Bell Tnet opinions

[IamTheWhoreofBabylon]

do you have a bell tent
We have had ever all tents and currently have a trailer tent but I would like a bell tent
It would be for 3. 2 adults and 10 year old dc
What sis and would you buy an inner?
I don't know if I am being swayed by fairy lights and bunting

Several tents mostly outwell

Tent
Sorry for all the typos

Nobody with a bell tent?
Perhaps they are not as popular as I thought

We have a 5m bell tent. You can fit an awful lot of teenagers in it.
When DD1 goes adventuring they use it as a base tent and she puts her pop-up tent up inside it. That way she can hold constant evenings parties but still have a private bedroom.
Being able to roll up the sides is good.

Thanks for your reply
Do you use an inner bedroom when you use it as a family or all sleep in the same area
TIA

All our Dc are 17+
Either they use it or we use it
With one DC I would be tempted to get an inner tent.
Oh and we have a candelabra

I have a 3 metre so no option for an inner. It's mostly used for weekends/festivals and is perfectly fine for my needs. If I was going to camp for longer, I'd possibly consider a 4 metre so I could have an inner but two or three nights is about my limit

We have a 5 m bell with inners and tarp. We are a family of 4 and it works for us.

5m, 2 adults, 2 children, youngest is in a pop up travel cot/tiny tent but likely outgrown this year so considering an inner. Mostly to keep my bed from being the play area and sand out in France and to keep us warmer for UK camping. The space is huge so chilly when not the height of summer. I've become an enthusiastic camper now I have the bell, bunting and decent mattresses!

bedhaven what mattress do you have?
Can you fit it all in a car?
My only other concern is that DH is over 6ft and I have read complaints that the doors are low

We have 2 Exped megamat 10cm strapped together they are the same size as a king size bed. Pricey but cheaper than all the previous attempts at comfort!
Doors are low, I'm 5'8" and have to duck. Bit of a pain when you forget things but on the other hand reducing the traffic into the tent reduces the dirt/sand in an open plan area.
We fit everything into a Vauxhall zafira boot and foot wells including large iceytek, mattresses, gas & barbecue, pans & food, bedding (inc duvets) wing awning & poles, bunting & fairy lights. Don't usually need the foot wells on the way home when the food has gone.
The central pole when pulled apart fits perfectly across the back edge of our boot so we make sure the tent is folded up carefully to that length then stack everything behind it.

I have a 3m bell tent with a tarp at the front for cooking etc.
Advantages are; it's really quick and easy to pitch singlehanded, lots of space, seems sturdy and stable in wind and hasn't leaked (yet!), the cream coloured canvas means the tent is always light and bright, disadvantages; it's a bit chilly at night without an inner, the light coloured canvas means as soon as the sun rises its like having floodlights on in the tent (at 4.30am in the summer) so I have an eye mask handy.
You also need to have some space to dry it out at home.

I had a vango beta tent to start with (a 3 man tunnel tent), it was ok as a tent, in that it kept me warm and dry(ish) but it didn't fill me with excitement at the thought of going on holiday in it. I bought the bell tent because I reasoned that it would be my 'holiday home' for the next few years and I wanted it to be somewhere I enjoyed spending time in - sort of like the difference between going on holiday in a nice cottage or a garden shed, both are adequate shelter, but a holiday in a cottage would be much nicer than a shed!

A Dutch pyramid has more useable space than a bell if you are worried about your DH's height. We have got a Dewaard albatros which is a lovely tent. Something like an Obelink Palamos is much more reasonably priced.

British made, you can get bells with a flat front from BCT in Bradford.

Downsides to all big canvas tents is drying the thing and the weight. Ours doesn't have a removable groundsheet so we just put in up outside if it isn't bone dry when we get back from a trip. Longest time 'drying' in the garden is 15 days! It just never got dry enough for the tent to dry.

We have a palamos and friends have a bell. The bell is loads easier to put up but the palamos has more useable space. Palamos is lovely but the quality isn't fabulous we generally end up need to repair tears once a year and we are careful with it.

Using a tent without an inner makes everything feel even damper ime. But the inner ruins the feel of the bell tent.