Shall I buy a new tent that I don't really need?

[Blu]

I am so hankering after this tent.
Hypercamp Eldorado

cons;
It will come in a massive bag, won't it? The car is stuffed as it is.
No garage - if it comes home wet it will have to be draped in a room we use.
I bought a new tent two years ago. It I practical and adequate for our needs. I bought the awning / porch to go with it, as well.
It doesn't even have much living space.

pros
I really hanker after a canvas tent, and this would suit me much better than a bell tent. Stooping to go through a bell tent door all the time is not for me. Nor his having no living area. I love this tent.
It would be good if ever I do go camping in Southern Europe. (never have yet) . The coolness of the cotton, etc.
I could get a good tarp and set it up like those organised and stylish Dutch campers.
It seems very good value (less so as I don't actually need this tent, granted).
No one would go without food if I buy it, but my savings are supposed to be for my old age.

Does anyone know exactly how big the bag is?

I keep looking at it on the website.

[gingeroots]

Can't help I'm afraid ,but joining you in your hankering .

I think you should buy it .How many people would you want it to sleep ?

[PotteringAlong]

Buy it

[Blu]

It would sleep me plus either DP or DS, or just me! DS likes his own tent, usually with a friend, DP only comes on some trips.

[gingeroots]

I think you'll regret it if you don't buy it .

[Blu]

I know!

I now discover (from reading another forum) that if you pack up a canvas tent wet you have to re-pitch it to dry because otherwise uneven shrinkage can occur. It would have to be a dry weather tent, or at least know it was dry on pack up day.

And for how many more years will we be able to just nip over the channel ?

It fulfills my fantasy though.... I would love it.

[profpoopsnagle]

Con 1: Well, clothes are rather overrated. There's always naturist sites.
Con 2: Pah rain! It's not allowed to rain on a strike day with a canvas tent. Or think of it that you get to smell and feel your beautiful tent for a few days longer after each trip.
Con 3: That's so last, last season.
Con 4:Tents help us to live outdoors, where it's sunny and lovely all of the time.

Pro 1: It's canvas and lovely.
Pro 2: Buying this tent means you have to book that trip, no more excuses. Also see Con 4.
Pro 3: Possibly. Very stylish though (and you'd might hanker after a canvas tarp to match). To pull it off properly, you'd need to wander around your pitch saying 'lekker' and eat those sprinkly things on bread and butter for breakfast.
Pro 4: You spend your old age in this tent, tramping round half of Europe, or beyond. Who wants a retirement village anyway.

[Blu]

Right.
Nudist campsite, muttering 'Lekker ' and eating sprinkly things.

I knew you would have the answer, Prof.

I am already hankering after a canvas tarp! I have a cheap nylon flappy tarp.

It does seem a good price, doesn't it?

If I get this, will I then want a de Waard?

I have just been looking at directions to the Hypercamp shop, but it is quite a trek.

[AlpacaLypse]

I was actually very pleased when DP got absolutely rat-arsed at a festival a couple of weeks ago and fell on our tent, doing terminal damage to two of the flexi poles and ripping a couple of holes along some seams. I poo poo-ed all his suggestions about buying new poles, sewing the seams back up and resealing them etc etc. Luckily it didn't rain on the last night and DP has accepted that we're getting a lovely new tent for next festival and motor-racing season. A Vango Airbeam...

Seriously, if you're going to get a canvas tent you need to think long and hard about drying it afterwards.

[profpoopsnagle]

IMO the drying afterwards isn't 'that' bad with a canvas tent. All tents need to be dry when you pack them away for a long time, and the material isn't the problem as so much as the size and what kind of groundsheet it has. I think SIG are the hardest, as they are often the wettest part and mean you can't rotate the tent as easily to get the bits in the sun.

Our tent we had before was a large 6 man canvas. Once we had to dry indoors, luckily we have a loft room so hung it over the banisters there, swivelling around once a day or so. We took down all the internal rooms/dividers anyway as it made packing in the bag easier, and this means you can dry separately. It also had a zipped groundsheet, so we were able to get that off and sling that over the line.

We didn't peg it out afterwards and didn't notice any noticeable shrinking/warpness.

I'd find it hard not to have a canvas tent in my collection now.

[Muddlingthroughtoo]

Surely the answer to any question of this kind is buy it? YABU!

[ThomasRichard]

You've obviously been spending too much time on FB groups full of people who've had to upsize their car and get a trailer and roofbox to transport all their camping gear. If you can afford it then buy it.

[Blu]

I could take the back seats out of my car....

Interesting about your drying experiences, Prof. I do have banisters. And this is quite a modest sized tent, really.

[TheFallenMadonna]

We have only ever had canvas for our large tents, it always rains when we take it down , and we pitch in the garden to dry it when we get back. Can't imagine camping without that glorious smell (DS has missed it since moving into his little pup tent), but we have a trailer and a garden and I think it would be hard to manage without them.

[jellyshoeswithdiamonds]

Cons... no ZIG (essential for me) I'd need a heavy duty groundsheet to go under the bedroom pod as well to stop mozzies and other critters getting in (mouse nibbled one footprint in France, last year I discovered a frog under my ZIG, wasn't even that wet)

Lovely tent though.

[welshgirlwannabe]

I have this tent! I love it so much, it made me love camping again :-)

The bag is not that big, really. Until ds2 came along with his massive off road buggy we easily fit tent and all the camping gear for a family of 3 in a focus. Now we have a roof box but the tent is not a problem space wise. It's a lot easier if you split it in two when packing away - keep the inner tent separate as otherwise very heavy!

It's never been a massive problem to dry and we live in North Wales and do most of our camping locally, so we have had to pack it down wet on occasion! Just drape it over the washing line or stairway or whatever. It really doesn't take ages to dry.

You should buy it, it's so cosy and comfy and gets loads of people commenting on how nice it looks when up

[welshgirlwannabe]

I didn't know that about uneven shrinkage ane re pitching etc. Oops! Can't days it's done any harm. We've had it about 5 years now and it looks fine to me. It's never leaked a drop, no condensation, is solid in a Welsh gale, cool in the heat, and very straightforward to pitch. The only thing is it had about a million pegs and guys so dry stony ground can be difficult. Luckily our campsites are rarely dry enough to be problematic ;-)

[Blu]

Oooh, Welshgirl, an actual Eldorado owner!

I'm not fussed about the groundsheet as the inner does have a SIG.

In the front part do the tent wall and groundsheet overlap? Does one fold under the other as in a bell tent with a seperate gs?

Temptation overwhelming now.

[hz]

I'm experiencing the same pangs but for the Alaska. We are going to get rid of our camper van so this would actually be a budget option in comparison - - right? How long will this price stay for I wonder? Are the pegs really a pain? My dearest hate is spending ages setting up - hence the camper van 'til now!

[Blu]

A really economical budget option, hz

The Alaska is fab. For another £80 you could get the Palamos 6!

OK, I have now done some mental gymnastics. There is a little holiday that I usually go on in the Whit Half Term in a cheap cottage. Won't be going next year due to GCSEs so I can spend the money on this tent!

[FormerlyCatherineDeB]

We had one of these for weekends Blu a few years ago and used to use a tarp outside.

I have always had canvas tents and when I lived in London used to drape it all over my furniture, never had any shrinkage that I noticed.

I can't remember about the bag size (always had a massive car). SIG was in the bedroom pod only on ours. We did camp with three plus the dog in there. I can't remember what bedroom set up we had at the time but DD would have been 2 or 3 when we bought it and 5 or 6 when we sold it, plus labrador .

I think that tarp is a hypercamp one (they were good value from memory).

[Blu]

ooh, thank you CatherinedeB. And look at your lab, there, stretched out.

I hope you didn't sell him along with the tent!

[ICJump]

We use a tarp under our tent. This means the tent groundsheet ( sewn in) is pretty much dry unless it's been hideously wet.
Having a tarp under the tent also provides some extra warmth inside.
But I have poly tent so it dries pretty quick. Only had to re put it up after we spent a week in a gale.

[FormerlyCatherineDeB]

Still have the dog Blu must have been hot! That was our weekend canoeing site at the coast at the time (only 40 mins from home), I remember being slightly worried about the state of their horse fencing but we all survived.

[Blu]

Canoes, bike, dog, canvas tent...yes, big car needed!

I would generally put a tarp or footprint under the tent anyway - it's likely that the footprint for my current poly tent would fit under the Eldorado.

[profpoopsnagle]

Haven't you bought it yet?