Bell Tent Experience Please

[topsi]

I am considering a bell tent!
Would appreciate ant advice on size 3 or 4 meters, attached ground sheet or not. My husband likes the pink ones??!! Also does an inner tent spoil the atmosphere, do you have a stove and do you cook on it.
Also where are the best places to buy, I like the look of bell tent UK.
We have one son aged 5.
Is it difficult to find sites with pitches large enough to pitch a bell tent??

no one have a bell tent out there?

there are loads of bell tenters here on MN, it's just a bit quiet round this way at the moment. I'm no expert (wot with not having a bell tent) but have read lots about them and this much I know...

the 3m and 4m ones are small. most would say get a 5m. they're not that big, shouldn't be any problems pitching them anywhere.

groundsheet - i'd say not to. but that's just from my experience of having a toaureg (like bell but square) with a SIG and it made it really hard to keep clean and dry it out at home if it got packed away wet.

i bought my tent from bell tent co uk. they don't have a great reputation tbh, couple of people on MN have had bad experience with them. they were ok with me though, sorted out a refund i needed very quickly. you do have to ring rather than email though. and they do sound bored, snotty and rude at times.

most people are happy with their inners - think soulpad do quarter ones which i've always thought looked good.

hopefully some other will come along soon to help too!

I would definately say go for the 5m. I went with soulpad as they seem to be very nice and very helpful people. We have a seperate groundsheet for the same reasons as above. Soulpads also do a 'single' bedroom pod, which means that your lo could have a place to go into. Lovely tents, easy to use.

oo thanks for the advice everyone, will look at the 5m ones, the groundsheets do zip off though, intersting about bell tent uk reputation cos they seem to have the widest range of products that I have seen.
Good news that you don;t need a huge pitch to accommodate them.
Just need to find a bargain now! Roll on summer!

If you do a search there are lots of threads over the last couple of years-generally 5m with a detachable groundsheet (how depends on budget) and soulpad :) a couple have stoves and love them!

Happy shopping :)

Would love a stove I think soul pad do a package that includes a stove, I could spend a fortune (if I had it!)

A couple of us have the 'frontier' stove which is a natty little number and cheaper than the ones sold by the bell tent players. I was advised to get a seperate groundsheet rather than a zip off one, as zips are often the weak points on tents and if the zip goes you are buggered til it gets fixed. The seperate groundsheet models are cheaper too. take a look on ebay too - often people are selling them on and you can get a good price

I have the 5m zig with inner. I wouldn't recommend the 3 or 4 meter if you have children as they are quite small.

The inner is great for keeping the sleeping area separate but you don't need it.

I love ours as does dh. It goes up quickly, (and down) feel, smells and look wonderful. Also when it's hot, you can go inside without dying of heat exhaustion! There are other canvas tents you can get where this is the same but they can cost a fortune.

We got ours from Obelink in holland. They don't deliver, but you could have a nice weekend away!

I've just ordered a 5m zig from soul pad, they've got a sale on at the minute and I saved nearly £50.

You will not regret it, dh resisted for do long but he agrees it's the best tent ever