To not lend tent when it’s our only means of holiday?

[Picklepepp]

So we love going camping, we have quite a good set up with a big 8 man tent. As I am currently not working due to looking after DS who is almost 2, also not being an overly high income anyways, camping is quite often our only means of holiday with our 3 children (DD5, and DSS11).

Our family friends asked to borrow our tent and camping gear for a week camping last year, which we did agree to. They said they had no issues and that they cleaned it for us so didn’t think that we needed to get it out to check it before putting it away for winter, only to get it out at the start of this year to find it covered in mould where it had been put away wet, did my best to clean it all off for us to use this summer. Now they’ve asked to borrow it again and I basically replied saying that I’m a little bit conscious of the wear and tear of the tent being used if lending it out, but they are more then welcome to borrow anything else from our camping stuff. Now she’s not replied which I’m thinking is because she’s a bit miffed off.
They do work hard and so rightly so, go on many holidays a year. Their financial situation is better then ours so obviously this tent is our only means of holiday a lot of the time, so just feel a bit hesitant to lend it out when we can’t afford to replace it, and even if it didn’t get broke, I’m conscious of poles being weakened etc so when we used it then it’d be more prone to breaking.

am I being unreasonable?

Even if it comes back with no damage, every time the tent gets put up it sustains damage from UV rays, shortening the life of the tent, and bring forward the time when it needs msintenance., the weaker the fabric the more likely It is to tear, also the elastic in the poles if it's that sort. It brings forward the time when it needs reproofing, and fabsil.isnt cheap, you need.brushes/sprayers to it takes time for you to do this, keep it dry til it can be put away.
I'm not saying that I personally would never lend a tent, I would to a trusted friend who perhaps wanted to try out camping before investing in their own kit, but I would never lend one to someone I suspected would.not treat it respectfully or on a regular basis.
Nowadays you can hire tents, or go to a site where they have say bell tents with all the stuff you need. I've seen on campsites that I've been on, that there are companies that will come to the site, put a tent and everything up, and then take it down at the end of the stay (for a few obviously)
Now is a good time to buy second hand stuff, people upgrade, or decide that once is enough. My last.2 quality tents were bought round this time of year, much much cheaper than buying from new,and the friends need to look at this idea, or when the discount supermarkets sell tents.

I don't lend expensive things to anyone, even to my very best friends. Why? Because If it's damaged or not returned in the exact condition I would prefer to avoid a fallout and I do not want to buy something expensive twice. So no, we don't lend things out.

Someone I know asked to borrow something that they knew we wouldn't be using, and I said no. I didn't even feel bad. I always think if it's damaged, very few people will reimburse you. So lesson learnt for you, if you aren't expecting it back then lend it, if not say NO.

We used to do a lot of camping, but kids grown now.
perhaps as the season is ending for the uk you could suggest she might pick up a bargain now, to get their own, before next year. I would be reluctant to have lent out one of our big family tents, they are expensive and need to be treated with care.

No, I don't lend things I can't afford to replace. In our case if they're borrowing the whole shebang that's like £1000 of kit. No chance!