Should I buy the Outwell Nevada L and other bits?

[cottonreels]

Hi, have been reading all the camping threads with great interest and its spurred me on to go camping again.
Am thinking of buying the Outwell Nevada L for me, DP and toddler (20 months). Not sure if we'll have more children, but figure as DD grows she might want to take a friend anyway so need a little growing room.
Reasons for choosing the Nevada:
From all the threads ive read, outwell seem to have a great reputation.
I like the vis a vis (check me with the lingo ) set up as I think we'd disturb my DD too much with her being in the nextdoor bedroom they seem to have in a lot of the other tents.
I like space inside in case it rains.
It seems very waterproof and good in winds.
It seems like it wouldnt take an age to put it up.
Not sure if theres anythging ive not thought of here?? Couldnt see any other outwell tents with the vis a vis without buying something really huge.

Also what do you think of buying the extras:
footprint - is this neccessary? We have some good quality insulation mats (like the brightly coloured ones kids play on that have numbers on them) that i thought we could just put down under our beds. They are springy and warm underfoot and we alreadty have about 20 of them.

Capet - would a blanket do? Could you stick that carpet in your household washing machine? We own a small house and could do without storing unneccessary things.

The kids bedroom looks great, but expensive. Does anyone have one, do your children really like them or do they just get used to it after the initial 10 mins.

Im getting really excited about buying it. Anyone persuade me (in either direction?)

Shameless bump!

1. footprint groundsheet. Nothing to do with insulation (your sleeping mat insulates you). It keeps your attached groundsheet clean. Otherwise taking the tent down involves half an hour of crawling around on your knees with cloths wiping off the mud that gets stuck on the bottom of the groundsheet. Instead you just fold up the footprint muddy side in and sort it out at home. Also you can set out your pitch by putting the footprint down rather than hopping the half-erected tent around to decide where it should go.

2. Children - tents are made of fabric - if you are going to be "disturbing" anyone probably will be just as bad from the other end of the tent or the adjacent side. (or the next door campers will disturb you!) BUT if your DD is likely to wake up in the night, forget where she is/be afraid of the dark/start crying, it's a lot easier to just unzip the divider and lean across to comfort her, rather than have to get out of your sleeping bag, unzip all the doors and fumble across to her bedroom in the dark.

3. space inside is very good point, coupled with windows so you can see when rain has stopped.

4. never bothered with kids room. They won't miss what they haven't seen.

That's just my experience, loads of people have vis a vis tents and are fine! we happen to have a tunnel tent with bedrooms at one end. The Nevada looks like a great tent.

Carpet, we manage with a picnic rug in the middle of the tent which is the bit you walk on most. We do put a blanket down in the bedrooms to make it feel more cosy. Then if you are unexpectedly cold you can crawl under the blanket.

For a footprint idea ALL the Dutch use a piece of really lightweight polythene that they lay down under their groundsheets, then chuck away. I agree when the kids are little a side by side bedroom arrangement is better - I have done the crawling across the tent in the dark in wet Wales and it's no fun at all.

Thanks folks. Im still a bit about the footprint. I didnt have one on my last tent and just made sure that the slightly muddy bottom bit didnt touch the cotton walls when folded it away. Though it was wet and muddy I suppose I might have taken it out and just unrolled the tent (without putting it up) for a couple of hours.
Maybe Lucycat had it right with the disposable idea, but its still a faff going to b and q etc
I do take on board about what youre saying getting up in the night to crying toddler. Its just that shes a notoriously light sleeper. I even think that unzipping our bedroom wall would wake her if she was right next to it...
I realise that sounds like we're not ready for camping, but I am thinking of going to a very empty field where tents arent on top of each other at all.
I suppose with the Nevada you have both options, to put DD at the other end, OR next door. And maybe even take a spare mattress and put it next to us in case she cant resettle in the night. [feels excitement at camping deflate slightly]
Does anyone actually have the carpet? Would be good to know if it will go in the washing machine. I think it would be a boring 'holiday' to be getting a 1 year old to take shoes off/put shoes back on everytime she runs in and out of tent in excitement...
Good poiunt abou the kids room. If i was brave enough Id get some fabric paints and get creative in that room

We never had a footprint until last year but since I was the one grovelling on the groundsheet it's made my life easier .

I just looked at the layout of the Nevada L, you have lots of choices and it will soon be obvious where your DD settles best after a night or two and you can move around as she gets older/more used to it.
Maybe try a trip without the carpet first and see what you think. 1 year olds are capable of making all kinds of messes, dropping drinks, crayons etc. A pair of little Crocs are good to slip on and off.

We've got the Nevada M with the carpet (came included) - as former hardcore campers we sniffed at the decadence of the carpet but having done two trips with it now we're converted - it's really nice to sit on in the porch, and stops getting those annoying creases in the groundsheet filled with mud/grass.

Can't see much point in the footprint though (although again ours came included) and we haven't bothered with it so far.

the nevada L looks a really good tent and having watched people put it up next to us on a trip quite straight forward..its very light inside for a vis a vis... the extraroom gives you storage until you need it...

We have a footprint for under our tents and is great in some sites just to protect from sharp stones/gravelly bits am a definite convert...
same as carpet i love it in our big trip tent as so nice to step on but use picnic rugs on quick trips... definately not something for the beginning - i also often put picnic rugs on the carpet if we have to eat inside as ds can get messy...

re the light sleeping my bf uses eye shades and ear plugs for her girls, i generally rely on exhaustion.....
hth

My DSis has the Nevada L and we have just come back from Latitude with them so can give a first hand report! Personally I don't do bendy poles and like a tent I can stand up in, but if that's your cup of tea, it seemed a really nice, useful tent. I was quite about their useful hanging loops everywhere.

They arrived after us and, watching them it seemed to go up really easily with 2 of them doing it (although DBIL did say that they use it a LOT and so are v. experienced in what to do, apparently it's all about laying it out right before you begin...) They don't have any add on bits and it was plenty large enough for 2 adults (1 v. tall) a 5 yo and a 2yo. They all slept in one end together and used the other for storage.

It withstood all the wind/rain etc and didn't let in any damp - they have an extra/overlapping groundsheet for the middle living area, which proved a godsend when her DD knocked over their luggable loo, as we could just pick it up and dump it outside to clean it...

However, when the rain was torrential they all came over to our Bell tent because it was much nicer to sit in....:)

We have the Nevada M
2 adults and 3 kids under 7
Is a fab tent, v easy to put up and take down, light, spacious - actually more spacious living area than the L
We went whole hog and got footprint (invaluable for muddy festival camping), carpet (makes it really warm, stays in place unlike blankets that slip around, and the extension porch bit which is utter genius
We're like an Outwell catalogue, except we are not goodlooking Danish types

Thanks everyone. Good point lovecat about spilling the toilet - potty training is not too far away . Id love a bell tent but just dont have the room at home or in the car to store it .
We're not planning on muddy festivals, so I think I'll leave the footprint alone for now and see how we get on.
Am tempted by the carpet - BUT CAN YOU STICK IT IN THE WASHER??
Merylstrop - I may be wrong, but I think you can simply not put up the bedroom at the end if you wanted more living space?
Really wish I had a showroom nearby
Thanks mammonite - the crocs are a great idea for camping but my dd has really slim fitting feet and they just fall off while she's walking. She doesnt seem to mind but I feel terrible

The M has got a bit more width than the L - we preferred the proportion but the chances of our kids sleeping anywhere other than snuggled up to us like puppies in a cardboard box is miniscule.

Carpet - haven't ever washed it - just swept it. Will be geeting it out for an inspection later!

Thankyou Merylstrop. We do have a lot of sippy cups with milk in, thrown in a tantrum (too hot/too cold/not enough in the cup/it had the audacity to run out...)