OK so we've decided to take the plunge and get a tent! But which one?

[northender]

We're a family of four, for now we'll only be doing 2/3 nights at a time and probably fairweather camping. dh's family are getting us some basic gear for Christmas and I want to ask my parents for money towards a tent.

I've found the Lichfield Arapaho 4 in argos (found it £30 cheaper ie £90 on a website). It looks OK for us but I'd welcome any advice or other recommendations. Needs to be affordable, if we get hooked on the whole camping thing then we could upgrade in a couple of years.

Have only just come back to this. Thanks all for the advice. Will definitely look for a 6 berth then. mb the advice re the waterproofness is great, was looking at the figures but didn't really know what they meant.

Oh our Khyam is bvery easy, 8 berth yet Dh can do it single handedly! Shape / design is far more important than anything else with pitching IME (tunnel always being easier I think).

Just a note- having looked at rpe-booking for next year, many sites have SHRUNK their pitches to a maximum of six meteres, make sure you take that into consideration!

And for Goodness sake don't buy until the sales!

Lichfield are actually not as bad as you'd expect, we started with an Argos pro-action, went to a gelert which we loved but was a nightmare to pitch and are now too atathced to our Ontario 8 to change 9which is something for us!)

i'm flogging my Cabanon, next year if anyone is interested.

me and ex bought it 2nd hand on ebay, about 4 yrs ago, i think it was about 3 yrs old then. BUT it was used once by us in the summer 2005.

We have split up and its been packed away and stored in a dry barn since then.

I can't remember its name tho. It has two compartments for sleeping, One sleeps 2, and has a solid if you like wall. The other sleeps 4 and has a sort of hang up style cotton divide.

The living area is really big. It is light grey, with green bits.

I will be getting it out in Feb/March, for a look, as I need to sell now as too big for me and dd5. Some of the peg rubbers are perished, but only thru time, and not being used for ages, But no holes, totally great quality, and above all, a great breathable fabric.

O, its sort of 70's style. if you or anyone are interested I'd be happy to keep details and I will be putting it up in my mum's field, to do some pics.

looks like this one,

www.camping-intl.com/products/tents/cabanon/frame-tents/aruba

When's the best time for sales? Someone mentioned after Christmas but is that not when people are thinking about their summer hols?

We went to the British Grand Prix this year (seems such a long time ago now ) and we picked up a brand new huge tent for £12 on ebay.

It was fantastic! The people a few pitches along from us had the same tect and they said they had had it for 4 years and never had a problem. Can't remember off hand what make it was (sorry) but we got it in early January when prices were really low. Might be worth a try for you? At least if you all change your mind then you haven't spent too much