunncamp Stratus 8. If those all look like they're for more than 4 people, it's because we really don't want to spend my holiday separated from the kids by nothing more than a thin curtain of nylon. There are limits! This and the height issue rule out the 4 berth tents I've seen.
So can anyone who has any of these tents tell me whether at 1.75m and 1.85m we will be able to stand upright in all or virtually all of the central living area? The Stratus is the one I have most doubts about, as it looks most like our current tent, which falls off pretty steeply from the apex. But it does come in at under 7m in length: I've lived in houses narrower than some of these tents – are they really not a problem on campsites with defined pitches? (told you I'm new to this, spent most of my camping weekends in "find a space" fields!)
Or does anyone know a brilliant tent I've overlooked? My budget is about £250 max.
I haven't found anywhere near me with many tents on display: one local store had a Khyam - lovely height, shame about the price/pack size - and an Outwell Hartford L - also nice but I'm not keen on inner-first pitching - and that's about it. Not much help, so all advice welcome!
many thanks
Candida
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...In my opinion your best bet, at that price, would be the Khyam Ridgidome tourer 400... You should be able to get one for £250 or less at this time of year... I believe the 'headroom' is 1.85m... The two inner tents are at opposite sides of the tent, which is about as much 'privacy' as you'll get in a tent!... If you could 'stretch' to £300 plus, you might just be able to buy the Khyam ridgidome XXL Classic, which I believe has even more headroom and is an absolutely brilliant tent!... Good luck in finding a tent which suits you and your family...
A Robens Triple Dreamer meets your requirements for height and living space plus it is a much more compact pack size than most of the others you mention. See here
My husband is six foot tall and we bought our tent off our friend who is 6 foot 4 and they can stand comfortably in our Sunncamp Magnum XL just a shame you can't stand up in the sleeping pods. Have looked at the Sunncamp Antigua and that had masses of space in the middle for living and the pods you could stand up aswell.
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I have the colorado 8. I am 6 feet tall. Where ever I am in the tent I can stand up without any fear of touching the top of it.
The layout is 4- 2 birth inner tents on the outsides leaving a 2.5 by 2.5 (ish) area in the middle for your living space. We are a family of 4 so we use 3 bedrooms, leaving one bedroom for clothes and food.
I have had this tent for 2 years and have now issues with it. It has not leaked once and me and the wife can put it up in under 30 mins.
If I do not but this one again it will be becasue I am buying the Monty. Go for it.
Tent with good height throughout, seporate sleeping area (from kids) and not huge in size for transport...
Thoughts would be first for a tunnel type tent, with bedrooms at either end:
Coleman Sahara 8
Outwell Colarado 8 (as already suggested)
Campus Indiana 6/8
Canpus Nevarda
Vango TBS Vista
Wynnster Grouse
I would have inluded the Sunncamp Fortress (such an impressive name!), however, it would be outside the budget - but worth a look if you find one.
Domes with off-hanging bedrooms, tend to have a great central hight, but the bedrooms drop-off (slope) quickly. However, some that retain a good bedroom hight which you might want to look at: Campus Arizona, Wynnster Camarthon.
For me, I would put the Outwell Colarado 8 at the top of the shortlist.
Post last edited on 12/10/2005 22:14:14
------------- Big Bunny
Robens Valley Lodge & Cabanon Pyramide 6 "... kids you distract the bear, while I run to the car...."
We bought a Royal Biarittz 6 last week from Worldofcamping (see post above) and it is superb. Living area is at least 2.5m x 2.5m, plus the porch area. The bedrooms are more spacious than other 6- man tents that I have seen, and you can stand up in them (although they do clearly slope down towards the sides).
A real bargain at £150 and the service from Worldofcamping was first rate.
Just can't wait to us it for real - the garden doesn't count.
Wow, busy day! Nice to have two votes of confidence for the Colorado 8. Thanks for all the other suggestions, will check them all out.
cheers
Candida
PS to Jackie oneof8: that is a scary little graphic at the end of your posting! Speaking as someone roped into one of those fete-bazaar-raffle school committees, your jolly snowman brought out a kind of startled sqawk and an "omigodsoitis" response from my addled brain. And summer seems such a short time ago....
Have you had a look at the Brekenridge Deluxe? We chose this for it's large living area, full height bedroom 'pods' and a large porch that can accomodate virtually all your kitchen needs, leaving your living room free. We bought ours online (can't remember the store, sorry!) for £279, but it may be in the sale at this time of year. Sewn in groundsheets throughout - couldn't live without 'em! Might be worth having a look at!
------------- Claire x
Jan 2013 - Skiing, Kühtai, Austria
May - Swiss Farm
Fforest Ffields
Aug - Saumur, France
Oct - Somewhere...
Jan '14 - Skiing, Les Houches
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What about the Sunncamp Haven 8? There appear to be some *very* good deals around at the moment (£199 at a couple of places) which I'm looking at.
I'm actually looking for some advice on this myself - it appears to be identical to the Sunncamp Antigua 8 SE reviewed on here. It ticks all the right boxes for me: good height (over 2m for most of it), good/simple construction, flexible sleeping arrangements and flexible configuration (one end can open up). And currently a good price. But very few people mention it on here! Have thought about the Colardo 8 but this one has a bit cooler design (IMO) :-).
Well, after getting the positives here about the Colorado 8 and deciding I really did like the 1x4, 2x2 inner tents (huge enthusiasm for that too from firstborn fed up of squabbling with wriggly secondborn in a single inner) I went ahead and bought it as it was vanishing at £199 from online sites. The flatter curve at the top because of the straight side poles just gave me more assurance about the head hight right into the corners of the living area.
Firstborn and I put it up on the lawn in 40 minutes, which I consider OK for the first time with a new tent and one participant being only 1.4m tall. Feels like a palace, I could pogo in the middle, I can stand up anywhere, it's astoundingly bright, and all in all I am one happy customer.
So thanks for the advice and the suggestions, those taken and those not. All appreciated!
I borrowed a Colorado 8 last year before buying my own kit. The only thing I would suggest looking at as an extra, is the Outwell canopy that will effectively give you a more porch type area.
I borrowed a Colorado 8 last year before buying my own kit. The only thing I would suggest looking at as an extra, is the Outwell canopy that will effectively give you a more porch type area.
Hope that helps.
Just at the moment I can't imagine ever needing more space! Though going by what people on here post, I can expect that to change in a year or so.
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Topic: tall family tents?
