Tents - how much should I pay?

[sharpey178]

Going camping in a couple of weeks and I need a tent. we've never been before and to be honest it won't be regular thing so want to get one as cheap as possible. But at the same time don't want to get blown away or wet. Saw one in Tesco for £10 and I'm skeptical to say the least. How much should I look for to get a decent one? We need a tent to fit three people..

[GingerWrath]

This maybe?

[Jumbs]

I'm not sure I'd want to risk a £10 tesco tent to be honest. Tents are very much "you get what you pay for" so you need to weigh up how much you will use it vs. how much you can afford. Personally, I think you need to spend at leat £150 to get a decent 4 man tent to accomodate 3 people (with a hydrostatic head of at least 2000mm - this is how waterproof it is).
Our friends bought a £99 Halfords deal which included tent and sleeping bags. I was sceptical about what the tent would be like. But, we spent a showery weekend on Exmoor with them a couple of weeks back and the tent seemed to cope ok (despite having a poor hydrostatic head!). Not sure I'd want to spend longer than a couple of nights in it tho. The sleeping bags where rubbish tho, not warm enough, but they already had better ones of these.

[Zippylovesgeorge]

Lots of good sales on this time of year. Avoid the £10 tent though - likely to be single skin and when its damp in the mornings you'll feel damp too.

Definately need a decent sleeping bag - ideally a 3 season one.

[needanewname]

I would really not recommend a cheap crappy tent, you will never want to go camping again.

Do you know anyone who can lend you a tent?