Tent Advice

[Col_Rugby]

Hi all. Looking for a bit of advice on buying a tent. Planning the season I'm probably going to do some multi day meetings so camping is a good option & cheaper than a B & B etc. Also having experienced the fun & games in the campsite at Brands I'm looking forward to it.


For those that weren't at Brands for the Victor Meldrew Trohy meeting I must stress that tent erection is not one of my specialist subjects. Well I managed to flaten my car battery it took that long.

I've had a look around & I like the look of a "pop up tent". I know Stu had one at Brands, threw it in the air, banged a couple of pegs in, sat back & took the out of me & Rob struggling with ours.

Anyone got any experience of a 3-4 man pop up? Rob has already said I need a 4 man to get my belly & food bag in!! Packing away takes some practice apparently. But they look quick, easy, compact & just for me simple to erect. Well even I can throw something in the air.

Anyone recommend a shop or online store?

Of course it doesn't have to be pop up but someting easy is a must as it cuts down on drinking time if I'm struggling with a tent


Any advice gratefully recieved.

Cheers Col

[deadsquirrel]

Well, I have a pop-up tent available (cheap).....PM if you're interested I'm hopefully upgrading to plastic walls and ceiling in the near future and have no need of it.

I don't think a 3-4man popup exists, but probably wouldn't fit in your car (mine folds into a thin disc, 2-3 feet across and is considered 2-berth)

They do go up VERY easily, and are roomy inside. Putting them away just requires to know the 'trick' - mine sat in the hallway for 3 months until I found a video on ebay on how to put them away, now it takes <1minute.

[Lord Summerisle]

i'd only go for a pop up tent if only camping the odd time in good weather...

they pop up quick... and blow down quite quick as well in strong winds.

[Nexus]

I'd recommended - www.gooutdoors.co.uk for on-line outdoors shopping.
Two man PopUp Tent @ £25.00. As mentioned before, they aren't very good in bad weather.

If you want a tent that will cope with a bit of rain and wind then you will have to get a propper Dome Tent, have a couple of goes at putting the tent up and taking it down the back garden before you go and it makes it 10 times easier when you need to do it for real. I have one of these and it does me fine, takes 2 people about 15-30 minutes to put up, Packs down into a nice small bag too.

[deadsquirrel]

Originally Posted by Lord Summerisle

i'd only go for a pop up tent if only camping the odd time in good weather...

they pop up quick... and blow down quite quick as well in strong winds.

Not from my experience - it survived quite a few storms - but you HAVE to peg them out fully and use the guylines.

[Piglet]

Ummm I'm a bit of a tent anorak....

If you want a pop up tent go for a Decathlon one see http://seconds.quechua.com/EN/main.html we have the three second one which we reckoned would do for two of us as a "quick pitch" option. The 2 second one would probably be fine for 1 but the 3 second would give you more space.

Be careful of the "light" versions, they tend to be shorter which may or not be a problem (you need to put your kit somewhere), they do pack into a smaller disc though.

I'd avoid the "Air" versions for this country - I reckon they would be drafty. I'd also avoid the 2 second XL as it opens on the side which I reckon in the pouring rain would leave you quite wet!

We haven't used ours yet but it was used by one of the Dutchies at Spa and despite wind and rain was absolutely fine - you do need to guy it though. I've seen people construct a little tarp porch for them to avoid the wet coming in when you open up the door.

The Decathlon one's are dual layer, I think some of the cheaper ones are only single which is likely to give more condensation. If you google Decathlon you'll see where there are stores - I'm told that their tents are on special offer at the moment.

Otherwise if you want something that you could have a go at standing in I'd go for a Vango Idaho http://www.penroseoutdoors.co.uk/aca...Idaho_400.html - sold out but you should be able to find one somewhere as the year goes on. We had the previous version the Vango Venture (fab if you can find someone knocking them out still) which stood up to the worst that Snetterton threw at it one 2CV meeting!

I'll get me coat.....

[ian_c_uk]

The Vango's do seem to stand up well, we have a Colorado 600DLX and it's been pretty faultless. Definately needs two people / 15mins to put up tho.

[bella]

i've got a 3 man tesco one with a porch (bought last july for the princely sum of £19), which is very spacious, you can nearly stand up in it, and it's dead easy to put up - if two rabid fangirls can do it after a 12 hour drive, anyone can! it did get a bit of condensation inside though, so i wouldn't want to vouch for its seaworthyness

i agree entirely with piglet about decathalon tents though - there's a store at lakeside if you're near there.
edit: having just checked where you are, you're not. oops!

[JimW]

Tent advice? - don't do it. Find a pub instead.

Jim

[Garry Holmes]

Personally I wouldn't buy a pop up tent, however my friend's stayed up in a trully monumental storm in Wales last year, whilst another friend's didn't! It all depends on where you are going and how exposed it is, having said that I've seen some pretty wild weather at some supposibly sheltered campsites, tents blown inside out at Donington, and don't get me started on Anglesey!!!!

You can't go too far wrong with a vango, they are strong, well built, and pretty easy to pitch - mine's a three man tunnel with colour coded poles and sleeves that will go up in about 5 to 10 mins. Previously I had a wild country semi-gedisisc that was absolutly rock solid in strong winds. A lot of how a tent will stand up to the weather is down to it's shape - dome, geo disc, tunnel ect.

The vango goes up very easily fly first, with the inner clipping onto the outer which means if its dry you can pitch it and take it down as one, whereas the wild country pitched inner first and then the outer was kinda thrown over - it never did seem to on the same way twice.

Go Outdoors are very good if there is one near you, you get a good discount with a card that costs about a fiver per year.

[Jacko]

I have an Outwell Pop Up Tent which is very good and waterproof. There are two versions, 2 man and 3 man. Mines a 3 man and I used it for the GP and it slept two of us easily.

Google Outwell pop up thats how I found mine. It cost about £70 and was well worth it. Putting it away has a knack to it but the instructions are sewn inside the bag.

Good luck

[Stack]

I too recomend Go Outdoors. There's one up the road from you in Coventry. They have lots of tents already put up so you arn't buying blind. Join their club - it does'nt cost much and you can get discounts on all there camping and clothing gear.

[Paul Newns]

I've got a Vango two man (or as I usually put it 1 man 1 woman, or 1 man) dome. It goes up in a few minutes and comes down quickly and folds away into a small package. It's stood up to the worst Anglesey can throw at it, even the night Mike Kelly's trusty old tent got shredded by the wind.

Don't rely on the wimpy pegs that come with it. Invest in some rock pegs. It's amazing how many of the others you'll bend. And a tent peg puller is always a good idea.

[marcosmantula]

I treated myself to a Kyham Freelander last year, which although not pop up is a quick-erect tent. Definetly makes it a lot quicker to put up although a little more awkward to pack away neatly.

The sleeping compartment isn't huge, 3 very friendly people could get in, but the main dome is big and even I can almost stand up, and when the weather has been bad have happily cooked inside.

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by JimW

Tent advice? - don't do it. Find a pub instead.

Jim

[cowchap]

If the weathers really bad sleep in the car!!!

[Lord Summerisle]

Originally Posted by deadsquirrel

Not from my experience - it survived quite a few storms - but you HAVE to peg them out fully and use the guylines.

your quite lucky then... theyre normally the ones i see being blown down first.

I'll stick to my Vango Tornado 300 mountain tent - 3 poles, and a few guys and its as solid as a rock in the wind. Tho i admit its not the tent to buy lightly at £180

[Alan Green]

Originally Posted by marcosmantula

I treated myself to a Kyham Freelander last year, which although not pop up is a quick-erect tent. Definetly makes it a lot quicker to put up although a little more awkward to pack away neatly.

The sleeping compartment isn't huge, 3 very friendly people could get in, but the main dome is big and even I can almost stand up, and when the weather has been bad have happily cooked inside.

Likewise, I have a Khyam Freelander, and agree that the packing up takes much longer than the pitching - however, it is the ideal size for me with plenty of living area space for a table, a chair, marshals box, and the other weekend essentials (pork pies & cider). It saw me through last year without fault, taking a hefty battering at Silverstone (twice) and Donington in last summers weather, but has stood up to everything thrown at it.

The Khyam XL I had before was bigger, but too big for just me for a weekend. For a couple or young family it would have been ideal.

Anything from the Khyam range will do you well - you pay a bit more, but they are very well designed and last well. Occasionally they come up on Ebay, but look around (I got mine from Camping International in Kent(?) at a good price).

Al.

[Tim Hull]

My tent has got four wheels

[Piglet]

The Khyams are nice tents and are easy to put up on your own, plus pretty sturdy in bad weather.

I had a nosey round MarcosMantula's tent at Silverstone and it's very nice - a perfect one man tent with enough room to boil a kettle and somewhere to sit in the rain.

One point though - whenever we camp on a marshals campsite I'm always amazed how few people actually bother to guy their tents. Some folks use a couple but it's very rare to see all of them being used. Given that race circuits are often quite exposed and we're away from site all day that always seems a bit foolish to me. The wind can pick up quite quickly and the manufacturers mainly put guys on tents for a reason and not because they want to increase the manufacturing cost. Guy your tents chaps - you know it makes sense

[Lord Summerisle]

Originally Posted by Piglet

One point though - whenever we camp on a marshals campsite I'm always amazed how few people actually bother to guy their tents. Some folks use a couple but it's very rare to see all of them being used. Given that race circuits are often quite exposed and we're away from site all day that always seems a bit foolish to me. The wind can pick up quite quickly and the manufacturers mainly put guys on tents for a reason and not because they want to increase the manufacturing cost. Guy your tents chaps - you know it makes sense

Oh yes.

the only reason our tent stayed up at Snetterton during the 2CV was that the missus went out and attached extra guy lines to help support the tent during the strong winds... the tent was fully guyed before... but they where struggling to hold it as it was.

[Piglet]

Originally Posted by Lord Summerisle

Oh yes.

the only reason our tent stayed up at Snetterton during the 2CV was that the missus went out and attached extra guy lines to help support the tent during the strong winds... the tent was fully guyed before... but they where struggling to hold it as it was.

Sounds familiar, the 2CV 24 in 2006 is the only time I've ever thought that I was going to have to sleep in the car because the tent wasn't going to stay up! We only persevered because there was a Vango Venture standing already so we thought it was worth a go. We added guys wherever we could and where the poles were exposed we tied them together with parachute cord to encourage it to hold together AND it was bleeding freezing!

[mick dickens]

why not do what i did 15 years ago buy a trancit van put a mattress (or misstress) in the back and leave it in all summer. all you have to do then is arrive at camp site put on hand brake go to bar get drunk go back to van open back door fall in go to sleep easy

[Motorsportgirli]

Ive got the Vango Sigma 200, its a dual layer so keeps the wind and cold out! Believe me you need that at Croft. It also has a bathtub inner ground sheet so no nasty breezes comming through, with a roomy bed area i can fit a double airbed plus my holdall etc in with ease and it has acres of head room. There is a living area in it so to speak where I put all marshaling gear. Also has a porch so wet shoes etc will not get the inside of the tent dirty!

Takes about 5 mins to assemble and disassemble, has colour coded poles and all for a bargain price of £35 and goes down to the size of a medium holdall bag

[Lord Summerisle]

Originally Posted by Piglet

Sounds familiar, the 2CV 24 in 2006 is the only time I've ever thought that I was going to have to sleep in the car because the tent wasn't going to stay up!

actually i tell a lie - the missus put extra guys on the tent, then when i came off shift at 10pm we took the tent down as it didnt look like it was going to last *that much* longer... so we did sleep in the car in the end.

strangly i dont remember it being that bad in 2006 - i was camped with the Pistonheads lot. Twas v.cold, but dont remember much wind
you sure you didnt have too many beans?