Peachy, that tent you linked to... seems like good value, can Aitch ask you amateurish questions about it?

[Aitchooo]

link{http://www.outdoorworld.org.uk/khyam-ontario-tent-free-groundsheet-p-1802.html?osCsid=8a9bc9c54ee12c2b9b76e88f00485e32\this one}

can you tell me what it actually does for starters? can one stand up in it? (6ft DH has bad back).

bugger.

although it's probably too big for us... or is it? it's so cheap...

Hellooooo Aitch

yep you can stand up, in fact it has a head height of around 2 meteres! I also have a didgy back so ciukldn't bend myself much.

The two big bit really depends- it is big but imo thats a good thing, and because its a flexible tent (ie you can take the inner tents out) you don't always need 4 rooms. Most poeple would say add a minimum of 2 to the number of people in your family to get the berth size you need anyhow.

personally I agree that it is extremely cheap and for a name like Khyam, great value. Its because (I guess) Campus produced an almost identical tent last year and Khyam now sell Campus as Khyams so you get Khyam quality but they haven't had loads of development costs. IYSWIM.

Personally I would say grab it, its an excellent tent imo (and I know my tents LOL)

Anyway its a tunnel tent, which means a good height and very simple to pitch. It has 3 inner tenrs, 2 X 2 beds and 1 X4 but the 4 comes with a detachable divider. It has huge windows which si really good as I dont like dark didngy tents, esp. if it raisn and you're inside- makes it seem gloomy. It ahs a SIG (sewn in groundsheet)- whether one likes a SIG is personal, I find it best as it is warmer and minimises bugs. If you use a sig though its best to put down a footprint first as if you damage the SIg ou've lost the tent, the site I last linked to was giving the footprinta way free iirc.

We looked at every tent from every major supplier and did lots of reseacrh 9we camp 7 or so times a year so crap won't cut it) and this really did seem to be the best.

but i'm pmsl at the fact that at the moment there's only the three of us, me, dh and the baby... however looking at the 5 and 6 man tents it still seems cheaper. what would be the disadvantage of more space? do i have to pay more fees?

there also seem to be (more expenisve) ones available that have spiffy porches attached, would that be good for scotland?

A few sites charge more, most sites won't though, if you are in Scotland this tent fits the caravan and camping sites size spec and they have loads of sites up there (have a look at their website).

the only other size implication really is the bag size and weight, if thats OK then go for big.

Porches are fab but check the design- detachable ones like this are useful in that they can be removed quickly in windy consditions (open porches can be a wind risk) and and you have trhe option of detaching to fit smaller pictch sizes- this tent in only 3.5m wide without the porch. However on our old Tahoma (have you looked at them? new on ebay same price would also highly recommend and perfect for you as well, 190cm high) we found the enclosed porch invaluable for storage space- space always needs to be found one way or the other.

If you need a tall rent then you are going to get a big one- got my Mum one for Christmas and she can't bend due to serious pelvis problems, so had to be full height. We got her a gelert satellite 6- this would also work for you.

Hang on:

\linbk{http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Gelert-Tahoma-6-person-tent-sewn-in-groundsheet-2007_W0QQitemZ150111289033QQihZ005QQcategoryZ16041QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem\tahoma}

satellite (apparently the satellite is cheaper elsewhere, not sure- got Mums as a one off somewhere)

now this is lovely, same ish price and would suit

Personally I think the Ontario or any of these would suit, the other choice perhaps- same site I linked to the Ontario- Gelert vario, another tall reliable tent.

HTH!

that's an excellent deal!

ooops dodgy link for Tahoma

You won't regret any of those tents, just go for preferred look. if you want more reviews look at uk campsite as their message boards contain loads of reviews.

After the Indiana, have to say i'm inclined towards that vario for you.

funnily enough, that's the one i was looking at. does it have a SIG, though?

Nope, thats the only down side BUT it has a decent ground sheet and the pods have their own built in SIGs so the sleeping area is insulated.

Dh and I spent lunch yesterdat attemoting to design a tent with interchangeable pods (so extendable for longer stays, shrinkable for weekends) made of recycled plastic bottle fabric with a zip in SIG to keep everyone happy LOL! Sounds like you'd have been our first customer

How about the Coleman? (bottm of the links) that ahs a bathtub style which means that although not sewn in it still provides i the insulation / bug free benefits whilst being replaceable if for example youa ccidentally strolled in wearing stilettos

so does this actually take me back to your tent, but effectively using the mid-section as a porch cos we'll only be using one of the bedrooms? the other side left as living/storage?
right, and i know that you are going to piss yourself laughing, but how do i cook? i have hazy memories of a camp stove thirty-odd years ago, has the technology changed much?
h x

like, there seems to be mention of electricity! how does that work? [virgin]

You need an EHU, basically a weather proof and safe way of plugging into the campsite mains. (they have a blue plug in end and sockets at the other end like an adaptor. They cost about £70, but let you use things like light, hairdryers, DVDs and even (in France when we hired it) a Fridge!

yes, tbh it does take you back to mine LOL!

cooking ah yes. either get one of those all in one units or we have

this is what we have (under the griddle there's a burner and it also comes with a wok atatchment) but this is what we had last year, has a griddle and a burner underneath and was not quite enough for five, would be ideal for 3 I rekon!

we have EHU and have never used it (despite Dh being a leccy type LOL)

Will let MB advise you on that

Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh

forgot Aitch

you do know they do an Ontario 6 man (ours is 8)?

And Dh says look at hyam yale

here

can't believe I forgot the 6 man

EHUs are good, but tbh I would only bother using one if I were going camping for a week or more.

They do let you use stuff like DVDs etc if the weather gets shabby. But I realise this is anathema to 'real' campers to go our wellie booted up to enjoy what the emelemnts have to throw at them! Me, I'm a wuss!

Having a rented fridge in France was great. I meants I didn't have to shop too often, and gave me somewhere to store the food away from ants etc. Plus I have to have my white wine chilled darlink!

Never really use it for lighting, prefer lanterns that you can recharge before you go.

we used to have an Osokool, it was a fridge thing that my grandma had in 1910, i kid you not. you poured water in the top and it kept stuff cool. as the name suggested...

I've just ordered an elctric cool bag. Don't know if it will be any good but we have a problem with space in the car so can't take a conventional electric cool box. We need an electric one as some of the sites in the New Forest that we use don't have shops or ice-pack freezing services and i want my white wine chilled I'll let you know if its any good.

okay, the only remotely camping-ish thing i own i bought in tkmaxx about 5 years ago... it's a cool box on wheels with a long handle, right, but it's also a fold-out table and has two folding stools attached to it... was that stoopid thing to buy? i think it cost £20 and i figured if i ever had a child they could use it was a colouring in table. i got Done, didn't i?

Is it small then aitch? if not then it will probably be ok to use. How big is it folded down?

pmsl, it's huuuuuge. well, it's the size of a cool box. bu bigger. [Done]

Hi Peachy, could you just hand over DS1s nintendo DS to Sallystrawberry when you see her as I'm seeing her soon, thank you.

Ulysses sorry didnt see this but have posted it back to you today (thought Dh had done it, he thought I had ) but should be with you tomorrow or day after.

Dh says all you need to do is find a unit (ebay or somewhere) with the screen broken and get the inners put inside your unit- I expect your brother (is that right?) could do it easily enough. its the actual circuit board that is damaged but its worth repairinga s the screen etc are quite expensive in themselves. the other alternative you have is to sell as a broken unit screen intact on ebay and use that cash to go towards a new one.

I am sorry about the delay I hope your ealise it wasn't intentional!