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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

Outwell Indiana 8 or Montana 6?

20 replies

fruitful · 30/07/2006 23:06

I think I've persuaded dh that we need a new tent. I want to be able to stand up in the bedrooms, and I want lots of light / windows. 2 adults, 2 kids and a baby. And we mostly camp on a flat showground with a howling gale blowing across it.

I've seen a Montana 6 today and liked it - but I've just found the Indiana 8 online and I like the extra bedroom. How do they compare? Whats the porch on the Montana good for?

And Dh wants to know if the windows at the front have roll-down blinds/mesh like the side ones.

OP posts:

Rowlers · 30/07/2006 23:10

We've got a Montana 6 - really like it myself.
Front door has mesh windows.
Porch = we use for storage.
Indiana 8 is bigger - feels enormous to me and it doesn't have a SIG which the Monatana does.
If it's windy, you might be better with the Montana unless you like a it a bit breezy.
The extra bedroom would be ahndy if you have a large family as there are 3 sleeping spaces rather than 2.

Original poster

fruitful · 31/07/2006 11:18

Thanks. I'm sort of planning a large family (2 at the moment) but will probably have got bored of the tent by the time they come along anyway.

Do you mean the Montana is less breezy because of the SIG? Or the shape?

OP posts:

SlightlyFamiliarPeachyClair · 31/07/2006 11:53

SIG's prevent breeziness (at least to an extent- the ballooning when putting up in a breeze is erm interesting! Nearly took off last week with ours- paragliding ahoy).

We don't have an Outwell but we do use our porch for storage, and mesh windows are essential imo in really hot weather- we had 32 last week, and it was baking in the tent: our plastic glasses got heat crazed.

The key thing is probably whether you are a SIG person. Some poeple like them (we would not have a tent without one) whereas others despise them. If you're the sort who wouldn't bother with a groundsheet ootside the pods, and don't have any insect phobics than no SIG is fine. If like us you's spend all week tugging a separate groundsheet as close to the edges as poss, then give in and go with the SIG.

A Monty 4 is on our list as a possible weekend tent, either that or a Khyam (but DH likes the tourer and I like the Classic)

beckybrastraps · 31/07/2006 11:59

"Vintage" frame tent is the only way to go. Loads of head room, big window all across the front, very stable! And the garish seventies colours are an added bonus!

SlightlyFamiliarPeachyClair · 31/07/2006 12:07

But onl;y acceptable with faded brwon floral curtains, right Becky? LOL

marthamoo · 31/07/2006 12:15

I love our Monty Tbh, we didn't use the porch at all when we first used the tent - but we had glorious weather. I think it would be very handy if the weather was bad as a place to take off wet wellies, coats etc. before getting into the main living area of the tent.

It's personal choice - but for me, the SIG is what swings it. I like my camping as bug-free as possible.

And yes, iirc, all the windows and doors have mesh.

And the vents have little padded strips so you can prop them open - I was unfeasibly delighted by that bit of cleverness. And it has a little zipped hatch for an EHU (we didn't actually have an EHU but bought one so we could use the little zippy hatch ).

And you can part unzip the bedroom partition wall so you can peep at the children without getting out of bed.

And there are ground level windows in the flysheet, with corresponding zipped flaps in the inner bedroom tent - so you can check what the weather's like in the morning before you even get out of your sleeping bag.

Did I say I love it?

marthamoo · 31/07/2006 12:16

And it has an inbuilt tent tidy and its own doormat...what more d'you want?

Rowlers · 31/07/2006 12:20

Marthamoo - your obsession is bordering on the unhealthy
(although I must admit we do keep looking at ours and trying to find more excuses for camping trips)

Blandmum · 31/07/2006 12:23

I want them to make a monty 8.

the 12 is a tad too big, and I have a dd and a ds, so would really prefer 3 bedrooms. Dd is 9 and doesn't want to share with her brother any more. They want to do a monty 8 in the style of the old colorado....a vis a vis with 2 rooms on one side and one on the other

Original poster

fruitful · 31/07/2006 13:16

Marthamoo ? I like the sound of the things you mention ? the zip between compartments for sorting out children in the night without getting out of my sleeping bag is particularly appealing. But the Indiana is also an Outwell tent and has all of these things too.

Peachy ? the tent that we have and I don?t like is a Khyam Tourer 600

MB ? I?d like a Monty 8 too. The Indiana is like the Montana only a bit bigger, with an extra bedroom that takes up half the front. So if it had a SIG and a porch, I wouldn?t even be thinking about it!

OP posts:

Blandmum · 31/07/2006 13:19

I don't like the lay out of the Indy so much.

I have the old Colorado and prefer the kids to be on one side , with dh and me having the bigger room on the other.

Original poster

fruitful · 31/07/2006 13:37

Are the two compartments at the end, the same in the Indiana and the Montana? Is it just the extra bedroom that is different? I've been looking at loads of websites trying to see it all properly.

OP posts:

Original poster

fruitful · 31/07/2006 14:27

And another question! If I get the canopy that goes with the Montana 6, do I have to put it at the end, or could I put it at the side? (I know Outwell do one that goes at the side, but its different and I don't like it as much). The festival we're going to has square pitches so I need to make the tent wider wiht a canopy, not longer.

OP posts:

marthamoo · 31/07/2006 14:38

Have you looked at Outwell's official website - probably the best place to 'see' the layouts? Don't know about the canopy as we don't have one but it looks like it just fits on the end to me.

susyb · 16/08/2006 16:40

First timer here, we have the Montana 6 and the canopy only fits on the end making it longer. Its a fab tent and doesnt move an inch in bad weather (well and truly tested in Edale, peak District). There are only 3 of us so is plenty big enough.

LucyCampCat · 16/08/2006 20:10

If you went for the Indiana, you could have a side canopy as well as the supplied front canopy. Our side canopy has long sides too so the rain doesn't come in and we fitted our cooker / stand and table & chairs in it to eat.

The question is really whether you want the SIG.

(I'm one of the strange non sig people that martha was talking about - but I do like a groundsheet in the tent, gottta have something to sweep out!)

LucyCampCat · 16/08/2006 20:11

and marths - I love our cat flaps too!

Original poster

fruitful · 16/08/2006 21:15

We've gone for the Montana, but haven't had a chance to put it up yet because it is RAINING . The weather better get itself sorted by the BH weekend!

OP posts:

FeelingOld · 17/08/2006 08:35

We are lookng for a tent and we like the look of the indiana 8 and would like to see it in real life. There are 6 of us so the monty really wouldn't be big enough, but as lots of you like your outwell tents I presume they are a very good make (we have only been camping once using a friends tent and really like it!). We can't wait to get a tent and go again.

Blandmum · 17/08/2006 08:41

There is a monty 12 as well. I have the earlier version of the indiana (the colerado), and tbh I would find getting 6 into it a bit of a squash, particularly if the weather turned shabby.

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