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Original poster

Camping people, need your help/advice please!

13 replies

MasterOfCaffeine · 10/12/2020 12:52

Myself and dh have been talking about wanting to get into camping for a while now. He's done a good bit of it in his younger days (mostly with larger groups so he never bought any equipment himself), and I've been camping a few times and am fairly outdoorsy so love the idea of getting into it properly.

Anyhow, I want to buy him a tent for Christmas, mainly because he is notoriously difficult to buy for so I don't have any other useful ideas Blush Haven't a clue where to start though. We need a 6-8 man one to fit us with the kids, and I don't want to buy the cheapest of the cheap for obvious reasons. Need a nice, durable, entry level tent. But have no idea where to start.

Help!

OP posts:
pinkbalconyrailing · 10/12/2020 12:54

the decathlon air beam tents are good value for money.

pinkbalconyrailing · 10/12/2020 12:55

generally decathlon have decent entry level equipment

CMOTDibbler · 10/12/2020 12:58

Honestly, I wouldn't buy a tent for christmas, as you really do need to look round them together to think out the pros and cons of each. I'd get him a nice camping chair and bits and pieces for a camp kitchen, and a bit of an IOU to go and choose a tent

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Camping
madcatladyforever · 10/12/2020 13:01

I've been camping every holiday for years and would definitely recommend a tent that is quick to put up like a kyham. They slot together quickly outside bit first so you are not farting about in the rain getting soaked, they take minutes rather than an hour messing around with poles.
Quick pitch tents are an absolute must have. Kyham is my favourite but there are cheaper ones on the market.

michealsmum1998 · 10/12/2020 13:14

I would agree with CMOTDibble you need to have a discussion about what your needs are. The IOU is a great idea

sandieshaw · 10/12/2020 13:24

I'd also second (third?) decathlon, or Go Outdoors. Buy a bigger tent than the number of people in it (which it sounds like you're doing anyway). So, at least a 5-berth tent for 4 people, for example.

Air beam tents are great but heavy and take up a lot of space so think about your transport arrangements and whether you need a traditional tent with fibre glass poles as they pack up smaller.

A tent with a canopy at the front (open to the air) will give space to keep muddy boots but also you can cook under the shelter if it's raining (never bring the stove inside the tent or in an enclosed porch).

AngelsWithSilverWings · 10/12/2020 13:45

We've camped for 12years as a family of four and are now at the stage where we have decided that the best thing is to have a large tent for main two week holiday stays but a smaller tent is perfectly fine for weekend trips.

For years we had a Khyam Ontario 8 which was a perfect entry level spacious tent. You can still get them on eBay very cheaply but they have been discontinued by khyam. It went up in 30mins and lasted well but we decided to upgrade to a huge and very expensive kampa studland air 8

As previous poster mentioned , air tents are very heavy and don't pack down very small but they are fantastically easy to put up and are very robust in stormy weather.

Our weekend tent , a Taurus 5 quest air tent is brilliant and is my favourite tent because it's just so easy.For a smallish tent it's actually quite spacious even for four of us.

RugsEverywhere · 10/12/2020 14:02

Outwell is a good brand. Agree canopy at front really useful. Canvas is better quality but heavy. Lots of factors to consider, space in car boot, ease of up and down, pitch size (some sites won't take massive tents), headroom if anyone's tall, number and position of bedrooms, blackout bedrooms?....

If you live near a go outdoors they're good for browsing. I'd be tempted to go with an IOU for the tent and get a Camp Kitchen with a cooker or maybe an icey tek coolbox

Excited101 · 10/12/2020 14:16

Another recommendation for air beam, they’re brilliant!

DonnaScozzese · 10/12/2020 17:01

Ditto others. Please choose a tent together. Maybe get a camping stove or something to open on Christmas Day? Another vote for decathlon, think it's good value for money. We've got an outwell airbeam which is great.

Original poster
MasterOfCaffeine · 10/12/2020 19:34

Hmmm, maybe I should just do away with the surprise and ask him outright then Hmm We have talked about it, and were looking at air tents with 2 rooms so I have an idea of the type of one that we would both like. Problem is we are as clueless as each other.

OP posts:
movinggoalposts · 11/12/2020 02:20

Pick it together so it’s not all on your head if it’s a bastard to put up 😂

grassisjeweled · 11/12/2020 02:27

We have an enormous North Face one with two rooms inside. It's massive, 6'2 DH can stand up in it. I think it's a 6 person one. We're 2 adults, 2 small kids.

Definitely makes sense having 2 rooms - we keep shoes etc, in the smaller room, also can be used to store stuff in too, camping chair etc.

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