help from canvas/bell tent peeps please

[millenniumfalcon]

drying a large canvas tent - say the size of a 5m bell tent - at all possible in a small terraced house with no garden of which to speak, or an utterly foolhardy endeavor?

we have a (small) spare room which is largely empty and one of those heated airer things. alternatively we could take it down the park if the weather was good, but this thing will be heavy, with a SIG too.

[Slubberdegullion]

You see I am so (super saddo) obsessed I never even saw my double entendre there.

[millenniumfalcon]

"Just one photo, no two, one of the front with the doofer and the luscious back end"

not the first time i've heard that request

[Slubberdegullion]

he he he I've been indoctrinated by the earnest canvas folk on ukcs to re-pitch, I've only ever had to do it once though, and I always take it out of the bag and give it an air at home regardless of how hot and bone dry the canvas felt when we pack it up at the site.

Thing is, a canvas tent is like an old friend really, like an Aga or a favorite cake tin. You have to give them the love and then they give you the love back. If I shrunk mine or let it go mouldy it would feel like a crime to all things lovely and good and lasting in the world.

I AM excited for you. You've just got yourself one of the most snogtastic tents in the whole world

Just one photo, no two, one of the front with the doofer and the luscious back end.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeease

[millenniumfalcon]

lol slubber i love how you're even more excited than i am

but i swear no bugger repitches them, they all just spread em out.

will see what i can do re pics, planning to be too half cut to do much more than lounging tbh

[Slubberdegullion]

oh yes, photos. You MUST take photos on the weekend. Many photos from many angles, and photos of supremely nerdy shit, like the rubbers and zips and the De Waard label.

Please please pretty please.

[FlamingoBingo]

Ours hasn't got a SIG but we have managed to dry it by spreading it out in the living room overnight easily enough. We've not put it away sodden yet (ie. when it's actually raining) but if we did, I reckon we could just spread it out again the next night and make sure the bits that were in a wrinkle could be adjusted to be not in a wrinkle to dry properly.

[Slubberdegullion]

aww, how sweet that they'll take it back, not that you won't like it, that would be MADNESS. What's not to like...apart from the weight that is....and the repitching to dry it out

I can just about drag my cabanon down the stairs, putting it into the roof box is a complex task of herculean effort and imaginative swearing. Still the pay off is worth it, when you are all tucked up inside and it is warm and quiet and generally fabulous.

Pitching is a doddle too.

I'm so pleased for you. Will take your camping trips up to The Next Level Of Camping Pleasure

[millenniumfalcon]

lol slubber nothing really to tell yet i'm afraid. i haven't seen it up, had to trust dp, he thinks it's great and reckons i will too. we're off for the weekend on friday so until then it's all a mystery to me. it's an old one but not much used, so in good nick, so they tell me. apparently it goes up really easily, which i guess is standard for all pyramids?

it's about the same size packed as my khyam which is great (should be able to fit all my usual kit in the car alongside it) but it must weigh 3 times as much. i literally can't lift the canvas. the drying will indeed be a challenge

and the lovely people we got it off were so reluctant to part with it they said if we don't like it they'll refund our money and have it back

[Slubberdegullion]

x a lot.

Tell me EVERYTHING.

please

[millenniumfalcon]

the albatros has landed. f* me it's heavy

[millenniumfalcon]

lol cd - see beginning of thread

[CountessDracula]

i am considering a bell tent
how do you dry them if you take them down in the rain though?

[Slubberdegullion]

oh and more



One day, maybe one day, I will have a De Waard

[millenniumfalcon]

i agree (well, i would ) you get the height where you need it plus a healthy dose of roundiness, plus awning space which seals the deal for me. the alby is quite similar in layout to the khyam xl i have and love, with just a bit more room at the sides for storage, but the awning space will make a world of difference for cooking and shelter from rain or (you never know) sun.

seeing it sunday [eep]

[Slubberdegullion]

lol at doofers. Yes, the varioluifel (enormo doofer) would be lots of extra canvas to dry/transport. When are you going to go and stroke look at it?

Mrs B, those Espace tents (6 or 8 ..can't remember) are big aren't they. We Eurocamped first, post DC. Camping under proper canvas was like time travelling back to being 5, lying on my army camp cot bed thing and listening to the rain falling on my parent's orange and brown canvas frame tent....ahh lovely.

The pyramides have the perfect combination (imo) of slopey sided funkyness at the back, and practical boxy standing up room at the front.

[MrsBadger]

last week when we Eurocamped in the New Forest in Espace 6 (or whatever they use)

hence my renewed lust for tents full stop

the Stormhavens were 30yrs old when I was a teenager and were fine - how much can have gone wrong in tumpty-tum years?

agree bedrooms a faff though

[millenniumfalcon]

it has the windy bits and the sun doofer, not the enormo doofer, which suits me perfectly. the enormo doofer looks amazing but more weight, space etc. and i'm not sure if i'd be arsed with readjusting it that much.

[Slubberdegullion]

The church basement tents sound a bit dodgy, and the making of bedroom inners a gigantic faff.

When did you last smell Cabanon Canvas?

It's goooooooooooooooooood.

[Slubberdegullion]

gwan gwan gwan

you know you want to.

You won't regret it.

[MrsBadger]

ooh I am tempted

I do have a good record - used to be able to pitch a Black's Stormhaven in 10min with only a pair of (admittedly well-trained) 10yos

actually maybe I should just get the Stormhavens out of the church basement - bet someone could make hanging inner bedrooms for them and there are three

[Slubberdegullion]

Mrs B, I've just seen on the ebay Qs that the seller has seen the label saying it's a Pyramide VI



Here it is to buy it new.

It really is a bargain. I wonder if people will be put off as it is 20 years old, not that matters one jot as it's been actually used for such a short time.

I got it wrong about unzipping the front panel, you can open out the whole of the front section, by unzipping the doorway fully and rolling up each side to make the front completely open. I'd love to have this feature on my Guadeloupe, would really help cool the tent a bit more when it's super hot (like that ever happens in Wales ha de bloody ha)

[Slubberdegullion]

Oh the albatros is so lovely. One of my faves. In fact when I asked to play fantasy dutch pyramide on ukcs the real de waard owners picked out the albatros for me.

What sort of canopy does it come with?

I think, considering how much they are new, then if what I think he is asking, he is asking, then it's worth it. Cabanons are beautifully made, but the de waards are just that bit more beautifully made


yes please to fist dibs though

Mrs B, I can put my Guadeloupe up single handed in 20 mins, from lifting out of the car to last peg in. They are so easy to pitch it is quite laughable really. There is just one point in the process (putting the front door poles up) that is easier with two, but apart from that it's a one man job.

[MrsBadger]

[fingers in ears]

[removes fingers]

could one pitch it alone, do you think, slubber?

a two-man pitch with a 6mo and a 3yo to keep an eye on aint' going to happen (next summer, this is)

[millenniumfalcon]

in fact, slubber, i'll give you first dibs