Bell Tents/Touareg Tent - belltent.co.uk or karmacanvas.co.uk?

[Kingsroadie]

Okay so we now may buy a bell tent or touareg tent. Belltent.co.uk has both bell tents and the touareg tent. Thinking either of a 5m bell tent with ZIG or the toureg, which is 3m x 4.4m. Both have the option of an inner tent which we would want so our daughter can go to sleep first should we so wish. We do plan on expanding our family so:

does anyone have any thoughts on bell tent vs touareg Touareg. I think the Touareg only has a separate ground sheet - does that mean you can't attach it and all the bugs crawl in? If so - no thanks I think...

or either website? Karma canvas is cheaper Karma Canvas Bell Tent but something makes me want to go for BellTent.co.uk - sucker for pretty pics?!

Also would I ever use a stove?!

[Kingsroadie]

Oh balls - Touareg now has an attached groundsheet version too....

[mel2005]

soulpad were cheaper than belltent.co.uk when i bought my bell tent, i dont have the zipped in one and the soupad groundsheets have peg holes that match the mudflap peg holes so the mudflap folds under ISWIM anyway we did get a few earwigs in and it was up a week. they have excellent customer services. i was put off belltent.co.uk by the shocking reviews of their customer services.
its lovely inside the belltent and so easy to put up on your own, we will be getting a stove next year, i cant wait...

[Kingsroadie]

Thanks Mel - have been looking at Soulpad and they seem similar prices, with soulpad coming in a little bit cheaper (we are looking at a ZIG version for best of both worlds!). Will I need to weatherproof it before using it for the first time? Am getting too carried away with all the camping bits and bobs I can buy!

[NettleTea]

soulpad are also much nicer people....

[Kingsroadie]

Really? Soulpad sound like the way to go then... Although the only thing that attracts me to belltent is the Emperor tent! Is that ridiculously enormous? The campsite we are going to has a 4 x 6.5m restriction (on footprint - pitch is 9m wide) and Emperor tent is 4 x 6m. But having said that, isn't that nearly, if not the same as a 5m bell tent? And the 5m bell tent is at least £250/300 cheaper.

Thanks everyone - I know bell tents have been done to death and I am also reading back through other threads...

[ReshapeWhileDamp]

Just throwing something else into the mix ... but a few of us seem to have managed to purchase bell tents or tarps from Obelink in the Netherlands, which supplies the same bell tents (and Emperors, but not sure about the Touraeg) as Bell Tent Co (and they look pretty similar to Soulpad ones). But at considerably less. They don't ship to the UK because of a shoddy protectionist agreement contract with Bell Tent Co that they won't, as they undercut them considerably. BUT a few seem to have come through the firewall recently. Worth trying (you have to fill out the form in Dutch but Google Translate works well) - you never know!

Otherwise, since the tents are well nigh identical as far as I can tell, Soulpad wins hands down in terms of speedy, helpful service. Also a tenner less than Bell Tent Co. Also free shipping.

[fivegomadindorset]

Well I have just bought a bell tent from here, got an imperfect on for £150, waiting for it to go horribly wrong but fingers crossed.

[fivegomadindorset]

Although Mel, who frequents camping threads put me on to it and apparently it is just aesthetics.

[Kingsroadie]

Thanks Reshape! Have been looking at Oberlink and have seen on here that some have managed to get tents delivered here and some not. Have realised the advantage of the Emperor is the increased head height all round due to the two poles. Was lusting looking at those on Oberlink! They also have a Touareg one. The problem is that neither Oberlink nor Bell Tent have inner tents for the Emperor which we would def want for our toddler (and any future kids) to sleep in. I wanted to get two inner tents (1/4 size) to create 2 bedrooms. I think BellTent may well bring them out as the Touareg didn't have them last year I believe but now they have brought them out. I might email them and ask if they plan to. We could then deal with it this year assuming they plan on bringing some out for next year!

Five - that link brings up a technology website for me...weird!

[mel2005]

yes the bargain one is great and if i didnt have a bell already i would get one (i have actually been very tempted to get one anyway even though i dont need another ) but its not a zip in one an i think kingsroadie is worried about bugs. five i am sure you have 7 days to send something back if its not been used and bought online for a full refund if its not what you want, they were really nice on the phone when i spoke to them. its also a thicker canvas so will last longer, oh and it has a lovely wooden pole, but you must not store it leaning against the wall as it will bend (happened to my really long sun parasol ).
actually for the money you would save could you add your own ZIG??

KINGSROADIE you dont need to weatherproof it, you need to put it up and let it wet and dry twice and its sorted, we slept in it when it was doing the wet and dry bit and it didnt leak and we had alot of rain, i was amazed how good it was in the wind as well..
the emperor tent is lovely but i did worry about it being to big for sites, especially small ones, the 5m is perfect for 6 of us.

[Kingsroadie]

Thanks Mel - yes I would quite like a ZIG for bugs/extra protection in the rain/no way a baby can climb out/ability to remove to roll up the sides (if we ever get nice weather)!

So you have 6 in a 5m bell tent? Does it feel large enough? Does it have enough usable space with sloping ceilings? One of my thoughts re Emperor is that it has less of a slope to the sides due to the two poles... The campsite we have booked for first week of Sept has a max tent size of 6.5x4, which on my other threads I have asked if standard and most people have said it's quite a small specification. I spoke to the girl yesterday and she said the pitches are actually 9m wide and they specify that size so people have enough room on pitch and can park their car etc (although she did say that if we needed extra room on the pitch we could park our car out the front). She also said they have several 5m bell tents at the moment. The Emperor is 4x6m so within the size limit and therefore can't be much different in footprint to the 5m bell I think - slightly longer and narrower!

[Kingsroadie]

OOh - also we live in SW London so "garden" (read patio) isn't big enough to erect a bell tent - might just be but we have built in seating so that takes up some of the floor space as it were... So what then - if we can't put it up and soak it and dry it? I understand that the fibres need to swell and seal any little gaps... Thank you!

[mel2005]

ours was ok in the rain the first time we used it (and it rained alot that first night) i would have been happy to camp on a site for that first wet night, you just cant touch the sides (but my kids did just because i said not to and it didnt leak)
ours is the 5m soulpad, its certainly big enough for us and we bought the tentwing canopy so we can sit out the front even if its raining or really sunny (wishful thinking)
there are some fab photos on here
www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=3&TopicID=253387&PagePosition=1&ThreadPage=1&ReturnPage=Search&search=&searchIn=
of both the 5m bell and emperor with a bell on side
i called the local campsites about the size of the 5m before i bought it and they said some of the poly family tents are 8m wide so the 5m is fine.

[fivegomadindorset]

Yipeeeee!!!! My bell tent has arrived.

[SeaShellsMyDogSmells]

I hope it is ok 5gomad!

[SeaShellsMyDogSmells]

Mel-thanks so much for that link! Those tents are amazing, and what an amazing site :) are they yours?

[Kingsroadie]

YIPEEEE! Jealous...

Argh - am now back on the Emperor, in spite of the fact is has no inner tents available (yet - I think they might bring some out next season as they did with all the other tents). I think I could handily fashion some curtain type things on sewing machine - maybe to create sleeping areas? Those of you with bell tents - do you think it would be possible to sew loops onto the bell tent (like the ones inner tents attach to) so create my own inner tent/curtain drapey thing? The thing that attracts me is more space and more usable head height...

Do you think 2 poles with a bar between would be v tricky for one person to erect on their own? (Not that I envisage going camping solo often/ever!)

Any pearls of wisdom?!

[SalomeD]

I put up our 5m bell tent on my own and the canvas is pretty heavy - I think a post on UKCampsite to the lady (Zenobia) who has the amazing Emperor/5m Bell setup would be your best bet.

[Kingsroadie]

Ah thanks Salome. I might try and register on there. I was just discussing with my husband and I am just not going to go camping on my own anyway so am pretty sure I would never need to set it up alone!

[blowninonabreeze]

We have a 5m bell for our family of 4. At first I thought I wanted a bedroom for our daughters (5 and 3) and planned to get either a quarter inner from soulpad, or one of the half inners from belltent, (this years model divides into 2separate bedroom pods)
But once it'd arrived I realised I wanted to sleep in the main tent, so for now we use a 2 man pop up tent that we get out at bedtime for the girls and put up within the main living area to use as a bedroom pod.
I envisage that as they get older and are going to bed later (and under less duress! ) we'll all just sleep in the main tent together. But it suits us for now

[Kingsroadie]

Thanks Blowin!

I actually ordered the Emperor last night which I am rather excited about (am just really hoping that belltent doesn't let itself down and does actually deliver within 5 working days as it says it will, the girl I spoke to said it's usually 2-3, as I know there have been some bad reviews of them). And interestingly re the pop up tent - I was thinking of getting one for the baby to sleep in! The only thing is that I rather wanted her to sleep in her travel cot to contain her and for familiarity but the pop up tents seem to be very low so it wouldn't fit. I can explain to her and give it a go but am not sure she would take to it (she isn't an advanced talker - has lots of words but can't form sentences yet and explain how she is feeling etc). But good to know you do the same and I may well try it as they are pretty cheap to buy.

[DrMuddle]

This is my review regarding my experience purchasing a 4M Zig Fireproof PRO Bell Tent from Karma Canvas Ltd.

I’d shopped around and found this tent ‘ticked’ all the boxes, in particular the stove outlet with flap (an additional cost which I paid). Strangely enough, I came across this company after reading a negative review (mould issues, but I assumed the person writing the review may have packed the tent whilst wet).

Anyway, I made the phone call to ask questions surrounding the flu outlet & availability. I was informed It could take up-to two weeks (the flap is retro fitted by an independent company, and given the Covid 19 situation, may take longer however, the director informed me that this company was due to re-open). This was fine by me.

The first ‘Red Flag’, was a lack of response to my e-mails and a promise of a callback never materialised - I did the chasing.

I decided the tent was the most appropriate for my needs and placed the order online. The 2nd “Red Flag’, was no confirmation of the order?, time passed and I contacted Karma Canvas via e-mail and was informed the transaction was canceled? I checked my bank, and the money had indeed been transferred to Karma Canvas?

I was told (via e-mail) to expect a phone call, this never happened?

A few days passed, and I received an e-mail basically giving me the following info/option: the flu outlet cannot be fitted (this option to be refunded), neither can it be fitted in the foreseeable future, and that this option would be removed from their website, which it wasn’t. Also, can they proceed and arrange delivery with DPD?

The solution should have been, unfortunately we cannot provide you with what you ordered, we can arrange a FULL refund or come to an amicable solution.

I did ask, hoping that as a ‘gesture of goodwill’, could they (free of charge) supply me with the flu outlet (which most likely costs the company approximately £15.00 to buy in), I then could have fitted this and proceeded to order a stove from the same company. but they didn’t, they simply posted out the tent.

I have asked why the tent is missing its tag showing that it conforms to the relevant fire retardant standards? they advertise the product as being ‘Fireproof’? this I await, if no response or certificate is sent then I WILL contact the relevant authorities for them to investigate.

Under section 75 of the UK consumer law my protection rights would cover a full refund should the item I purchased not be as described. I advice use your credit card (purchases over £100) if purchasing from this company.

The product I received appears to be fine, a few small issues that would be covered under the 12 month warranty, time will tell.

I’m not fond on leaving negative feedback, but the customer service from this company is appalling. It shouldn’t need be, why the director couldn’t have just sent me the flu outlet is beyond me? I could have canceled the whole process but I didn’t. I’m left with a product of which I did not seek out to initially purchase however, upon receiving the tent, my 4 year old daughter loves it, or at least the experience!

Such a shame karma Canvas, and remember… I need evidence the tent is fireproof Andrea.

Kind Regards…