3 or 4 metre bell tent?

[Knicknackpaddyflak]

I need a stand up sized tent, and having been inside a bell tent recently I am a total convert and get why everyone raves about them, they are lovely! I will be camping alone mostly, and have a mobility issue that makes a double bed sized air mat essential at night.

Experienced bell tenters - from what I can see, a double mattress doesn't easily fit on either side of the tent pole in a 3m, and it doesn't look that much bigger than my current 3 man pop up which doesn't have enough room in it for living space during the evening or wet weather. Is a 4m too ridiculously large please? How is it to carry?

3m will be pretty snug. And not much standing room at all.This photo shows you. www.psyclonetents.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/3m4-600x600.jpg

I don't think the 4 meter will be too big, it is a little bit luxurious (compared to a 3 man popup) but that's the point, no? Even with a 4 meter, the double bed may have to go perpendicular to the pole, rather than behind it, if you know what I mean.

They are heavy, I struggle to carry my 5 meter, BUT the 4 meter is quite a lot lighter. I've had ours for 5 years and never actually rolled up the sides, but the "peg in ground sheet" is much less heavy than the sewing in, or zipped in.

Also, some of the companies sell a poly/canvas blend that are lighter, again. I have one as a weekend tent and can't really tell the difference betwen it and the pure cotton except it's lighter. We ordered from here www.camping-outdoor.eu/en/tents-awnings/camping-tents/group-tents/10t-desert-8-8-person-cotton-pyramid-tent-sewn-in-ground-sheet/a-1143761398/

There are some good facebook groups, if you're on there, with lots of photos of different people's set ups and the folks there are really helpful.

Pop that's incredibly helpful, thank you! Exactly what I needed to know. I think 4m it is.

I love them tents. We nearly bought one, but then I remembered I hate the outdoors 🙈🙈
Enjoy OP 😁

No problem. Any more questions, give me a shout. I really love ours, in a totally irrational sort of way. Like, it's sort of a member of the family...

OP, the height of the flat wall at the bottom makes a big difference to the usable standing height. Some have higher walls than others.

The doors on 3m bells are often very low, too. Ducking to get in and out of the door is something I find very wearing. Again, different brands and sizes have different door heights so check the spec very carefully. I THINK I saw that Blacks tents have high walls.

UKCampsite Tent Advice Forum has experts on many brands of Bell tents to add to the good advice by Pp here.

Good luck!

I have a 3m bell tent for solo camping (the soulpad lite polycotton one) and whilst I love how it looks and how quick and easy it is to pitch, I bought a new tent this year outwell rockwell 3 for several reasons.
Firstly, the ducking down to go through the door gets really annoying after a while.
Secondly, you can't buy an inner tent for the 3m bell tents and I found the single wall and high roof made it quite chilly at night.
Thirdly, with unreliable British weather, I wanted a tent that had comfortable, usable indoor space. I didn't like not having windows in the bell tent and the shape of it wasn't great for having a table and chair inside. The bell tent is brilliant in warm sunny weather where you are outside most of the time, but the Rockwell is a far nicer tent to sit inside in bad weather.

Knots thank you, that's something I didn't know and will check urgently! Thanks for the recommendation on the Rockwell too Nanny , I'll check on that. It will be a bell 4 metre with inners (yes, also worried about it being chilly at night without) - what you're saying about the 3 confirms exactly what I was worried about, too small, but in a 4 with just me in it the hope is that will leave plenty of living space too for grotty weather days.

Just I had a meeting in a bell tent - which was novel - and on the spot realised what people were so excited about, they're great! Thankfully I love the outdoors though