Pop-up tent... can I?

[TragicallyUnbeyachted]

So, we normally go camping for a week or a fortnight and have a proper 6-man tent and also a proper 3-man tent (dating from when we had only one child instead of three... DH and DS use it now when they do long-distance walks).

But for May Day Bank holiday (when DH and DS are away) I've booked a couple of nights for me and the DDs... want to keep it lightweight and no-frills. And I'm effectively going to be having to put up whatever tent we have on my own.

Would it be entirely foolish to consider, if the weather forecast is good, getting a cheap popup 3-man tent, the sort people normally take to festivals? I'd love to be able to pitch easily and quickly without needing a tall person, but will it go horribly wrong?

How old are the dds? My boys are taller than me now so wouldn’t fit!

I have several pop ups. A small should be fine - get lots of practise at packing it away in the back garden. This is essential! There are lots of vids on YouTube. It may make it easier if you have a helper, just to steady it or hold it while you do the twisting trick. I also have a big one which I can almost manage on my own - there's usually a handy helper nearby. Mine are all Quechua tents from Decathlon.

I wouldn't discount being able to pitch a normal poled tent on your own. I'm just over five foot and can easily pitch my large 3 man tent (190cm head height) on my own.

We have a "4 person" decathlon pop up tent and managed 4 of us for one night when the DC were younger. Now I don't think we would even fit 3 of us...

DDs are 8 and 11. On normal trips DH packs... ahem... extensively and the tent is a real home away from home, but I want to just treat it as a place to sleep this time (we're going to Wowo so there will be lots to do to keep them busy). I'm also not entirely convinced that the 3-man tent is going to be big enough if I went that route. Hmm...

Look on eBay for one or gumtree, they’re cheap 2nd hand! What is wowo?

If you can stretch to it, try the inflatable pole tents. I use a 3 man by myself when camping with the Scouts and can put it up by myself in about 10 minutes.

I think pop-ups have a reputation of being hard to pack away.

We have a 6-man Coleman tent from Costco which I put up and take down on my own.

This is my 3-man Vango...takes about 25 minutes to fully pitch and much easier than a pop up to put away.

Plenty of storage space in the non-sleeping end too.

My XH was also an 'enthusiastic packer' when it came to camping - we had an 8-man steel framed tent for 3 us and used to nearly kill each other every time we had to pitch it, not helped by over a foot in height difference.

Swore I'd never go camping again when I left him...six months later, I ended up buying all new equipment 😚.

Can you not put up the 3 person on your own? Your 11 yo should be able to help lots.

Don't get single skin pop ups, they just drip condensation all over you.