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Camping

Our UK Camping forum has all the information you need on finding the right equipment for your tent or caravan.

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Original poster

Can a tent be too big?

17 replies

LaughingGiraffe · 30/04/2011 17:51

Hi,
I have been lurking here for months and have plucked up courage to post!

We are complete novice campers, but borrowed a tent last weekend and had a great time. So we planning to buy a tent. We have our eye on a 10 man tent in Go Outdoors, it is on special offer and looks to be a bargain.

I am worried however that some sites won't take us, or will charge extra as the tent is big. Does anyone have any words of wisdom or advice? There are 6 of us, we have four DSs. The extra space would be handy!

Thanks

OP posts:

bigTillyMint · 30/04/2011 17:55

What is the footprint - ie the floor space it takes up? Is it a tunnel tent?

We are a family of 4, but we ahve an 8man tent - not had any problems with pitch size. The extra space is not just handy, it is a necessity for me!

Original poster

LaughingGiraffe · 30/04/2011 18:03

The length is 400cm and width 710cm. It is a Kalahari 10. I am being a bit cautious as the weather was so great last week that the fact that we were in a smallish tent didn't matter, but the thought of the boys in a very small space in the rain makes me feel faint!

OP posts:

IloveJudgeJudy · 30/04/2011 18:40

Some places do charge extra for large tents or just won't take them, but i don't think yours is too large. I know about this because I arrange a large group to camp once a year and had difficulty finding both a site that would take a group and would also take a large tent. My friend has a Breckenridge XXL which is a pod tent, not a tunnel tent. That takes up much more room than a tunnel tent.

I agree with you about having to have enough room in case it rains.

Original poster

LaughingGiraffe · 30/04/2011 18:55

Thanks for the help.

OP posts:

bigTillyMint · 30/04/2011 18:55

Well ours is something like 350 x 700, so it's not much bigger. I think you will be fine.

Bohica · 30/04/2011 21:13

laughing we are thinking about buying exactly the same tent (there is 5 of us) I have been looking at sites this evening & quite a few haven't listed prices for anything over 8 burth.

We NEED the extra room as the girls are still young & need loads of junk personal items.

DiscoDaisy · 30/04/2011 21:18

We have a tent that is 7.4m x 4.5m without awning but with our awning becomes 5.4m wide. It is a 10 man tent as there is 7 of us.
When we find a campsite we like the look of on the internet I usually either ring them up or email them to check that we would fit on a pitch. If we decide to book with someone then I tell them again when I book what the size of the tent is.
Most campsites have a few pitches for larger tents.

Original poster

LaughingGiraffe · 01/05/2011 09:32

Bohica - I have had the same issue with campsites, I guess the only thing to do is as Disco says, is to phone up before we book. The tent looks fab though, was planning to go and get it tomorrow, so will have a think...

OP posts:

bigTillyMint · 01/05/2011 09:37

We camp mainly in France, though we have done quite a few sites over here and we have never had a problem with thte tent size - DON'T PANIC

stinkypinky · 01/05/2011 18:04

We have the Kalahari 10, with porch extension - fab tent. Never had a problem with getting a pitch, and the space is yummy - we even have one bedroom as a toilet

Original poster

LaughingGiraffe · 01/05/2011 18:38

Thanks for the help. Think will stick with original plan, and get the big tent. If anyone has any good campsites not too far from Northants, let me know!

OP posts:

Bohica · 01/05/2011 21:21

We are buying the Kalahari 10 tomorrow, it's to good a bargin to pass up & I'm sure I will find enough stuff to put in it

laughing have you bought the discount card for Go outdoors & reserved the tent online?

Original poster

LaughingGiraffe · 02/05/2011 15:32

We have just got back with our new Kalahari! Got the porch and footprint as well. Am stupidly excited!
Bohica - did you get yours?

OP posts:

voodoomunkee · 02/05/2011 15:40

We have a 7man tent for four of us and we have had some oooo thats quite big isnt it type comments - only seems to be smaller campsites tho. We go to one in the lakes and never had any bother with them thinking it was too big or had any problems finding a space to pitch!

Enjoy the shiny new tents!

Bohica · 02/05/2011 15:45

Yes we did get the kalahari today, the shop was mobbed so we just bought the tent on it's own & will go back on a school day.
How much was the porch & footprint laughing

Are you putting it up today?

Original poster

LaughingGiraffe · 02/05/2011 15:59

Have got to sort homework and stuff out, so probably, won't have time to put it up today. Will get out and have a bit of a look though. The porch is £107 and the footprint is £35.99.

OP posts:

rogersmellyonthetelly · 15/05/2011 22:14

we have a HUGE tent, which I love, but it means we cant really pop off for a quick weekend, as it takes some putting up!
We have the vango amazon 900, 3 bedrooms, one of which we use as a toilet/storage area. The real beauty of this tent is the size of the living area. If the weather is naff outside, we have room for table & 4 chairs, move the kitchen inside and still not be even slightly crowded. We were going to get the smaller version, but I'm really glad we opted for the big one.
We did have a problem with our campsite in devon last year, I rang and told them 3 months before we went that we had a monster tent, and they said it was no problem and their pitches were large. We arrived to find very limited space, and our porch nearly blocked the road on the pitch we were allocated. We stayed on that pitch for 1 night then thankfully some people left the next day and we took all the pegs out and literally carried the tent over to a bigger pitch! I have booked a supersize pitch this year as want to be able to park the car next to the tent!

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