hi, my husband and i have loved camping over the years and after 4 years off to have 2 girls we are all eager to go under canvas on holiday. We are looking for a family tent which is easy to put up (2yr old and 3.5yr old will only occupy themselves for so long) we would like all 4 of us to be in the same inner with a really large living space for when it rains, it would also be nice to have another bedroom (2 or 3 berth)if friends come with us or for extra space. any recommendations my head is spinning with all on the market!
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No wonder you confused as there's so many on the market and so many decisions to make, SIG, No SiG, Flysheet First, Inner tent First, Dome, Tunnel Frame etc etc
I'm loads of other will have their on preferences but from what you've said the have a look at the Vango Aspen 700, Outwell Montana 12 (I'd say the 6 but you want extra space for friends) and the Campus Breckenridge Deluxe as a starter for 10.
Cheers
------------- CamperPete
Never be afraid to try something new, remember.... Amateurs built the 'Ark'... but Professionals built the 'Titanic' !!!
Hi. You might want to look at an Outwell Montana 6. Straightforward to put up, one large 6 person inner with a dividing curtain, standing height throughout, a higher than usual proportion of living space in relation to sleeping space, sewn in groundsheet so very comfortable, exceptionally good quality living space (light, spacious, lots of window/door/vent options to play with). MT
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
Oh, and I'd go for the tent that would suit you and yours best and buy a £60 second tent for friends. That way you're best suited everytime you go camping and your friends get a little extra bit of privacy if and when they're there too. MT
------------- Tackling life the Western District way
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Quote: Originally posted by Merry Terrier on 31/1/2006
Oh, and I'd go for the tent that would suit you and yours best and buy a £60 second tent for friends. That way you're best suited everytime you go camping and your friends get a little extra bit of privacy if and when they're there too. MT
Sound advice, but if you are determened to get everybody in one tent, you'll be needing an eight berth minimum. Tent maufactureres do exaggerate their berthing sizes. You need to be looking at a vis a vis layout. That's one lot at one end, and t'ther lot at t'ther end.
Try outdoormegastore, and look at 8 berth tents and upwards, as a starter. Nobody can say, outright, get this one, as everyone has different tastes.
It is time consuming, but short list your ideas and come back and ask specific questions about each make.
Jim.
I'd also look at the Outwell Colorado 8 or the Vango Vista 600 or 800. Disadvantage not got SIGs.
MT, Have they changed the Montana 6 for 2006 ? When I looked at it last year it had two seperate inners rather than curtain between like the Montana 4 ?
Right up untill you said about a seperate bedroom for guests I would have said a Vango Venture 500 would suit you perfectly (at at under a hundred pounds a heck of a tent for the money too )
Even though I love my Aspen I dont think it would suit you ,too big and too long to erect (it takes us less than an hour but I get the feeling you want something a lot faster ! )
How about something like a sun valley 6 ? you can either have one large bedroom or put the devider up to make 2 smaller bedrooms ,also has a lage under cover porch area for storage ect ?
We're the proud owners of a Campus Brekenridge Deluxe (sleeps 9) Benefits of this tent - huge living area and kitchen 'porch'. sewn-in groundsheets and 3 seperate bedroom pods (that each sleep 3) which you can stand up in (unlike the Vango Diablo which has steep sloping bedroom pods). A fabulous tent available for around £225
------------- Claire x
Jan 2013 - Skiing, Kühtai, Austria
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We're having the same conundrum - (2 girls will be 1 and 4 come the summer). I started off liking the Montana 6 (especially with the SIG which would be better for the 1 yeal old to crawl around on/eat stuff off as she inevitabley does)which I saw up at an outdoor centre last year. The OH then decided that she wanted the two girls in with us and not a separate pod/chamber.
We quite fancied the idea of getting two double airbeds (we've decided on the Coleman comfort as they have separate sleeping chambers and have got good reviews on here) to create one large 'bed' so that the kids can go in the middle. This meant that the width of a pod/chamber would have to be 280cm which ruled out a lot of tents.
I did have a short list which I now cannot find! but I know there were a couple of Coleman's on there, the Savannah and Sahara I think one of which you can pick up quite cheaply now (or could) on ebay.
Then the other day I read that the 2006 range from Outwell had chambers which were separated by a divider and were not individual pods so the Montana 6 2006 came back into play.
I'm now thinking of the Sun Valley 8 as it gives a great combination of SIG and groundsheet (hopefully will save the SIG getting destroyed as it'll be all boots/muddy clothes off in the groundsheet part before going into the SIG - or that's the plan :-) - and will be better for eating on if the weathers bad). It also has an additional 2 berth pod which can be kept in (could also be used as a food store or just somewhere to keep all our stuff out of the main living area) or removed to create even more space.
I'm not 100% sure if this has the divided large chamber as opposed to separate pods so I'm going to try and view one before we buy. I've been keeping an eye out for local(ish) shows and they seem to start happening around April and that's where my eventual decision will be made when I can see them in the flesh.
Outwell's do seem to be fairly easy to put up and you can erect these tents in one go rather than inner first (but I'm no expert here - do a search and view some of the other posts).
Good luck.
Mark
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go for the khyam XXL you get 3 sleeping areas, one with a curtain divider which can make a very large sleeping area and a good size bedroom, ive got the man, two teenage girls and a young son and we fit in very comfy, weve also got the put up down to 15 minutes (thats me and 1 daughter) other daughter and son wandering off and the man surveying his new kingdom with a beer of course.can be a bit pricey but well worth it
we had concidered the montana 6 but were put off by the 2 pods but if the 2006 model just has the dividing curtain it is back in the running!-any ideas on how long it takes to put up/down?
we're off to the SECC this weekend to see the outdoor exhibition and i'm hoping there will be some tents there along with the equip also there is a few local dealer shows on next week so hopefully we will be proud owners of a family tent in a few weeks
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: family tent - advice required
