im relativley new to camping and jumped in and bought the first tent i thought would do the job, i now regret it not happy with it and have it up for sale looking at new alternatives. so where is best place to buy? any advice greatly accepted, any body used the ebay shops ? anybody used the reconditioned tents? also any manufacturers i should avoid any advice at all ... also is there a website for sunncamp cant seem to find it. thanks in advance
Hello Gaz and welcome to UKCS. I have read your review of your Gelert Olympus 8 and note that much of your compaint is about the size of the sleeping pods. Unfortunately all tents seem to exaggerate the number of people they will sleep. I think this is because they all take their sizings from sleeping mats rather than airbeds which are much larger.
It is usually suggested that if you need to accomodate 4 people then you need to buy at least a 6 man and probably an 8 man tent. In your case if you need to accomodate 8 people in comfort then you will be struggling to find any tent large enough and it may be wise to buy two tents and use two pitches. Expensive I know but then camping for large groups isn't cheap these days.
Gelert are a good manufacturer and have been making tents for years but they do tend to make tents for the cheaper end of the market and to do that, the quality, although perfectly adequate, may not seem quite so good as the more expensive brands when compared.
Try the Kampa range, we've just bought Pendine 8, which is for 5 of us, granny in one room, 2 kids in other, me and OH in other with en-suite facilites in other. Large enough living area to entertain each other in the rain and add on porch for shoes, cooking etc.
Good quality tent at a good price. I would avoid Hi-Gear (sorry Higear owners) but I've had 3 different models and all went back to store. Best models would be Outwell, Vango and Kampa that I know.
Use the search facilty on here and try to view as many as you can, then shop around to see best deal around.
------------- I'm working class, I do what I have to do, to get by.
Outwell, Kampa & a few friends have various vango tents with no complaints.
I spent ages browsing on line. Well known and reputable suppliers include the likes of yeomans, towsure, skcamping and leisure, Gaynors, casseys - in fact I could go on for ages but this is a good starting point.
I found it really helpful to look on the kampa and outwell tent manufacturers websites and the tent review / pictures posted on here are wonderfully informative.
I have also managed to save a reasonable amount of money taking advantage of go outdoors price match promise. If they stock the tent or item that you would like and you can find it cheaper elsewhere they match it and discount by a further 10%.
we are a family of 4 not 8 only need one tent, im starting to see that gelert are more at the cheaper end of the market. i did mention that my tent advertised as an 8 man is rediculous but we are 4 and the bedrooms are fine its the living space that im realy disappointed with.. i suppose its the same as everything else you get what you pay for but i did pay 250 quid for it mind .............
well ill just have to bite the bullet and look at the best manufacturer's outwell, vango is mentioned any thoughts on sunncamp
we have just bought a khyam marseille 9 its a 4 bedroomed (one big room that can be split into 2, then 2 seprate pods) large living area in the middle then a front porch big enought for kitchen stuff and table and chairs. http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/redirect.asp?redir=http://www.khyam.co.uk/detail.asp?p=796 we ended up getting it for 299.99 with footprint thrown in, so not a bad price either.
------------- 21st-26th april plas farm caravan & camping park
27th-30th may High bank farm
June??
July/aug fangfoss campsite
september 6th-10th bordeaux,France (for a wedding, not camping!)
We have a sunncamp family vario 600 plus enough room for 4 , massive living area . good quality tent . Go and look at some tent displays , find the one that suits then go home and as ratty says look the reviews on here , then surf the net find the cheapest price then go back to where you saw it displayed and see if they will match the price (most will) it is easier to return stuff locally.
------------- Gingercol
April ,Isle of Avalon Glastonbury 4 nights ,
May ,Hoburne Cotswolds 3 nights
June ,12 nights River Valley Holiday Park cornwall
hi gaz,we are fairly new to camping(been once) we have a vango icarus 600 dxl only available from outdoor megastore at about £260,the living area is nearly 4 metres square with 2 bedrooms.easy pitch too which is a bonus.hope this helps,happy camping
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: where to buy tent
