would you recommend a pop up tent for a faint hearted camper?

[oranges]

We are fair weather, totally incompetent, completely wimpy campers. Will go camping for a weekend if the weather is nice. Our current tent was a cheap one from Blacks but we always seem to need help putting it up. Can anyone suggest a tent that is really easy to erect and dismantle, for a family of 4? What about this Quecha one?

www.decathlon.co.uk/2-seconds-xxl-iiii-illumin-fresh-pop-up-tent-beige-id_8205999.html

We have the Quechua Base Seconds 4 x 2 and love it. Sadly, they don't make it anymore. Have a look on You Tube for Quechua vids and also UK Campsites website for tent reviews:

www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/

Pop up tents are great but can be difficult to fold up to get it back into the bag.

Get a demonstration before you vomit to buying one!

Last one I had I left behind (festival) as it was to tricky to re fold!

We had a pop up travel cot for DS. first time it took me 45 minutes to work out how to fold it up again.

We have a Litchfield tent - it's not pop up but the poles are colour coded, as are the fabric folds to put them through so it's easy to put up.

When you say you always need help putting your existing tent up, what are other people doing to help? If we know why you're struggling, we can maybe suggest an alternative.

I wouldn't buy another one, I had one for a festival but I left it there. They're not that great and annoying to carry (due to the way they're folded) also not that great quality & not that roomy.

I wouldn't get another one - I have 2x Vango jobbies now, they're absolutely excellent tents and a doddle to put up. We got our 6 man one in the sale last year for half price. I can highly recommend them.

Thank you. The problem with poles is that I'm quite short, so struggle to get and hold them in place, or we are always flapping with bits of canvas. i'd forgotton about the hassle of folding pop up tents. I'd also like a tent that is just one room for all of us. Like a tipi but smaller. We tend to go to places where you can park close to the tent, and leave most stuff in the car till we need it so not too fussed about in tent storage etc.

How about an airbeam type tent (inflatable poles!)
Khyam do quick erect tents.
Can you get a small tipi?

Disclaimer: we've just ditched tent camping and got a folding camper!!

Oops that should have been commit not vomit!

lol. i knew what you meant scarlet.

The airbeam tents are fantastic. But god they are expensive. I'm looking to spend around £400.

I am very tempted by a tipi. THink the kids will love it. what do you think of this? ps. I'm in GErmany, so need a site that will ship here.
www.unterwegs.biz/en/lavvo-495921.html?farbe=green&groesse=6%20Personen

Get a belltent (as long as you're not intending to hike with it because they are really heavy). DP and I are completely incompetent when it comes to pitching and taking down but even we can manage the bell. Our old tent (some kind of three berth modern polyester affair with too many tension poles) always had us in a raging argument before we even had it out of the bag but the bell goes up in 15 minutes, no hassle, and down equally easily.

no plans to hike! What belltent do you have, Naoko?

This one. They won't ship it to the UK (I got my parents who live in Holland to bring me one when they visited me last year) but as you're in Germany you're in luck. I love ours, the canvas is breathable so it's not sweaty on hot days but it seems to warm up quite well on cold weekends too. And it's so spacious! And like I said, really easy to pitch. It helps that I got to watch someone who knew what they were doing first a few times, but it came with good instructions too.

Regatta do a pop up tent that doesn't spring up, rather it works a bit like an upside down umbrella, we have the 2 man, but they do do a 4 man here

so much easier to put away than those springy ones.

The Sahara tent looks perfect. One last question on that - ho hard is it to dry out? We live in a large flat, so no garden but do have large rooms with very high ceilings. And is it better to get sewn in ground sheet or the zipped up one?

decathlon do a newer version of the 4.2 here and will teach you how to fold it in store. They demonstrate and then teach you to do it, if you ask.

Our Decathlon pop up is very good quality!

Otherwise try a simple tunnel tent like an Vango Icarus, and once you have put it up the first time, fold it with the inner compartments inside and then you can pitch as one. They are easy to put up, you have only 3 poles to slide through loops, and colour coded loops and poles.

Easy peasy.

It can be a bit of a pain to dry out if you haven't got the room, because they are large and heavy. Especially if you end up camping in a total swamp like I did last weekend For that purpose the zipped in groundsheet is better IMO because then you can take it apart to scrub the groundsheet if it gets very muddy, and also dry them separately which will be faster. Easiest is to repitch it somewhere for a few hours (park? Friend's garden?) if you can, but I usually have to resort to laying it over a few kitchen chairs in the living room and just keep exposing new bits of the canvas every few hours till it's dry.

I would love a canvas / bell tent but it is exactly that level of drying commitment and space that I don't really have.

When I have a garage to dry it in, and don't have lug a hefty tent into the loft to store it...oh, and a bigger car than our hatchback... I'll buy a canvas tent.

oh bugger. I really can't do the drying out with a bell tent I think. We have wooden floors in a rented flat, with a million clauses in our contract about damp and not drying laundry inside so I don't think it will work.
I'm still tempted by a Queucha, but the family tent with two small bedrooms at either end with a porch in the middle doesn't really work for us somehow.
Do you think a quechua 2 Seconds XXL IIII would fit 4 of us, for a weekend?

For sleeping, yes, if you spend most of your time sitting outside the tent, round the fire etc.

I don't think it is big enough to all sit in and eat on in the rain.

And bear in mind that it isn't quite tall enough to stand up in.

Also the living area doesn't have a sewn in GS.

They are good tents though. DS and I use an older model for weekend trips. But I never do anything like food prep in the tent, or sit in it in a chair.

Thank you! That's really helpful. It really is only for sleeping in. If it rains we tend to go to a cafe. If sunny we are outside. It's for weekend trips with a car, so a lot can be left in the car itself.

I think DS and I did once put our chairs up in the living area - the sleeping bit feels very roomy, though.

And they are very quick to pitch and fold. But it is worth watching the YouTube video very closely a few times, and practicing at home before you go. Do they have Decathlon n Germany so that you could get a demonstration in-store? It's a knack.

I would worry a bit about this tent.

No sewn in ground sheet.
only big enough for sleeping, no room for storage,eating out of the rain,standing up in. If the weather is unclement it might cause trouble.
There seems to be quite a few velcroey bits (how well would they hold up?).
How easy/difficult is it to fold back?

My recommendation before buying the tent is to watch videos on you tube (by real people not the glossy ads ones).
And practice putting it up and down at home before you set off.

doesn't the sleeping area have a sewn in groundsheet?
given that last time it rained hard while camping, we packed up and booked a room at a youth hostel, I don;t know if I need to get a tent that copes better or if we will wimp out regardless.

Yes, the sleeping area has a sewn in bathtub style groundsheet, and the whole tent has a footprint too. We have been in lashing rain and wind in our Decathlon popup and it has been fine. They are good quality .

Ive ordered the Quecha xxlIIII with in tent lighting and ventilation! Will keep you posted. Thank you for all the good advice.

Oh just seen you have ordered a tent now I just wanted to I'm 5' and can put up pretty large tents all on my own. Its all about the technique.

Pop up tents are a nightmare though which is why I never use mine.