UKC

My parents and I are clubbing together to buy my sister and her husband a family tent for Christmas.  I am in charge of choosing something.  I know my way round 1-2 man lightweight backpacking tents, but that isn't what they are after, so I am looking for recommendations.

They are a family of four, the children are 2 and 4.  They want room to stand up and to be able to cook and eat inside in bad weather.  They mostly camp straight out of the car in campsites so weight isn't a particular issue, but something relatively easy to put up and sturdy would be good.

Are those inflatable tents any good?

Recommendations please!

In reply to kathrync:

Quecha seconds 4.2 XL family tent.  The pop up concept writ large (big porch you can stand up in, 2 x 2 person sleeping pods).  This preceded the inflatable tent concept, it has fibreglass poles that stay in place, so may have been superseded by the inflatable ones. 

The whole thing can be erected in 5 minutes, down in <10 with the sleeping pod 'inner's in place.  Much faster than most of the other family tents, which seem to take ages.

I does take some practice to learn how to fold it up, but isn't too bad if you follow the instructions carefully (and have watched the video a couple of times.  It does have to be taken down dry or dried afterwards - but expect that is the case for all family tents.

 

In reply to kathrync:

I can recommend Eureka family tents. We have an older one called Tunnel vision or similar, the corresponding current model seems to be called Wild Basin 4 BTC.

I would definitely go for a breathable technical cotton tent, this is fantastic when camping in the South, but our tent has also survived (with minor damage) a storm that snapped the poles of our Hilleberg Keron.

CB

In reply to kathrync:

I was after something similar, but wanted a heap of space for visitors and some kind of privacy for my partner and I. Bought a second hand Outwell Montana 6 polycotton. It's awesome, but if you want quick pitching or compact size it's going to disappoint. After some practice, my partner and I can put our tent up in about 30min. For what it's worth, there's a second hand Montana 4 available now on ebay for around £150. Good little tent, and because it's smaller and lighter, would be a lot easier and quicker to pitch.

The Quechua tent is a good suggestion, although I found them a bit noisy and perhaps less sturdy in high winds. Inflatables vary a lot in terms of quality, but the good ones are excellent. 

Ultimately there's always some kind of trade off between expense, ease of putting up, weather-proofing, comfort and noise. Would recommend choosing something with 4000mm hydrostatic head (or more) if used a lot in the UK, and would highly recommend buying a few of these for peace of mind in high winds:

https://deltagroundanchors.co.uk/

I found this site very useful in choosing a tent: 

https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/

In reply to kathrync:

Thanks all.  What is the advantage of a technical (poly)cotton fabric?  I assume they are more breathable, but are there any other advantages?

Polycotton pushes the price over our budget - just trying to assess whether it is worth it and whether I can sell that to my parents!

In reply to kathrync:

Polycotton is a lot quieter, more water repellent, warmer in cold weather and (much) cooler in hot weather. Downsides are weight and price. 

 

In reply to kathrync:

The difference in breathability is dramatic, the TC tents feel so much cooler when camping in the South (tested by pitching one side to side with a nylon version in Corsica). As I said above, these tents are at the same time very robust, surviving 140km/h gales with horizontal sleet and snow next to the Irish sea, even though our tent is high enough that I (180cm) can stand in the porch. They are also much more UV resistant and therefore long lived than synthetic tents: Ours has now been in use every summer since almost 20 years and the fabric is still great. The only downside is weight, but that is pretty much irrelevant for that type of tent anyway. 

I would sell the idea on longevity and hence lower environmental impact in addition to being cheaper in the long run!

CB

In reply to kathrync:

Great, thanks again both!

In reply to cb294:

i'd assumed nearly all tents were nylon these days. What are top end 2 man tents made of - the hillebergs, terra nova, MSRs etc?

In reply to kathrync:

We have a 5m bell tent which is great fun for family camping with young children straight out of the boot of the car. Very simple to erect (takes me not much more than 5 mins on my own).

Maybe worth a look?

In reply to Max factor: I’d imagine all backpacking tents are going to be synthetic. Polycotton / technical cotton is heavy. Ever have to carry one of the original orange Vangos? They were a kind of polycotton iirc and they were heavy! My family tent is more than half as much weight again as its cheaper synthetic equivalent. 

 

In reply to kathrync:

I have an Outwell polycotton Trout Lake and second the advantages in rain, heat and cold - they do feel comfy. They are enourmously heavy and bulky but then so are some of the new inflateable palaces.

100% recyclable at end of life is a bonus. But at ten years old ours is faded but still going strong.

Outwell quality is OK but not outstanding and I think some of the other european trad makes would be better. Esvo etc but they can be bloody expensive (check out Holkamper for the ultimate for deep pocketed tent snobs)

In reply to Max factor:

Nylon, or some mix, given that weight is an issue. For a car camping tent, the advantages of cotton (again with some synthetic component in the fiber) still win out.

CB

In reply to kathrync:

Thus summer we got one of the inflatable decathlon tents for about £200. It has one big bedroom, big enough for your sister's family as they are now, and a roomy porch in which you could stand up, put up a table and seats and eat. You have to buy the pump that comes with it. We had it up within 10 minutes, first go, reading the instructions as we went.

I don't think it would be that great in high winds, but for summer camp-site camping with a car, it was fine. The ease of putting it up and of putting it back in its bag means that we no longer feel dissuaded from short 1-2 night trips on the grounds that we would either have to crawl into a pot hole or spend ages setting up and taking down a roomier tent.

At some point, however, they will likely want something with two bedrooms.

In reply to kathrync:

We have had an Outwell Montana 6 with extension porch, for many years. It’s not the cotton version, just standard nylon construction.

Pros- Huge, 6 ft 3 husband can stand up inside. 

Can use the bedroom as either one or two rooms.

Stands up to strong winds and rain 

Csn cook in porch extension when raining or if shade is needed

Well designed and sturdy

It has a carpet

Cons

Its heavy and bulky

Takes 30-40 mins to pitch 

I’m too short to pitch it on my own - I’d guess anyone under about 5ft 6 would struggle

 

 

 

In reply to kathrync:

I have this inflatable tent: https://www.millets.co.uk/tents-camping/163361-berghaus-air-8-tent.html

I think it's awesome, loads of room for family of four, I am over 6" and I can stand up in it.

Easy/fast to pitch.

In reply to kathrync:

Having watched many a family struggle with a partially deflated / slow punctured / perpetually being electric pumped inflatable tent, I would stay well clear.

I have been very impressed by the cheap Coleman Ridgeline 4+ that we own. We have had an issue with a pole but otherwise has stood up to lots of abuse for not much money! 

In reply to kathrync:

We are in the same boat with the same requirements as your sister - 2 kids age 2 and 4. We have a Vango Icarus 600 classic, 6-man tent, so bags of room and which is easy enough to pitch on my own. Came in a bundle deal with footprint and carpet, which makes quite a difference to warmth inside.

Fibreglass poles and my only niggle with the tent is that one of them has split after only 3 weekend's use - sadly specifically excluded from Vango's warranty program.

I would seriously look at the Coleman ones with the blackout inners - such as this one:

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/coleman-oak-canyon-6-tent-p434123

They were only just out and couldn't compete on sale price with the Vango at the time, but I've looked at them since at a camping exhibition and was impressed with them.

Otherwise, I've been fairly sceptical of the inflatable tents, but am coming round to the idea, given the problem with fibreglass poles. A friend of mine has one and absolutely raves about it and the guy in my local Millets reckons they keep spare tubes in stock for all the ones they sell and he's never had anyone ask for one. They are rather at a premium compared to conventional poles, though.

In reply to kathrync:

If you were a bit closer, my parents have a Robens Triple Dreamer 6-berth to sell.

Absolutely nothing wrong with it, but my Mum wanted something with more space in it, so they now have a Eurohike Buckingham Elite 8-berth one from Millets/Blacks, who seem to have some pretty good deals on at the moment. The Elite 6 might be just the thing for your sis and 60% off at the moment:

https://www.millets.co.uk/tents-camping/tents/6-person-tents/br:eurohike/

In reply to kathrync:

Thanks all for the recommendations!