New to camping and buying a tent - get much bigger than we need?

[Coriandersucks]

We are looking at buying our first tent and having borrowed an 8 person for the four of us to try out for the night we would like a bit more space (two boys under 5 needing lots of toys and I like my comforts).

Would we be ridiculous to get a 12 person tent? Seen one that the perfect layout and good price but would it cause an eye roll at the camp sites if we rock up with that?

How are you transporting and storing it?

If you have a big car and also somewhere to hang and dry out a big tent I would suggest a bell tent

We had a 5m one, its easy and quick to put up, completely water proof and spacious. We had a toilet in ours,, chests of drawers,, 2 single beds, a wood burning stove with a chimney, bedside tables, ottomons at the bottom of the bed plus chairs inside. it was like a hotel room. Outside I had a toilet tent with a shower in it (heated by the water heater on the stove) and we had a kitchen, with insert sink, plus table and chairs

We didnt want for anything but its huge, costly and quite a lot to set up. However I woujld recommend it, you can stand up and walk around and you're off the floor at night. Its cool in the summer and warm in the winter. We tended to go camping on sites with no facilities at all and often the only ones there, and quite usually out of season in cold weather.

They aren't always going to need loads of toys though and how much stuff do you take if you need a 12 person tent when there are only four of you and two of those under 5? What about a six person + an add-on tent/awning for 'stuff' ?

A 12 person one seems excessive! We're a family of four and have been camping with a four person tent for years. A few years ago we bought an extension that hooks on the front. We're about to buy a whole new set of gear, and are planning on getting another 4 person with a porch area, and a Coleman event shelter. That will give us plenty of space to sleep, store stuff, and cook and eat.
Honestly a 12 person for 4 is a bit ridiculous! By all means go for 6 or 8, but no more than that.

(And we do 2-3 week trips too, not just a night or two)

Eyes won't roll on many sites. I've watched families of four pitch canvas mansions with interconnected 'wings' of extensions!

We had a 6 person tent with 2 'bedrooms", standing hight and seating area for family of 4. We used it for 2 weeks holidays at a time. We had plenty of space, 12 person tent seems a bit to much.

Please also consider the bulk of the tent and that you potentially only have 2 people pitching it!

Was the tent you borrowed 8 man plus living area, or just sleeping space?

We downsized from an 8 man to a 6 man recently (family of 4/5- we sometimes took an extra kid!). However both had good sized living areas. Indeed our current one has a porch (its a Berghaus 6XL Air). Its more than enough really. The 8 man was four bedrooms around a big living area (we like space for a table and chair inside, just in case).

Don't worry what others think.

If you've got the means to transport it, store it and can manage the set up / break down easily, then knock yourself out.

Bell tent sounds interesting will look into that.

we’ve been looking at the inflatable tents as they seem much quicker to put up and the 12 person didn’t look too enormous but appreciate it probably is a bit overkill!

tbh the 8 person size is probably alright it did have a living area which I really liked to have so maybe that and a separate awning/add on so it feels like we have more space would do the trick.

I would say 8 person because in a few years your children may want to sleep in their own little tent. We have a roomy 4 man and small 3 man for our family of 5 as our children are a bit older.

Inflatable tents are good - our Decathlon 4 man can be erected in about 20 minutes

Certain campsites will charge you more for one that size, so that's something you might need to consider.
Definitely go bigger than a 4 man though we have an 8 man tent for 4 of us and it's the perfect size.

We have a 6 man tent and we put the chairs and table for eating under a separate shelter. That is quite big enough for putting in the car boot and pitching it with 2 adults.

I also think a 12 man tent would limit you in that not all sites would have pitches big enough!

There are 8 berth tents of different sizes and layouts though. An 8 person tunnel tent with the living area at the front and a pitch will really be quite big.

Can you get to a big Go or an independent place that has lots of tents set up and get a feel for a few?

I like SK Camping at Godstone just off the M25 (S). They have LOADS of tents set up

You might well find that a 12 berth tent restricts your campsite options.

I have just bought a second hand Outwell Montana 6 and the living is really spacious. Worth a look at this sort of size?

For years my kids and I camped in a not-that-big 4 man and still managed to fit in a camping wardrobe, kitchen, table/chairs etc.

I would highly recommend the outdoor revolution 8 man tents. There is plenty of room in them for 4.

Avoid outwell like the plague.
(speaking as a guide leader with 20 years experience of organising camps)

This is the 7 man we are upgrading to very soon from a 5 man one that has lasted 8 years

I'm sure someone else has mentioned it but please be aware of the weight of the bigger tents and how it will affect the stability of your car. If you are going to take all your children's toys as well as your own comforts then it could be seriously overloading your car and make you all vulnerable to a high speed accident. Even if you're using a trailer, make sure it's packed properly and doesn't weave once you get over 40mph.

Try some different layouts. I definitely wouldn’t go bigger than an 8 man tent and I’d be looking second hand as well so if it didn’t work out I could sell it easily again.

We camp a lot and IME it isn’t long before children want a separate tent next door, although some sites charge more for that.

Id say you want a living area, porch and two pods, one of which could divide in to two sleeping areas. There’s a berghaus answer vango which do this although I imagine others do too.

Gosh so many options. Been looking at the bangs and funnily enough that one @Neverplayleapfrogwithaunicorn !
Good point about the weight too.

we were planning on buying a caravan but found out my car isn’t powerful enough so don’t want to buy a load of kit that’s too heavy for doing this as well!

Vango not bangs

We've got a Kampa Studland 8 man air tent which is huge, possibly bigger than I would have gone for with hindsight! There's 5 of us so we only use the 3 bedrooms (the 4th is unclipped and lives in the loft) but we find that a lot of the 6 man tents had 2 three man bedrooms which didn't work for us. Like PP have mentioned size can be an issue when looking at pitch sizes as some places won't accommodate us.

I think the air tents are quite bulky when packed up. So if you are planning on taking loads of stuff in addition to the tent then that might be a consideration.
We've always had a 6 berth tent for 2 of us (not an air tent) and when we load our car up with the back seats down the car is rammed - although we do camp in a field with no facilities so don't pack light.

That tent @Neverplayleapfrogwithaunicorn looks great and is similar to what I was going to suggest (though we have had outwell for years, really like outwell tents and got the outwell airville 6sa a couple of years ago which has been great!)

For 4 people I find it much more comfortable if the rooms are all at least 3 man bedrooms, with generous length (we are all tall!) so I always discount the tents that have lots of smaller 2 man berths. And our latest one has a lovely big living space in front of the bedrooms, and another large area at the front - covered - which is where we have most of the gubbins - tables, cooking area, bbq and outdoor toys etc etc.

it keeps the inside bit more cosy and calm. And we can open the front up and cook under cover but with full ventilation. Was great when it tipped it down for days last summer!!

And to add - I love the air tent, it’s so much easier to put up, but it is definitely huge and takes up a lot of room in the car. Worth looking at the size of them folded up before you decide I think!