Family lightweight backpacker tent?

[MayGreen]

We don't have a car and like to find more remote naturey campsites they tend to involve a train-bus-couple of miles walk to get to. We used to go camping with a Vango Banshee 300 2.8kg for the two of us but now have two small kids. Does anyone have any ideas? We've tried a 4 person eurohike tent which was 15kg but it was too heavy and ended up being an exhausting trip lugging everything round. I realise 15kg is considered pretty lightweight for family tents but does anyone know of any lighter ones that still work for a family? (Not too low/flat) Or do we give up and do holiday parks/ cottages until the kids can carry their own gear??

The Terra Nova Etesian 4

Yes we have a Terra Nova 4 person tent, think its 7.5 kg, never backpacked it though #respect. Can't you use 2 small tents and a tarp?

You might find some old blogs by Matthew de Abaitua on family lightweight camping, check online.

I have an American brand no longer available for back backing, splits down into 4 parts and weighs 6.8kg total, kids had backpacks too, little ones, and they carried their own sleeping bags and the pegs

Thanks for the suggestions, I've had a look at the Terra Nova and it looks like a manageable weight. It looks like one room, @NotMeNoNo have you tried it with young kids? Is there enough space to keep the sleeping area dry? The one we borrowed had a sleeping space and a main space and it was hard to keep the main space clean with toddlers. We needed somewhere to remove wet waterproofs and things when it was raining outside, and a buffer for all the sand, leaves, etc they always seemv
to be covered in.
I actually hadn't thought about taking two tents, perhaps that's an idea to try, I wonder if we'd have to pay for two pitches? Finding a tent that split into two equal weight parts would be good too, does anyone know if there are tents that can be zipped together into one tent? Thanks for the blog suggestion I will look at that.

Our tent is a Terra Nova Aspect 4 - discontinued now.

OK so you are camping with public transport/luggage (i.e. potential for trolley suitcase etc) rather than backpacking. Definitely read Matt's blogs/book as noted above. (Although I notice the blog seemed to peter out - perhaps the joys of family camping faded away a few years ago!).

You have to be realistic about what's achieveable with little ones. There is a stage when they need quite a lot of equipment. They will get their socks wet, boots muddy, sandy and knock drinks over. When ours were small we had a tent with no sewn in groundsheet in the living area, just a tarpaulin one, so we didn't have to worry about sand and mud and spills. We used to fold a quarter of it back so there was an indoor grass area for leaving wellies etc. You need a space big enough that you can all keep out of the rain. (you can't just go to the pub with toddlers!)
I would think a Decathlon tent with a bathtub groundsheet would suit you.
www.decathlon.co.uk/p/arpenaz-4-1-family-camping-tent-1-bedroom-sleeps-4/_/R-p-4123?mc=8378237
This is basically all porch but quite weatherproof. The bedrooms can be the "clean zone" and you can fold the groundsheet in when the door's open.

I'd also say, with toddlers, until they get to Cub scout sort of age, don't go too small. You need stand up space to help them get dressed etc. You will be murdering each other in a tiny tent in the rain.

A tarp is great for a lightweight outdoor shelter so eating and cooking (risk of spills/burns) can all be outside, the Decathlon one is a good buy but you can get lighter ones.

We used to have something similar to that Decathlon tent, unfortunately it didn't survive a freak storm one Easter in the Lake District. We did get a full refund from Decathlon, but went back to small mountain tents after that, supplemented with a tarp if we needed more space.

I'm not sure there's any solution that's going to be particularly easy if you need to cart about cooking stuff, sleeping mats, sleeping bags for 4 etc. if you have to carry between two of you

I am not sure this will be very useful for you but when we go regular camping (In swags) we use shade cloth outside the swag and also under the gazebo as the flooring. Any sand and rain goes through the holes and it’s easy to brush off.

We haven't had such a lightweight tent, but get something like an ikea bag that folds up small and you can use to step in to on entry, to get out of mucky shoes, so it acts like the foot bath at the swimming pool. Take a few sheets of newspaper too and bin bags to enclose v. wet or dirty trousers or coats.

Also, have a look at a luggage trolley that one/ both of you could pull along. It would enable you to increase the amount you can carry.

Thanks that decathlon tent looks ok, nearly 10kg is a bit heavier than I was looking for though. We tend to camp in the Scottish Highlands or Northumberland so freak storms would worry me LesserBother!

@Wombatstew what's a swag? Cloths or tarp would be a good idea.

Good thought but I know we couldn't manage a trolley as last time we put the heavy tent in a pushchair and the youngest in a sling and the pushchair was really hard work since we also had backpacks, other bags and two kids to keep track of, we didn't get seats on the train and then the bus was full with no luggage room, then there's normally a mile or so to walk to the site which is harder with wheels.

We've got a good backpack each that ideally I want everything to fit into for our next trip. I'm leaning towards the Vango 4 person tents Skye or Beta 450, www.blacks.co.uk/15980737/vango-beta-450xl-family-tent-15980737

Has anyone tried these?

Swags not really suitable for camping with children in the UK I wouldn't have thought. It's typically an Australian thing, a portable single person mattress & shelter in one type thing. Ditto the idea that shade cloth could be put on the ground in the UK with rain and sand brushing off. More likely to sink into a muddy mess.

We are pretty determined campers but I've got to say you are setting yourself quite a challenge .

It's hard when your outdoor holidays are curtailed by having young DC. You might have to adapt your camping for a few years - maybe more accessible sites, pre-pitched, shorter breaks, use a hire car or Uber. Stick to fair weather and be prepared to simply bail out if the weather turns. I mean it's meant to be fun.

Then you can build back up to more back-to-nature camping in a few years when the children don't need carrying/pushchair.

I used to have the Decathlon tent posted above. It was just me and my husband, so can't comment on what it's like to use as a family. It's withstood several trips to the Scottish highlands, but in the end one of the poles split in several places and was no longer usable. For the price though it was a decent tent for a few years worth of use.

The vango one you post is a bit lower so should be more stable on windy days, but obviously it means less room for manouvre inside the tent. As it happens, we've replaced our Decathlon tent with a Vango 350XL but haven't got around to using it yet.

@LesserBother I though the same - oh to camp somewhere where shade and sand are your only worries!

This is a link to a swag op. It’s not at all light weight so not suitable for what you want. You un zip and get straight into your bed which is why we use the shade cloth outside as a ‘barrier’ which we peg down. Rain (often heavy) runs well through the cloth and it’s textured so helps sand brush off feet. Pp’s are correct though I have never camped with mud so not sure how it will go with that. It is light weight and can be hosed off. Perhaps you can get a small bit from your local garden centre and try it.
www.4wdsupacentre.com.au/led-strip-light-kings-big-daddy-deluxe-double-swag-polyester-swag-bag.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpdqDBhCSARIsAEUJ0hMcEl_wwX7cHS1tK4ZID6b_MQnGnJKTP91_Kuf8dtT2CKw3N6p_lrMaAopTEALw_wcB

I do like Vango, they always seem to be easy to put up, so I might got with one of those. I think you're right @NotMeNoNo we may have to dial it back for a few years and go for sites we could just do train then taxi to. Pre-pitched is also a good idea, although surprisingly expensive compared to camping, but maybe worth the convenience. I just can't decide if I'd actually enjoy it enough to be worth the bother, as it's being in nature rather than camping itself that I enjoy. I love the swag, thanks for the link Wombatstew, I have family in Queensland so maybe I'll get to try one some day. It looks a bit like a bivvy bag which I'd also like to try. Perhaps I should take the kids to a Haven park and then escape out in a bivvy bag on my own in the wilderness instead!

@MayGreen
I hate to say this but if you are worried you won't enjoy a holiday with young children you may have a shock coming . Enjoyment of the parents (particularly of things they enjoyed in childfree days) is usually a bonus!

Reminds me of the year we went to Center Parcs in the Lake District with our toddlers and DH (a very keen mountain/outdoors person) paced the boundaries like a caged animal and eventually had to break out and go climbing near Keswick!

I can imagine how he felt. That's very true, I should probably focus on finding a nearby site where the kids can have fun. I am optimistically thinking that at least in a beautiful location I can admire the scenery during the tantrums and chaos.

We got an old vango Typhoon 300 from ebay. Suits us fine. It weighs 3.5 kilos but we split the tent and poles

I've not camped with young children but staying in cottages I used to post the bulky items to myself "poste restante" at a nearby post office to pick up on arrival. It really helped not having wellies and beach gear on the train. We would then post a couple of smaller boxes home with things we'd finished with / souvenirs.

Have you looked at any any of these? https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/equipment-c3/tents-shelters-c25/four-person-tents-c107

I love the big sur but it's pricy! We went for the wikiup4 which weighs about 2.5kg with the pole, bags and extra groundsheet. Now the kids are tweens it's a squash but the bigger one sleeps in a hammock now anyway. I love the fact it's got the headroom!

Def yes to camping differently with young dc..

It is so much easier with space...if what you enjoy is the nature aspect i would go for shorter trips in accommodation whether that is bell tent/yha pod/family rooms./ national trust campsites with pods....especially camping where you go in the uk....I got to enjoy it sort of but had reset my mind.... shorter trips are better and as they are young go out of school holidays .

We have done haven type places and they are practical especially to extend the season...you don't have to do any of the bar type stuff but it can be nice to have a pool say if its chucking it down... and you want to keep warm! DH really not keen but we just used as a base....

I was going to say camping pods can be great if you need a compromise whilst kids are young. I find we enjoy the fun bits of camping with out the crap heavy wet tent to deal with afterwards I too remember backpacking pre-kids even cutting the handles of our cutlery & the roll mat in half to save weight.... I can’t quite believe the volume of ‘stuff’ we take now! Hope you still have fun