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?

My top tip is to think about what the space is like if it rains. We had a 6 man one with sleeping and living area but the door was a slope so when you unzip to go out if it's raining about half the floor of the living area gets soaked so not usable. We bought one of the porch extensions and that works great as wet stuff stats there and we can use the whole living area.

Interesting how everyone falls into the trap of calling them X 'man' sizes

I’m convinced that some of these men come from a pygmy tribe, or they sleep on their sides.

I'm a seasoned camper, I'd say go bigger, however where are you planning on going? Some campsites just aren't big enough to take a monster tent. What we did (pre children) was buy a 5 man with an enormous extention, so if we did go anywhere with small plots we had the option to make it smaller. We went for a 5 man as we planned to have 3 children, which we now have, however a 5 man does not fit 5 people! We've just replaced ours with a monster 7 man. I'd say you need 2 berth more than there are people to be the right size (12 is ginormous!). We now can't take this to sites with small plots, but there's loads of room and we get a pitch that has electricity anyway so they are big enough for a caravan. Some campsites either say no gazebos or charge extra for one so a massive tent gets round this. Also you'll need a massive car, our 7 man fills our massive suv boot, air tents are especially bulky, just make sure you measure the boot and the packed size to make sure it fits.

Air tents aren't necessarily bulkier or heavier than poled. I have a 6 man Vango air. The pack size is the same as my old poled version, and lighter at 20kilos.

If you go for a tent, I would get a 5 or 6 berth with the sleeping pods at the back and living space at the front plus a porch. That will give ample room if you set the kitchen and table in the porch.
We moved from this set up at the end of last season, and it was a good comfortable size for me, DH and (at the time) 7yoDD1 plus 5yoDD2. We had nowhere near outgrown it.

We now have a folding camper, as DH wanted a proper bed and after 8yrs of much use, the tent was on its last legs. If your towing capabilities allow, they are worth looking at. We now just pack clothes, bedding, a few toys into the car, plus food if not going far. It has made the packing up much quicker, and is quite a step up in comforts for us: toilet, sink and water heater, fridge, grill, and 2 double beds over what we'vehad previously. DD1 is already pressing for her own under-bed pod (an add on that provides an extra sleeping or storage pod under the fold out sections), but the eventual plan is to get the side extension for the awning so the kids can use that as their bedroom. One of the double beds converts into a sofa, so keen to get the kids out of the main trailer so we can reclaim it!