Anyone moved on from a Bell Tent? Pyramid lovers......?

[mum2mummarkets]

For 3 years I have loved my Bell Tent (5m Soulpad)...... but........ I am 5 ft 10 and can't bear all the bending over to get in and out of the tent- I end up with constant back/ neck ache. We use a tarp attached to the front and that ends up not being tall enough either even with a screw on extension pole I have fashioned.
I have begun to convince myself that a new tent might be the answer and have been salivating over the pyramids- particularly Palamos 6.

Will it really be less bending or am I kidding myself? Does it really take an hour to pitch a pyramid? We get the Bell Tent up in 15 mins

If you have moved on from a Bell Tent what did you get? I can't bring myself to consider anything that is not canvas

I think you might need one of these www.dewaardtenten.nl/

Takes 15-20 mins to pitch our cabanon pyramid. The Palamos possibly has more guys, it's the guys that takes the time, and with some of the larger pyramids you have to do them in the set order to get a nice taut canvas

I dont stoop to get into my tent (5 foot 9). It has a lovely door which opens out onto the lovely porch. lovely lovely

Some beauties on there..... thanks.

Albatross seems best but I'm not sure it has much advantage over the Palamos and it's 4 times the price..... it's so hard without seeing them IRL

Thanks Slubber- off to ogle the Cabanon pyramids now. Did you buy in the UK? The Palamos has about 60 guy ropes.....

The Albatros is a thing of great beauty, I have seen it in the show room and stroked the canvas lustily while dh distracted the salesman all the dewaards however (well the ones we saw 2 years ago) come with a SIG and not a ZIG and to be perfectly honest having a pyramid with a sig is a total pita if you have to pack it wet. You imo have to repitch to make sure the inside of the floor isnt wet, wheras with a zig you can keep the filthy, wet groundsheet away from the canvas and you should in theory with lots of turning, manage to dry the canvas separately indoors.

think the palamos has a zig. It is so much more sensible for camping in the UK when the chances of wetness and mud are v high.

we have the cabanon guadeloupe. the next size up (6 berth) is the barbados.

i would go for the palamos, or something similar from obelink every time. Unless I became stinking rich and could pay staff to pitch, strike and dry a de waard for me.

yy we bought our cabanon in the uk

Yes the Palamos has a zig - pretty essential for us as our garden isn't big enough to pitch in so we always have tent draping over the bannisters after a trip.

Thanks - that kind of swings it. The door height on the Palamos is 1.7m so better than the Bell tent at 1.5 but still a bit of a stoop..... need to break the bad news to DH about the 60 guy ropes. He's a guy fiddler so should keep him out of mischief for most of the hols

that's a shame the door is still a bit low markets. Still I'm sure your back will be much happier going through the door. Don't do the guys if you have LBP, yy deffo a job for dh.

Po, am v glad to hear it

I am a proud pyramid lover :-)

I have a 'relum Izmir Delux' photos of them here:

www.google.co.uk/search?q=relum+izmir+deluxe&client=safari&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=e2GBUc-QOaGr0AWI7YGoAQ&ved=0CDsQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=673

It's the cream and lilac one with the canopy. If that helps to know which one.

Yes , there are a lot of guys, but still minimal poles so easy to go up - but the guys do take a while ( especially if you are anal like me and like having the canvas 'drum tight' all over )

I love the look of bells - but don't think I would get on with just 'one area' living. My Izmir gives me bedrooms, a living area and the awning to sit or cook under - without having to take a separate kitchen tent. ( but I sometimes do, depends how many are in the tent for the trip.

Izmirs although old - still come up for sale 2nd hand.

I must admit to having been won over by the pyramids, they just seem so much more useful. I have an Albatross, a small Zilvermeuw (like an albatross but with 2 central poles rather than the one) and for our campsite a whopping great huge extra large Zilvermeuw with the big 'vario' awning on the front. Glamped up we have put a double bed and 2 singles in and there is still plenty of room. I am debating a woodstove to extend the season on it. Every time I drive up the field I tell whoever is in the car that I REALLY LOVE that tent. Its beautiful.

Oh god. I think I'm ready. We've got a bell tent but I LOVE these pyramids. I've been googling pictures for days

I think I might have to have one.....

I seem to remember some Dutch (?) site a it like eBay, marketplatzen or something, any ideas where I can trawl for second hand ones?

Found it. gulp

I'm going to be spending a happy day translating

I bought all my secondhand de Waards from Marketplatz. Using a combination of google translate and emailing the sellers I was able to get them shipped across. Cost wasnt as extortionate as I thought - certainly cheaper than travelling accross. Although that said there are some wonderful campsites in Holland so you could combine it with a holiday

Yes the Palamos has lots of guys but tbh the worst bit was tying them all on when it first arrived from the Netherlands - as they are in a straight line it's easy to get them all done - two mallets - dh and I on either side of the tent and the loser to the middle of the back has to get the wine & glasses
It's really easy to put it up - lay out the groundsheet, adding about 1.5metres at the front for the awning, zip the canvas on - send dh inside the tent with the pole to stand it up - then peg the front 2 guys out to hold it up. the rest can be done at a leisurely pace.

We've added a Decathlon tarp onto the front using Clingons and the spare tarp pole in the middle of the actual tarp to get extra height (and so water drains away when camping en Angleterre).

You won't regret getting a Hypercamp. In 12 weeks i shall be sitting under said tarp in the Dordogne with something cold in hand smiling at all the passers by who think we are Dutch

just having a browse on UKCampsite's Free Adverts bit and there is a De Waard for sale!

De Waard Jan van Gent

Ooooh, wish I had a spare £500!