Ok, camping alone with myself and 2 children, I need a tent-

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

Need to be 280 cm across so we can fit both airbeds in side by side b. easy to put up in the pissing rain with a baby and a toddler screaming, c. have a hydrostatic head of at least 3000mm and d. Not look like puked up nylon stockings, which is what our Campus Harvard resembles.

Am considering the Outwell Indiana but-can you remove the divider between the bedrooms fully, so you can get the two airbeds flush? And is it easy to put up?

Any other pointers also great.

Its actually for festival use and camping with friends-we don't plan to camp alone much-so I don't actually need huge amounts of space inside the tent, apart from the bedroom which must be at least 280x190.

Thank you wise campers

[Blandmum]

Don't know if you can remove the devider, the websites don't make it clear.

It is easy to put up, we have an earlier version that sleeps 8 and dh can put it up on his own.

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

sounding good...do you recond someone quite short could put it up alone?

[Blandmum]

I am 5 foot 5 and at a push I think I could do it as long as dd (9) was co=operative!

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

ah, looks really good there, sally. thing is, we're a. camping in north wales/pembrokeshire and b. doing festivals so can probably100% guarentee pissy weather. do you think it would be enough?

i sat in my 3000mm campus this morning and watched the rain starting to drip through, i think i need something hardcore!

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

mb-do you need your daughter to help put it up there? does she need to do much?

[LucyCampCat]

I went to our local camping megastore today and was having a look at the Indiana 8, the bedroom divider does unzip fully, at least you would be able to put the airbeds together, there is a tiny lip where the zip is but it's more a fold in the fabric than a lip IYKWIM

If you took the 2nd bedroom out then you would have masses of room in the tent and it comes with a zip off front canopy (and Outwell doormat) whaich makes even more space!
Maybe it would be too big for you?

[Blandmum]

She would need to hold one end while I pit the 'pin' in the bottom of the tent pole. Dh can do it on his own, but I find that I need dd to hold one end while I fiddle with the other IYSWIM.

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

yup, thats where we were, forest of dean, our tent is still merrily dripping away on the line in the bright Cardiff sunshine....

the outwell is way more expensive-it will be used, and camping is all our holidays this summer, but do you reckon its worth the expense? does it feel well made?

[Blandmum]

We have an outwell and it is excellent. They had a slight problem with the poles of the Montana (which they have now sorted out), but other than that I have never read anything bad about them.

[LucyCampCat]

Don't know where you're based filly but there is an Outwell Colorado 8 for sale on \link{http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8814835344&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT\ebay here}

Might be worth a look, courier would be approx £10.

[LucyCampCat]

durr, you're in Cardiff, just read it!

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

christchuch. nice site, really. croissants in the morning are no bad thing! And kids play area was good.

Thanks for link, lucycat, is that similar to the indiana?

oh also, how big is the tent when folded up? We have a pretty small car and were sitting on sleeping bags on the way back as it was.

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

thanks for the tip, sally. have you tried Cwmcarn/forest drive, by any chance?

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

I shall do so.

this is our first time with family camping (we did wilderness camping pre-kids. October on Skye, that sort of thing) so all this shop and cafe and tent porch business makes me feel quite grown up and suburban...

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

and there's nowt wrong with being grown up and suburban, of course!

[LucyCampCat]

The Colorado is last year's version of the Indiana (and the tent we have) I seem to remember that it's only 3000mm hh, but it's done us fine.

Bagged up - and I'm looking at ours sitting in the corner now - it's 70x35cm, not sure how that compares with others. It doesn't have a sig, but we like a bit of grass with our camping. The Indiana has that 'fold up groundsheet, round the edges' thing going on, so it counts as a sig - just depends what you like really!

[FillyjonktheSnibbet]

ah yes, skye, twas easy

one night, we decided to pitch in the middle of this huge, what we thought to be ancient forest, (you can camp anywhere in scotland, so this makes sense). We went to sleep to the twitter of woodland birds, fully expecting to wake to sunlight streaming through the glades...

we were woken at 6 by the sound of a tree falling (its quite an unmistakable sound). Then another. Than another. We went outside to find ourselves surrounded by loggers...

[LucyCampCat]

all singing the lumberjack song?

I'm sure there's a rude joke in there somewhere!!