Tell me about bell tents

[flamingobingo]

I have read the threads on here about bell tents and we are desperate for one.

But would love to hear more from bell tent owners/users what the advantages and disadvantages are?

We would be getting a 5m one, btw, as we have 4 children, and probably no inner tent as I find tent bedrooms very annoying!

Yes, yesterday afternoon - a couple of hours before you did I think.

i think it will come in time. i hope so! ours took 4 working days if you don't count saturday.

Hello.

I'm looking to buy a Bell Tent from Obelink, but I'm not sure about which one. Do you think a 4 or 5m is best for a family of 4. Also, what does 'SIG' mean? I keep seeing it mentioned but don't know if I need to get a tent with or without.

Many thanks
Sandy

We are ordering a 5m from Obelink when we get back from hols - v. excited. SIG is sewn in ground sheet. If you don't get a SIG then you can roll up the sides in hot weather but if you get a SIG it might be a bit more secure wrt to inclement weather and creepy crawlies (my analysis based purely on research and no experience whatsoever).

Apparently, from my research, they're fine without a SIG - no problems at all. And you can buy an inner from belltent.co.uk or soulpad.co.uk to go in it if you wanted.

We've got the 5m for our family of 6. Personally go as big as you can afford, I'd say, if you think you'll be camping for many years, as you'll have four adults in there one day!

OK, a positive.

They are definitely waterproof and the sound of the rain and wind on the canvass is amazing.

We found this out this weekend. Camping in Cornwall, Sunday morning, it lashed it down and was horrendously windy. After spending half hour waiting for drips on my head and for the whole thing to collapse, I realised this was not going to happen, and it was wonderful to just lie there in a warm tent, nice and toasty, listening to the sound of the heavy heavy rain so close yet so far away. Went out for a wee and watched it swaying every so gently in a very very strong wind, just sort of floating, very solid, while other tents were making horrendous flapping noises.

(it was not so nice being kicked in the back by DD who refused to sleep in her own bed but thats a different story!).

Another positive - they are warm, keep the heat in very well indeed when it is cold. And when it is hot, they are airy and cool.

Another positive - you can hang hippy drapes and mobiles and solar fairy lights in them, outside of them and they look good when doing so.

Thank you. I think it has to be without 'SIG' then, (can't believe I couldn't work that one out - I'll put it down to baby brain!!) and now I'll try to persuade my husband that a 5m would be best...

...and solar fairy lights - fantastic idea.

Ours is without SIG. Even with the rain, ours was fine. If it is very wet, or you are worried about creepy crawlies, you can peg the mudflaps under the groundsheet. This is also what happens in yurts We stayed in a yurt a few times and no creepy crawlies other than through the front door.

We take it to dartmoor even when we are just out for the day, when the weather is hot, roll up the sides and chill out in the midday sun on scatter cushions and eat strawberries. It means you can spend ALL day outdoors without worrying about heatstroke etc.

Have gone for the 5m without SIG, can't wait for it to arrive.

just got the 5m with zipped in ground sheet from bell tent UK. has been up in our garden through 3 days of horrendous weather, no leaks. zips very good quality. quite heavy but put it up on my own no problem. will easily sleep 5 of us in the back half of the tent with loads of room in the front for sitting, storage etc.

We have a 5m with SIG and, having truly tested it on Wednesday night, can say it is fab. We had wind and lashing rain all afternoon. We pitched in the rain and the only problem was trying to dry off the groundsheet after we'd put the tent up - I went in there for half an hour with some microfibre towels . Need a plan for next time.

I can't get it up completely on my own because it's too heavy to get the central pole in without a second person to snap the last bit into place, but I can do everything else myself.

It has a really lovely feel to it inside and looks great.

No rain came in at all, even with children knocking into the walls even though we told them not too - wouldn't want to keep testing that one though, just in case!

And there's so much room in there for playing in the daytime when it's raining - we had two families in there at one point - 4 adults and 7 children.

We've just got the inner so that sleeping is a little cosier and more private, but TBH you don't need it - I kind of liked sleeping with the lovely shape of the tent above my head. But it would be nice to have somewhere to 'hide' all our nighttime paraphernalia during the day. We plan to unhook the bedroom and fold it all in on itself in the day so we still have most of the tent to use.

Hey - the tent arrived but was four meters instead of five, it was too late to send back so we went anyway - it was perfect and had a fantastic time. The boys loved it. Obelink refunded me for the extra meter. Has anyone managed to fit 4 single inflatable mattresses into a 4m with an inner?

thanks.

As I am a proud purchaser of the Cyber checkout bell tent I thought I'd resurrect this thread to ask those of you with inners a question. How do they attach? I'm thinking of making an inner for mine as I won't be able to buy one (it is 3m).

mine has toggles inside the tent and a loop on the pole.