Help me choose a tent please! Coleman or Gelert...

[3MonthMaid]

For the past few years I have been camping with a £50 Argos 6 man tent. Its one with bedrooms at either end and a central area. It's really good for the money, but it only has a tiny separate groundsheet and its not standing height. I also know for sure that it leaks

So I have decided to get a new tent. The two options I have are a Coleman Mackenzie 4 or a Gelert Horizon 6. I know they are really different but I'm struggling to decide.

Basically it is just DD (6) and I who go from here but we usually go with friends so there would generally be 4 of us in tent. It needs to pack up relatively small and not be too complicated to erect as we are novices!

I want to be able to actually camp in poor weather so a decent size living area is a must and I do like the idea of opening the living area out in good weather to get an open living area (the kids insist on playing in the tent regardless of the soaring heat!).

I am definitely between these two tents as I can get them locally at a good price.

Does anyone have any preference about the "bedrooms at the back" vs "bedrooms at either end"?

I like the theory of the coleman but I'm worries that it'll be hard to put up as I'm used to the fibreglass pole type ones

[dufflefluffle]

I have a Gelert Ottawa4 (V like a Horizon but only one bed compartment) It's very easy to put up (but does need two people although I'm pretty sure the second person could be a 6 yr old - it's not heavy duty work). The one (dividable but we don't) bedroom is at the back and it works for us. We've done a fair bit of camping in it but mostly in good weather - we have an additional porch whcih increases the living area but is heavy enough - we don't always bother with it. We are a family of 4.

[SparkyUK]

Just watched a video on the Coleman and it does look really well thought out. The poles are steel I take it, but surely the pitch method is the same? Hopefully someone here has more insight than I do...

I prefer bedrooms at the same end so I can keep an ear open for my boys. We had one disaster where they vomited at night all week (and were miraculously fine during the day) so, while it is not fun being vomited on, it is better catching it sooner I find. I also worry that they wouldn't be able to work the zips if they had to get up in the middle of the night / but also that they will be able to work the zips if they decide to get up in the middle of the night. And if that isn't the definition of motherhood worry, then I don't know what is :D

[3MonthMaid]

I did think the same thing- I think I would rather have my DD close to me... I am mostly concerned that it won't be big enough for us. I can kind of imagine that 4 air beds would take up the whole sleeping pod which would mean a lot of the other stuff would be in the living area if it rained.

I really can't decide!

[SparkyUK]

ahh, good point. You would probably have some room at the foot -- I think our sims are about 180, not sure if air beds are a lot longer or not. But you might not be able to fit two in a sleeping pod. Do you have the dimensions of your air beds? I think with our SIMs you would be okay, but air beds tent to be bigger, don't they?

[3MonthMaid]

I think the air beds are about 75cm each so I'm thinking they won't fit which kind of rules it out. I'm planning to change them for sims eventually, but not till they die... Shame

[dufflefluffle]

we have two doubles in our 4 person tent. There is about 1 foot (mnaybe a bit more) all along the top (or foot) otherwise things stay in the main area. This is not a problem when we have the porch - otherwise I'd be using the car boot for storage.

[3MonthMaid]

I am planning to go for the Coleman. I think it's a better quality tent ANSI do plan to upgrade to SIMs at some point which would mean no problem fitting into the inners. We never go for more than 3 nights so we don't have THAT much stuff as a rule.

I'm concerned about the poles splitting on the gelert

[gleegeek]

We love love love our coleman. The quality is amazing! It's now nearly 10 years old and still like new (apart from faded!) There are various canopies/extensiions which should fit the macKenzie, so you could spread out a bit if necessary...

[bico]

I watched a demonstration of the pitching of a Coleman Mackenzie at a camping show a couple of years ago. It was done by Coleman people. I thought it looked quite hard to do (was watching as interested in that tent but needs something that I could either pitch alone or with ds - then 6). I thought it was a lovely tent but definitely couldn't have pitched it in my own. From watching the demo it was clear you'd need two adults.

[3MonthMaid]

I've completely gone against everything I said and bought a gelert Saturn 8. Really hoping I haven't made a mistake

[stripeycat13]

I know this is an old thread but how did you find the Saturn 8 tent? I wondered about getting one?