Looking to buy a tent for 2 adults & 2 small DC's- any recommendations?

[ilikeyoursleeves]

We are thinking of holidaying at home this year and are looking at tents. There are 4 of us, me, DH, DS1 (2.5 years) & DS2 (8 months). We would like one that you can stand up in, have a seperate living area and a bedroom where we are all together ie, no separated areas (wouldn't want to take my eyes off DC's at night!). Something good but cheapish, lightweight and easy to put up.

Any suggestions?

pais SO there is a whole cultural with these tents? Hidden box seats and table suitcases? Wow. I soooo want one.

Can you cook in it?

Oh no they are not always open at the sides! They have a ground sheet, so if it is bad weather, you can peg the sides (they have a flap underneath that sides inside the tent) under the groundsheet and it seals it completely in, like the way the ground sheet of a yurt is fitted. If the weather is nice, you can pin the sides up so it sort of 'floats'. It is lovely when it is hot, as where normal tents boil, these are cool and often we sit a chill inside in the heat of the midday sun, all of us, friends etc, reading the paper, with a nice cool breeze.

But, if you don't want that option, you can buy it with a sewn in groundsheet.

It's got to be quicker and easier than any other tent I've pitched.
We've got one with a separate ground sheet, but it pegs to the tent's mudflaps once they're tucked under and we've not had a water problem.
You can get a sewn in groundsheet if that's what you want.

dels i spend the morning tidying and making it just so . You can't cook in it. no. I am sure you can't. BUT, you can buy a woodburner for it .

I have fairy lights for it too.

You can even buy bunting for the guy ropes I am not that sad.

Thank you very much, both of you. No, the option to open up sounds ideal - I think he was just not convinced that it would be water proof. Tbh, I think he still thinks of the army tents of old and visions of camping in those as a child!

We haven't cooked in it.
If it were just me and DH we would probably give it a go. But I do feel uncomfortable about that with DD around.

paisley have you been in yours when it rains? Rain on canvass is just lovely I think (after the first half hour when I was not entirely convinced it was watertight!). I lay there for a good half hour listening to the rain before going to sleep.

And, you don't need seperate compartments, it is not home. It is different. DD has her own little bed, but she just normally bundles in with us.

Oh it is great in the rain. Completely waterproof. We did not have the mudflaps completely and utterly sealed under the groundsheet last time we went as we wanted to lift them up in the sunshine without any hassle. it chucked it down for hours one night. And not a little drop got in. And in the sun the next day, it was bone dry on the outside by midday before we had to take it down.

That is the only downside i guess. If it is soaking when you need to leave, you have to take some time drying it out when you get home, so need some space to do it. And it needs some maintenance (water protecting each year mainly).

This is so helpful, thanks Pavlov. I've just read this out to dh, and even he seems more convinced.

damn you ladies and your fancy tents.... now how can i get hold of one at no cost....

Pavlov, yes. We did make sure nothing was pressing against the sides in the rain. But it it was great. It's such a lovely space to be in if your confined because of rain.
I like it without the compartments too - I love the roundness.
And doesn't the light look nice at night, when it's sort of softly lit up?

Oh I can't wait to be using it again now.

We had a VW camper, but had to sell it last year. We got the soulpad to cheer ourselves up about it. But really the camping has been so much more comfortable in the tent. Room to all get dressed at the same time, walk about, queensize bed.

I'd worried about the size. But many family tents on sites are up to 10m long. Those trailer tents are a way bigger footprint.

Looking at the pictures again. How on earth did they get a double bed, a chest of drawers and chairs to the middle of the off-road field up a mountain with no vehicle in site!?

Don't really see the point of the inner tents tbh.

mis oh does he?!!! how cool! Tell him he must give it a go, it is so much fun, and as paisley says, it looks so pretty, against all the other plastic tent material, it glows lovely and softly in the dark I agree paisley.

I heart my soulpad. Well, er, it is DH's soulpad, his mother bought it for a birthday present. I was confined to it a lot last year as I was suffering with sickness throughout my pg. While DH, DD and friends went to the beach, i loafed around on the bed, reading and dozing, and feeling all hippy.

I can't wait either. Going at the end of April

nappy and beasknees you can look on ebay for them? or in the papers for fairweather campers selling them? There is another company who sells them too, not 'soulpad' ones, but pretty much the same. google Bell Tent and it should come up with it. Don't know if they are cheaper?

del no, no point in inner tents at all imo. But some people prefer the seperateness. And, I am guessing they had an off-roader take it all up there? thats how we do it.

I love the fact that you can actually fit a double bed in it!

Some of the places we camp, we can drive to take our stuff there, and then have to take the cars off site to a seperate parking spot. I love that kind of camping. Can pretend it is wild camping

Oh i am very excited about going again...DS will be 5 months and DD will be 3.9, gonna be great!

I WANT one now, - damn you all........

I wanna big cosy bundle of cuddly covers for me, DH, DS and DD to all snuggle up in. Sod the mess. It'll live in our plastic cloth draped box seats (or the car).

Will have trouble selling it to DH though. He doesn't 'do' floors. He likes modern ridge-tent type things with a full dining set etc etc. hmmmmmmm

dels how you made it sound, all cosy and lovely. It is just that! until a child kicks you in the back Do it. Really. If it does not work out, someone will buy it from you in a flash and you can get a normal tent.

In the meantime, check out this

or this

Oh you awful people, you have started a yearning in me that I can't justify indulging. I LOVE that tent!!! Just out of interest, have you both got the basic 4m one?

Ohh, just found this! I bought bell tent a few months ago from Obelink in the Netherlands, the ones they sell are the same as the ones on belltent.co.uk I mean, the SAME. They even come with instructions in English which mention Camping With Soul, which is a sub-site of the bell tent people.

Obelink don't officially ship to the UK as they have an agreement with the aforementioned company. But their German eBay shop seems to feel no such concern. I got mine via there after trying Obelinks own website and failing. No problems with ebay, just used Babelfish, logged into ebay.de with my UK ebay ID and purchased, and it arrived about 4 days later!

Here is the link to their bell tents page. I haven't checked whether they are still shipping to Great Britian but I think they should be.

Ah, bollocks - on further inspection, they have wised up to that particular loophole. Ah well.