first tent decision - thinking Vango Tigris 800/Khyam Ontario8/Gelert Horizon8 - any thoughts?

[motherducky]

OK, first camping trip (unless you count last years pre-erected eurocamp holiday). I'm getting very excited about it, mainly about choosing a tent.

I'm thinking these tents because (apparently):

they fit onto all pitches, they are easy to put up, they are HUGE (we briefly looked round the Vango) but cheaper than most big tents, they have sewn in ground sheets.

But I'm just not sure......

Any thoughts?

And which accessories should I really get? (finances tight)

Oh, and does anyone know whether kingsize airbeds and tween-sized readybeds fit into the small compartments?

hi just been wandering round a tent showplace and the Tigris looked good,the Khyam seemed much more robust - thicker floor/fabric etc although seemed darker inside as am sure it had less windows.... if mainly camping in uk would go for waterproofness.....

vanilla - I'm not sure what the canopy will look like as it is on order and not in yet. I imagine it is a large porch at the front where we could keep cooking stuff etc.

We bought our tigris from camping international nr Horsham. Unfortunately their display tent didn't have the porch so we are not quite sure what it will look like. They had a package offer for tent, footprint, carpet and porch so we thought we'd get it all at once. We then bought sleeping bags and lilos and ended up spending quite a lot !

Thank you every one

Right. The decision is made. Vango Tigris 800 - because of it is the biggest, it is 3000 ?hydrostatic head? - a good compromise between the cheaper 2000 of last year's tigris and the Khyam's 5000, and it has a little shelter to stop rain getting in the doors so much.

One small question though - do all the doors, internal and external, windows etc have the mesh only option to keep the bugs out?

I think I'll start a new thread about which accessories to get now..... Then try and find the best deal.

Happy womble, is it your first camping trip too then? How much were they charging for the package deal then, it doesn't seem to be on thier website?

The see through windows have mesh in the top section and the vents had mesh too. Only one door had mesh though, the one with the canopy.

HappyWomble - Yes camping is supposed to be a cheaper holiday isn't it .
I would make sure you have a tunnel canopy or extension coming as that will fit on the side of the tent. The other extensions fit on the end which I don't think is ideal and is a bit hopeless if you need to use all the bedrooms as you would have to take the bedrooms down to use it...... I will try to do a link to show you....

Peachy, I think, said that a HH of 3000 was the minimum in the UK, but also that she would be perfectly happy with that....and she is a professional camper imo .

here
If you click on mar1e's link it shows a bad extension imo, but if you carry on with the thread there are pictures of the tunnel extensions looking good. HTH.

it is a shame that both doors don't have mesh, only one, but never mind.

We've just ordered it!! Just waiting for the delivery now. Soooooo exciting!

I know, I like the mesh too!
Hope you are pleased when you get it. I am feeling a bit responsible now .

OOOh how exciting motherducky, enjoy!

Delivery said 3-5 working days, so I'm hoping it'll be here by the weekend, then we can try putting it up in the garden and I'll tell you. But I'm fairly certain we'll like it - it is huge, and really flexible! Can't decide how to do the sleeping pods though... decisions decisions!