Need help deciding whether to buy this tent

[Thumbcat]

I'm very taken with this tent but have a couple of reservations.

Our current tent has a separate bedroom with mesh doors which we keep shut all the time to keep our bedroom nice and bug free. I'm a bit worried about getting spiders in my sleeping bag [wimp].

The other thing I like about our current tent is that it has a front door and side door, and when it's hot having both doors open means the tent is a nice cool place for DS to play. This tent only has one front door so it could potentially get quite hot in there.

Does anyone have any views about these things to help me decide whether or not to buy it?

Apart from these two things I really like this tent and we'd probably do more weekend camping and touring around with such a quick pitch/strike time. It's just me and DS who camp and our current tent is a smallish tunnel tent and doesn't take long at all to pitch, but it's getting a bit worn in places now and will need replacing at some point.

Your current tent sounds just like mine and there is no way I would change to your new suggestion. I guess the questions to ask are how important is bug free and airy tent to you compared to speed of striking camp? I love being able to close up the bedrooms and not have to look at the mess of sleeping bags etc, or if I have managed to tidy it up, then it will stay that way until bedtime. DCs are banned from bedroom pods during the day unless it's pissing down!

I would try to get a similar replacement to what you have.

I looked at their older version of this tent a few years ago, and I was immediately put off by the fact it's all single skin (so you can get lots of condensation dripping onto beds etc).

My reservations about that tent would be based around wet weather: wed / muddy willies or crocs on the same groundsheet as your mats - nowhere outside the main space to leave them.

All sloping tent doors let in water when you open them in or after rain - in this tent it will drip in not just into the porch area but could pool and then trickle down to your bedding etc.

It doesn't have much visibility out if you need to sit in it during rain.

Does it have an inner-tent and a fly? It makes no mention in the description, but single skin tents can be terrible for condensation.

Someone on another thread is considering a Khyam Freelander which has a click together instant pitch feature, but also has a small tunnel bit at the rear for a sealed pod. It has no groundsheet in the porch though, so would need a footprint.

What about this? Fully sewn in groundsheet - good for bug-a-phobes, canopy over the side door, two doors, looks easy to pitch.

I have just bought a Vango Kalu which is reputedly easy to pitch, fully SIG, 'lights out' dark fabric in the pod, pitches 'as one', but only has one door.

Vango are good quality tents. Excellent leak-proofing.

This tarp could make a good addition to your set up if you decide on the Coleman pop-up.

oh dear....I know that small children do get very muddy out in the field, but I meant, of course, muddy WELLIES.

Ha! Who knows with boys?

Thanks for all the comments. I was thinking today of how much DS loves pottering about in the tent with his toys and how lovely and cosy our bedroom is, and had mostly decided not to get it. Your other excellent points have settled it.

I get a bit excited about tents and camping at this time of year and that pitching video swept me off my feet a little

My current tent is a Gelert Atlantis 3 which they don't make anymore, but I'll keep a look out for something similar as it works really well for us.

Would a vango isis fit the bill?

Yes, thanks for the suggestion. That's the kind of thing, although maybe a little bit bigger than I need (I'm a bit of a short arse so have to bear this in mind for pitching on my own).

I've found two or three now that fit the bill, but I think I'll use my old tent for this summer and try to get a bargain at the end of the season.