To buy a tent box

[Turnedtochaos]

Even though they are probably overpriced and overhyped?

No chance of affording a holiday any time soon. Young kids and would love to do adventures quickly and cheaply.

Are they a fun adventure or something I’ll regret?

Also considering a caravan but I can only afford an ancient one. I also only want to stay places 1-2 nights so feel that’s maybe a bit much for the length of time?

These look great!

I preferred the thought of being up off the ground and also that the mattress etc was already in so no blowing up beds that just deflate. No more packing up wet ground sheets that sort of thing.

But nowhere to cook, relax, hard to get dressed🤷‍♀️

How do you expect the two dogs to use a tent box??
If you were prepared to spend £1/2k on the tent box, you could buy a good quality tent and accessories.
I got a 3 room tent last year in a sale for £150, takes about 15mins to put up and secure and loads of room.

You would still be packing up a wet tent though.

If you have a people carrier, get a mattress for inside. Then pitch up a normal tent for all the crap you need and to have somewhere to sit/cook etc but sleep in the car.

Tent boxes also affect fuel consumption and are heavy to put on the roof so not easy to just pop it on.

The dogs wont be in the tent box! They have a huge space in the back of the van they would be used to sleeping in.

In Cornwall last year I saw a tent box get blown off a car roof, no one in it and assume it wasn’t attached correctly. But it was blowing an absolute hooley for couple of days and I did think being high up in a tent like that in the wind must be awful. In Wales a couple obviously didn’t like the wind and they slept in their car. I don’t rate them if windy at all. Our Motorhome was rocking it was so windy.

Look at site prices, you take up a pitch so it’s the same cost for that as a caravan or Motorhome. We are on a pitch right now as away and it’s £30 per night on a fully serviced pitch

There was a honeymoon period couple in a tent box on one site next to us. Her bloody constant giggling was grating, I did then consider what it must have been like shagging on top of a car.

I did think a caravan would maybe be more comfortable and I can pick one up for not much more than a tent set up. It’s just the towing and storage of it.

Sometimes if I’m away competing I literally only need it to sleep (6pm until 8am the next day)
Caravan seems a lot for that length of time. A tent takes quite a bit of time to pitch too so I was hoping for a quicker easier option for those days.

I don’t really get the concept of a tent box. We’re campers. I’m not sure why you’d want to be up high, and up / down a ladder constantly. They’re really small and awkward. There are some plenty of tents you can fling up in 10 minutes. You don’t need a bungalow sized one which takes an hour to put up. Get a bell tent and be done and spend the extra on some good SIMs and a wood burner.

A trailer tent would be better I think.

OP you need to look into those inflatable tube tents. They go up very quickly!

Vango Airbeam is £400 at the moment at Argos. For five people (but more like four!)

I used to go away for one or two nights at a time with an inflatable tent. Easy peasy to get up.

A bit tricky to pack away but it was my
own fault as I've only recently discovered a hidden air release valve and was previously doing teddy bear rolls to get air out 🤣

You can buy self inflating mattresses now. You just put them there and they do the work for you. Comfortable, stay up, no work.

I’ve seen this! My concern is how robust they are? Do they burst?

They're designed to keep you safe from wild animals like lions and hyenas, aren't they?

Bit of an overkill in Devon.

Those tents have a design problem that you see in a lot of tents and only notice when you've bought one.

The doors slant back into the tent with no/minimal cover over them. Every time you open the door in wet weather the rain comes into the tent soaking the floor and any bedding. Even if it's not raining the dew on the outside of the tent drops in in the mornings. I've no idea why tents are designed like this but I got rid of
my first tent because it did this. I got fed up of constantly mopping up and drying things.

This tent's a good example of the problem www.argos.co.uk/product/9649369?utm_custom6=LIA&utm_source=google&utm_medium=free_listing&utm_campaign=merchant_center&deeplink=true
You get up in the morning and roll that door up - dew drips everywhere.
If you're in the tent in the day and it's raining you have to have the door closed which is a bit lot miserable. .
Any type of porch stops the rain coming in.

It also has zero porch area so your shoes, kit, wet stuff all have to be in that one space with you.

I’ve not got a tent box but I am finally a happy camper now I’ve figured out how to stay warm.

firstly ditch the blow up mattresses in favour of self inflating mats. Research the R value of them as this indicates how warm they are. You can also get camp beds to put them on but I’ve not bothered. The difference between a 10cm SIM and an air mattress in terms of warmth and comfort is huge.

secondly I either take a down sleeping bag or my down and feather duvet (vac pack it) and some fleece blankets and I’m snug as a bug. PJs, fluffy socks etc.

next you can consider going camping to places with electric hook up and then you can also have a heater if you need it (they make them with safety features in case they topple in the night).

and then buy a tent (I just got my new one second hand for £100) with a good hydrostatic head rating of 4000 or above and some good bracing inside and you will be safe from the wet weather.

I like to call what I do ‘car camping’ as having comfort items over it being the smallest set up is important to me and the kids.

lots of people sell while camping set ups including tents, carpets, camp kitchens etc when they upgrade to a caravan so you can get some real bargains.

Surely in that scenario you could just sleep in the back of the van?

They've been around for years now. I camp about 60 nights a year on campsites and have never seen or heard of one bursting. The do puncture though but you can buy replacement inner tubes.

Honestly, go and look at proper tents in the flesh. The quality of them has improved massively in the last 10 years. The stuff you can buy now is much more robust, better quality and easy to use and seems to get better every year.

We’ve got one 😬 on our hilux. We actually love it and use it for somewhat wild camping where there isn’t enough flat ground for our tent. The kids sleep in the (covered) bed of the hilux whilst we sleep up in it. We also use it when we have our tent set up as the kids are in there and it means we don’t disturb them going to bed later. We use an air mattress and it sets up and knocks down incredibly quickly. Love it and really glad we bought one.

Get on marketplace for camping equipment
get good camp bed off the ground with self inflating mat and bedding
blow up beds aren’t comfortable and you sweat

This! We toured Namibia with 2 of these on a Hilux a few years ago, being off the ground was very reassuring.
Except, my son got up to use the loo in the night & was convinced the eyes peering at him from the bushes belonged to a leopard so he locked himself in the toilet block for an hour & we couldn't hear him shouting for help.

I looked at these but can’t imagine getting out for a wee in the middle of the night would be easy, or safe, so I bought a van and converted it to a camper, and have a porta potty - which has absolutely changed my life.

That tent looks great but it has that 'leaning in' door problem.

I think I’d prefer one of those tents you attach to the back of your car so you can sleep in your boot. They look good and I’d feel more secure than sleeping on the top of a car. Someone reviewed them in a newspaper recently. I think Aldi have them.

Genuinely don’t get roof tents - are they supposed to protect you from being ravaged by hedgehogs? All of the downsides already mentioned - nowhere to put wet stuff, no porch to protect from elements etc plus having to pack up everything of you need to go to the supermarket because you’ve forgotten the milk. Even preparing breakfast etc - how do you boil the kettle - if it’s chucking it down presumably you have to stand in the rain by your car? They might possibly work for camping in Europe where the weather is better so you won’t be in the tent during the day, but not for the variable weather we get here.