Another bell tent one!

[Bumpinthenight]

My brother had a 'spare' bell tent which he gave to me, unfortunately the person that had packed it away had packed it away wet. The mildew/mould was so bad and the tent so holey we had throw the canvas away. We still have the a frame, poles and pegs.

Obviously I was gutted and desperately need to buy a bell tent to replace it! Do I go with the same tent (bell tent uk 5m sig) as I have spares? Or...

Buy a zig? I assume pole bits will be the same size but are they interchangeable between makes?

Where is the best place to buy them from? Would the soul pad mozzy net fit a bell tent tent? Would a mozzy net from IKEA for eg fit the central pole and go over our bed? I don't really want an inner.

If I buy a tent from bell tent/soul pad can I buy a stove in the future from either? On that note wall or ceiling flue?!

Might just be easier to tell me which tent you bought, where you got it from and if you made the right choice!

I have looked at bell tent UK, soul pad,karma canvas and boutique camping.Any others to look at or anywhere I should avoid? If I am spending lots of money I want to buy the right tent!

Thanks!

Just buy a new tent! I imagine the canvas is the expensive bit? Not sure though! I got a 5 m ZIG from Soulpad, and I LOVE it!

I would think the pole bits would be interchangeable between tents of the same basic size so I would definitely keep them in case things fall apart in the future - our A-frame lost one of its springs, for example, so having a spare A-frame would have been great.

Of Belltent and Soulpad I would always recommend Soulpad, not that I bought from them (our bell tent is from Obelink) but because everyone seems to rate their tents and customer service very highly. Also they are not the company with the restrictive agreement preventing you from buying direct and cheaper from Obelink!

Also, the mozzy net seems a good idea and I don't think Belltent do them. ZIG seems the best of both worlds, although we have the basic version with a separate groundsheet and have never had any problems with leakage or much in the way of bugs (though have only strayed abroad as far as France in it so far).

Sorry to hear your other tent was not rescuable - what a shame.

Thanks both!
I like the idea of a zig one but Soulpad can't guarantee delivering it before I need it on the BH weekend, I could go for a 4m one instead though...
Decisions decisions!

New tent! the canvas is what costs - the poles, pegs and groundsheet are fripperies.

I have 5 mtr PIG from Soulpad. Recommended.

What a shame. However, that one metre is a big issue. If you thought you wnated a 5m, you must have wated the space and you might find you regret buying the 4m. Although, we did strat out with a 4m and I must say their re-sale value on Ebay is very good, so you could consider trying it.

Personally though, I would be with Pictish - we don't have a PIG - ours is totally separate and you just tuck the flap round the edge of the tent under the groundsheet. However, I gatehr Soulpad have holes in the flap which allow you to peg the groundsheet and flap together which would seem to make the seal much better. Still not as bug-proof as a ZIG I guess, but a good second perhaps? And again, you can always sell it later if you want to upgrade.

Don't go for 4 m! Go for 5 m!

That's what PIG is - peg in groundsheet.
The groundsheet is seperate and you peg it together with the storm flap inside the tent rather than zipping it. Takes 10 minutes or so, but no zip to inevitably and eventually break.

True pictish, and there is not much you can do once it is broken as you don't then have a storm flap to tuck under the groundsheet, presumably. My vote would be for a 5m PIG or, if you can somehow get to Holland or have somewhere in France say, you could have it delivered to and onwards from, a separate groundsheet version from Obelink (way cheaper).

5m it is then. Do you think the ferry port counts as a place in France?!

Just wanted to chip in and say the zip on the ZIG is very, very sturdy and it makes pitching super quick! No creepy crawlies in either...

Bump, Obelink will deliver to any address you give them outside the UK. We got them to send something to a campsite we were headinng to. Not sure about the ferry port. They might deliver but would anyone accept delivery? You could enquire by phoning the port. They might have some sort of storage or something. Worth a shot.

We've just ordered a camping kitchen and pots and pans from them and are having them delivered to the campsite. Obelink are brilliant.
We have the Zig emperor from Obelink and the zip is very sturdy and easy to use.

Sounds promising!

Thanks all.

I have a zig. After this weeks camping I'm to sure I'd recommend it. First time I'd needed to put the tent back together after it been unzipped. Found it really hard, the zip just wouldn't pull through. It was like I couldn't get it lined up properly. Had to find a random man to helping he ended up pushing the teeth of the zip into the zip pull to get it started. Maybe I need some practice but now I've lost confidence in the tent. Wish I'd got a pig.

Viva is your tent new? If it is ring up and get it exchanged! We've not had a problem lining/zipping up the tent!

Its six months old but this is only the second time I've used it and first time I've used the zip. Managed to unzip it noprobs this morning so when I get home I'll try zipping it together and see how I go. Maybe it's stiff?