Good time to nab a bargain family tent?

Orch

Orch

Orch

Associate
Joined
11 Apr 2013
Posts
1,741
Location
Nr Salisbury
For once thinking about sensible and buying a family tent for next year, must some bargains about at this time year? Anyone spotted anything?

Only three of us at the moment, lad will be 2 next year tho so will need space for him to play when weather isn't great.

Looking as cheap as possible between £100-£200.

So far best I've found is the Coleman Galileo 5: http://www.campmania.co.uk/Item-7-28-cat-0-brand-3121-Coleman_Galileo_5.aspx#prettyPhoto
 
Yeh Vango was the other brand I was looking at actually, struggling to find a decent size in my budget though at the moment.

Good tip on the poles, thanks
 
Mate, that is awesome advice, thank you very much. Exactly the sort of info I needed.

I was looking for Vango initially but got swayed by Coleman deals, think I might go back to Vango though. A friend of ours has the Orchy500 (which funnily enough became my steam and origin username name) and I was very impressed with it.

Great tips on the bags too!
 
Really appreciating your help on this mate. That Calisto is tempting! My concern with that is that I've been reading lots of reviews and it seems a common complaint that extension like this don't join well and often result in a puddle between the two.

I was therefore also looking at the Icarus 800 2012 model here http://www.jrleisure.co.uk/products/vango-icarus-800-moss-2012/1313/

I like the simplicity of it. Fibreglass poles but has the vango tension system. Some reviews have reported a night in heavy rain and gales with no issues.

Looks nice and roomy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr42RShKdg8

I'd prefer a 4000hh sheet but 3000 seems ok i guess.

What do you think on that one?
 
Oh forgot to say, cooking wise, I have a gas stove that I cook out of the boot of the landy. My plan there in bad weather is to back it up to one of the side doors them run a tarp over the top between the two.

The idea of cooking inside the tent always worries me.
 
Scrutinize said:
You don't need 4000mm hh, technically 2000mm is fully waterproof. What lets lower hh tents down is it tends to be found on cheaper tents and the build quality is what suffers rather than the technical waterproofness so water gets in through seams etc.

That Icarus 800 is a good shout
Click to expand...

Ah that's great news, thought we might be compromising but obviously not! Think we may have found our tent then :)
 
Attu90 said:
We had a Vango Samara 600 but it was just to big for the 3 of us (son is 10) so this year we down sized to a Vango Woburn 500 with a Vango adventure tarp with extra kingpoles to create a canopy area on the front and a large windbreak to ,,,errr keep the wind out :).
We tent to cook outside or under the canopy, just don't feel safe cooking in side.

It was a much better size for the 3 of us and packs up about a third of the size and weight of the Samara 600.

Also some sites don't like large tents (over 7m).
Click to expand...

Yeh I think we will downscale in future as the kids get older, but for now would be nice for him to have space to stretch his legs if the weather is bad.
 
danza said:
I have one of these:

www.a2zcamping.co.uk/4-5-berth-tents/sunncamp-kashmir-400-4-berth-tent.html

It's about the same size as most 5 man cheapo tents but is a 4 man. It's plenty big enough for 4 blokes and their kit and has a divider to split into a 2+2. It's survived some truly foul British weather without any trouble at all, no leaks whatsoever and it looks pretty flash too. It's quite an old model but I imagine they do something equivalent.

You may be able to find a Kashmir 400 somewhere and IMO it'd be worthwhile as it's so much better than the cheap Coleman and Vango tents.

/edit

Just seen you're looking at an 8 man tent now so perhaps ignore my post. Although that Sunmcamp weighs about the same as that 8 man...
Click to expand...

Cheers for the tip mate, could do with a bit more room but that certainly looks the part doesn't it!
 
Django x2 said:
To the OP, Outwell tents (good ones) will outperform almost every other type of tent in terms of comfort, ease of erection (teehee) and quality, but they are heavy and will come in multiple bags. Most other gear is an "as you need it" purchase and you'll find stuff lasts ages regardless of what you actually buy if you are sensible with the initial purchase.

All of the sites are much of a muchness, but:

www.campingworld.co.uk
www.campingandleisure.co.uk/
and now,
www.decathlon.co.uk/

are all good places to start, or continue your camp shopping experience :)
Click to expand...

Thanks mate. Outwell were really the only 'quality' brand I knew of coming into this, but even with end of season sales the space I want is out of reach. The weight does put me off also.

Will check those sites though, cheers.
 
Fortunately my old man has plenty of room at his place so easy enough to dry over there.

First trip out is going to be 12th of October, so no doubt drying out will be required :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom