kampa hayling vs croyde or something else

[spaceal]

Hi. We're new to the camping thing and are currently using a friend's huge and unwieldy but very spacious dome tent so looking to get our own. There are only 3 of us (me, DP and 3 year old DD) but we do want space.

I was looking at the Outwell Montana first, then got convinced by the Kampa Croyde, but now wonder about the Kampa Hayling.

We're probably looking to do quite a few 2-3-4 night camps over the next few weeks and maybe one longer one (10 days-ish) towards the end of the summer.

We've only got a small car and we're mostly going to be doing short-ish camps so that's why I wondered about the Hayling instead of the Croyde. It's also a good bit cheaper. I have looked at reviews online and the Croyde seems to be very good, but can't find many reviews of the Hayling. They seem to be more or less the same size and layout, and I wonder whether we really need steel poles for what we're planning.

Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated, including any other tents to look at. Thanks!

A bump and a further question - anyone know anything about the Vango Avington? Again very few reviews online.

Thanks.

I know a person who owns a Croyde. Just sent a message to her to come and tell you all about it.

Thank you!

I just bought a Kampa Hayling 4. Will be using it for the first time this weekend so will report back :)

Will look forward to hearing, nikki. Why did you choose the Hayling? What else did you look at?

Shamelessly hijacking to also seek opinions on Kampa Hayling 4.

Amazon calls it a weekend tent - why? We are a family of four (DC5 and DC 4 months) and would be using it mostly for weekends but also for the odd week.

I chose it as a short break tent as we have an 8 man one that we use for longer breaks (we fit 6 in that) but just me and the kids need a smaller tent for ourselves as we go away just us fairly often. I wouldn't feel comfortable having the full amount of people in a tent if you see what I mean. 4 people in a 4 man tent means no room for bags of clothes etc in the bedrooms.

Spaceal I chose the Hayling as I like the head height for much a small tent plus the porch area is great. Since it isn't slanted you don't get the issue of the rain getting in whenever you want to get in and out of the tent (major pain).

Ah, I see - I automatically think 4 berth = suitable for 4 people

I have a kampa croyde 4 and I would not recommend it. Great tent BUT so heavy, the frame is steel, I can't lift the bag of poles by myself and I am known for being a bit of a pack horse. I am yearning for my outwell Nevada with Carbon fibre poles.

Space wise the bedrooms inners are a bit small and don't totally divide so you can't make it into one room with out lots of flappy material.

Good points are the living space, canopy and quality of the actual tent.

Thanks everyone. Jingle the weight is the big thing that puts us off the Croyde. It seems like the Hayling is basically the same but with fibre poles.

I'm tending towards the Vango Avington at the moment but there isn't much on the internet about it though.

I really like the look of the Hayling and recently recommended it to my friend as what I'd get if I had her budget/requirements. I love the fact it has so many large windows and two massive doors, a vertical front (rather than sloping - rubbish for rainy days) and that canopy.

the Avington has all the same plus points but a bigger canopy which can only be a good thing I guess.... how do the packed weights compare?

Thanks vivipru. Weightwise they're almost identical, about 22kg packed.

The Avington comes in at about £320 with footprint and carpet, the Hayling about £410 for the same. So I'm thinking the Avington might be the one.

Are you looking at the 4 or 6 berth?

6, even though there's only 3 of us. We like space!

That's a really good price on that Avington package then for the 600....