Ridiculously excited about my new bell tent

[Fooshufflewickbannanapants]

That's it really, new 5m bell tent with stove, I'm making rugs and have made some bunting, have a chandelier with fake tea lights...... What else is a must??? Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee *excited noise

Sounds fab, I really want one (have to settle with hiring one for a festival trip this summer). Lots of lots of cushions?

Just wondering if you could answer a question about how dark it is inside this kind of tent? I have a toddler and don't want to be up at dawn....

We are getting our bell tent soon, we are getting a small black festival tent to put inside our tent for dd, she is really really looking forward to having her own special tent to herself (she's nearly 4)

Welcome to the club, they are lovely (bright inside though ice) There is a great Bell Tent group on Facebook where we all help eachother spend money on lovely stuff! Love my Bell.

Dd (20) has a pop up tent to sleep in. Allows her to have a separate bedroom and entertaining area.

ohhh tent within a tent....

I was thinking of just hanging some black sheeting up for sleeping times....

Do the bell tents have any good attachment points for such things?

I also need to persuade DH that we need something to sleep on...he thinks we will just sleep on the ground sheet.

Bill Brown mattress or a futon

they look nice - although there is hopefully some middle ground between nothing and spending that much!

We have teenagers as well as a toddler and they all sleep like the blooming dead so I'm hoping the light aspect wakes them up lol,
Oooh those mattresses are pretty!!! Gaaaah will have to Google then cry at how much I'm going to HAVE to spend on them!

Don't just sleep on the ground sheet!! Most of the cold comes up from the ground, you'll freeze icebeing !!

foo Don't worry I think I won the 'I need to sleep on something' battle :)

I have also completed a mad design for a multicoloured (but dark) tent inner...now to buy some fabric!

CostCo have 7.5cm SIMs in for £30

We find the SIMs much warmer to sleep on than air beds but the question of what to sleep on seems to be a bit of a Marmite one - it tends to be a bit of trial and error until you get the right set up for yourself.

CostCo Sims

My kids have those SIMS they are fab. I have an aero bed ( sorry can't do links on phone www.aerobed-europe.com/uk/p-26305-comfort-classic-single-mattress.aspx it was on 75% sale a few years ago, it's a godsend do comfortable and nice and high.

Icebeing - are you making your own inner? Are there any patterns or templates anywhere?

We use an airbed. Got a super king size 6 foot one from intex for about £20 quid odd on t'interweb with pillow rest. Plenty of space for it in a bell.

You need something beneath you though with an airbed to stop the cold getting through. Sleeping bag or blanket works.

Airbeds all deflate in the end though so last week we ended up buying a.double and.single.from decathlon and joining them together with our superking sheet (DD (5) sleeps with us on camp). Worked a treat. The airbeds were quite shallow but the horizontal tubes were comfortable to sleep on and the beds are guaranteed for 2 years. Fingers crossed these ones last.

Another thing you can get for your bell is a table to go round the pole. You can buy them plain and decorate yourself. Great fun and very handy. I will post link later as I can't do links on my phone.

Oh and search for bell tent groups on Facebook. There are some great ones with good ideas for craft things.

This is the link to the bell tent table: www.hookedonglamping.co.uk/table.html

I see they do ones already glamped now but you can still get the version to paint yourself.

They do other useful accessories for the central pole too - hooks etc.