Dome or tunnel?

[nkf]

What's the thinking? Pros and cons?
And how little is too cheap? Seriously, I know you can pay a fortune for a tent but do you really have to. What is a good value one for a family?

Four of us. Children are nine and six but if we take to camping, I wouldn't want to buy another one in two years time.

Okay.
I was thinking that if I spent up to £500, I could kit us out for camping. That has to cover everything. Tent. Sleeping stuff, cooker etc. Likely?

We've never been but I want to
a) do something different
b) not spend so much money on holidays.

We have some stuff that a friend gave us but it's old and the tent is small.

The thing is I have a husband who is mad keen on luxury travel even though we can't afford it. I think I need to make camping as pleasurable as possible or it won't happen. So a portable fridge is a must. And a tent that is fairly easy to put up. And beds that aren't agony.

Will browse.
Many thanks.
What about dome versus tunnel?

www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/preview.asp?id=673

I like the look of this one. Where can I see them for real?

Sorry, I'm so ignorant.

nkf.. that tent pitches inner 1st..

nit ideal if raining as inside your tent will be wet before you even start.

personally i would look for a tent that pitches outer 1st so that if its raining your inside does not get soaked

i agree that a SIG is essential, (though make sure you can lower it at the doors, so you dont have to keep stepping falling iver it, and personaly i would have a HH of at least 3000

also make sure you have a bit in the tent for your electric hook up to poke through!

if you are new to camping at night you wont want to be cold, which means you need more than an airbed and sleeping bag...

to keep warm i use a blanket (a picnic mat) followed by a foam mat, followed by an air bed, then a fleece throw as a blanket (ikea £3) then ME then a sleeping bag and duvet and if cold another ikea £3 fleece blanket

being cold at night is horrible and you really want to ensure that you are not cold!

i went to a tent show last year where there were loads and loads of tents in a massive field all on display. cant remember where exactly but it was in the north of west sussex i think

also make sure you get some rock pegs before you ever go anyway and also some delta pegs too if you can as the pags that are provided with most tents are not that great and you really want to a) be able to peg them into the ground in the 1st place and b) if its windy be able to trust that your tent will stay out and NOT blow .

if you have a SIG get a footprint ground sheet too as this stops the bottom of your tent getting filthy, as then you can hose off a foot print, where as washing the bottom of a SIG is a nightmare (as will invole lieing yourlovely tent fabrob of the muddy ground!

So much to ponder. I need to see them. Will google tent shows.

I went to an exhibition just as a thunderstorm blew in - the dome tents looked substantially more stable than the tunnel tents in the wind...

oh yes.. dome tents ARE much more stable in windy weather!

we have a tunnel. very sturdy. huge living area with two bedroom pods at the back end. Eaxh side sleeping 3. and i xcannot for the life of me think of the make until i go to the garage and look. but definitely consider a tunnel. ours has metal poles running along the length at the sides to can withstand quite strong wind and rain.

We've got an Outwell tunnel tent, it is massive (12 berth) but we take out one bedroom section down one side and can sleep and store all our clothes in the other pods and have a massive living area.

The tent we have is easier to erect than the dome we used to have. We survived Cornwall 2007 and North Wales 2008 in fierce winds and saw many a dome casualty (but I think SIG help as the wind can't whip up through the tent and make a sail, maybe?).

We got some of out camping stuff from Aldi which was cheap. The only expensive stuff we bought was a camping heater and a decent table. Can you borrow some stuff before you invest in it to see if you like it first?

For the space vs. pitch size issue I'd go for a tunnel type one Like the Outwell Montana 6. A lot of camp sites don't like the big dome tents with lots of bedroom pods on them, take up too much space. But we got a bargain Vango diablo 600 so we need to stick with it for a few years.

Thank you, all. I am going to find one of these exhibitions. I realised that I can't choose from description only.

E-bay! We bought a Royal tunnel tent on ebay last summer for £56 , had been used twice is immaculate and would have cost £300+ new. Most are listed as "buyer collect" so do not get as manay bids. Have look (I had never bought anything on e-bay before!)

Hi, have a look at this one, looks like a decent size. Wynnster have a fairly good reputation, and this one has good reviews on UKCS. If you can spend £250 on the tent, the rest is easy.

Essentials like air beds (one for you and 2 for kids) can be found fairly cheaply. Dont bother with sleeping bags, just take duvets with blankets and sheets for the air bed (make sure you put a picnic blanket under bed as the cold will come through)much more cosy.

Cooker just needs to be basic, either 2 small 1 ring cookers or a 2 burner.
Table to cook/eat at.
Chairs for eating at table and sitting out with a beer!!
This seller on ebay has some decent stuff at fairly good prices. I've used them before and the coleman double airbed is ace...

If you wanted to get a fridge, go for a coolbox that plugs into electric. you can normally find deal on these from lidl or aldi occasionally. if this was the case you would need a hook up, Not always cheap, and if you are just running a fridge, might be worth going for a fridge that runs off the car battery.

Just make sure you have enough warm sheets/blankets on the bed and something to cook on, and you're sorted. should be able to pick up things here and there if you are smart, and you should stick within your budget. good luck.

Emma

sorry, in answer to your original question, I would always go tunnel to make sure you would be accepred onto most sites. also space in dome sometimes feels a little cramped, no walls to put stuff up against.

Where do you live. We are in Mid sussex and there is good shop called S and K Camping near South Godstone which normally have loads of tents up, but not at this time of year. Otherwise there was a big display at a place outside Horsham.
We got our first tent last year. I had always camped in France as a child in a trailer tent, and the thought of camping here terrified me. SO I insisted that we had a tent big enough to sit in comfortably with table and chairs incase it rained - and it did! We got a sunncamp haven 800 which is a tunnel tent, but it doesn't have a flat end, it tapers down making it more stable I would think in the wind. IT had loads of guy ropes to help too. It was v spacious as we didn't put one of the bedroom compartments up and would def recommend it. It has a SIG, plenty of windows and you can roll both sides up if the weather is good. It did take getting used to to put it up, but now we are nuch better. Have fun whatever you choose.
There is a good website ukcampsite.co.uk which has a lot of tent reviews on it.