12 Man Tent, am I a loon?

[PartyFops]

OK, so our first camping trip is now booked for this summer!

It will be me, DH and 4 year old dd.

I have been looking to buy a tent and have found one with 3 compartments, I would like a spare one for keeping all the stuff we will bring. its thistent.

Am I a loon for choosing such a large tent? DD will have her own compartment and we want to put 2 single blow up beds together in our compartment.

The pitch size is 13m by 13m. But will I find it a problem on other sites in Europe maybe?

It needs to be dark to help us sleep.

Any advice appreciated?

Def not a loon for wanting space. Cons would be not being able to put it up alone, being too big for some sites and maybe being charged extra for bigger pitch in high season.

Our last tent was black. Didn't help much with early waking and was roasting on warm days.

Biggest tent improvements for us were getting a poly cotton second hand out well - cool in summer, quiet when it rains. Is a 7 berth with 3 rooms plus living space and options to add porch, etc. And earplugs. And forgetting about bedtimes - after 3 nights of 10pm bedtimes ours fall into pattern of afternoon naps.

PS check ukcampsites for good tent reviews.

Are you my DH?!

He went for a large tent and I called him a loon, but i have to say it was nice having the space compared to our friends' smaller ones.

But cons - longer to clean and pack away, bigger, heavier. What if you need to dry it out from rain in UK. Can you set it up indoors?

I'm no camping pro and stayed at local hotel on our last trip so wait for some proper advice.

Id look at something smaller! Maybe a Vango icarus (sleeps 5) for similar money as they are easy to pitch and spare parts readily available. I think they also have black out pods? not sure.

That 12 man tent will give you loads of space, but will be a nightmare to pitch - especially with a 4yo - and you will struggle to find pitches big enough.

We used to have a huge tent until last summer when we realised we were going on 4 weekend camping trips.

It takes so much longer to put up (2 hours) and yes some campsites want to charge you more for the extra space.

We've got a Vango 4 man now which takes 15 minutes to put up, has an area where we can sit on chairs if it's raining, easily fits 3 airbeds. We take a gazebo in case we want to put it up over the table outside.

I would go for a 5-6 man one, and one with a canopy thingy that you can put up on longer camps but you don't have to fuss if it's just a 1 night camp.

It will take ages to pitch/ take down etc.. storing it will take up lots of room and you will be limited to certain spaces on many sites.

We're looking for a new tent too. Thinking about this . There are several similar ones out there. Later in the spring all the tent shops will put up their displays - go and look round and that may help you decide what space you need.

We have a vango orchy 600 which is a 6 man and enough room for us 4. You can buy extension parts for it too which I think we might do this year for cooking stuff.

Thanks for all your advice I will look for a smaller one.

Scrappy, that one looks fab, I might have to sweet talk DH into buying that one instead.

Partyfobs, if you can stretch your budget, look for the Vango Air tents - no poles, just pump it up! Vango are a really good make, we buy them for scouts, and they take a beating, but our last lot lasted 7-8 years of abuse.

We have an outwell whitecove? 6 man. The living space is very big.
Would heartily recommend it. Its poles, not air but takes about 20mins to pitch (having done it twice before now). So quite quick for the size and my clumsiness

I am soooo jealous you guys can pitch a tent so quickly. We have a Vango somethingorother and it takes us at least 40 mins.. I hate tent pitching. Though we have only put it up 3 times, maybe next time will be quicker...

Tunnel tents are easier and quicker to pitch rather than one with another bedroom off the side.