What is your tent- and why is it good?

[glitterkitty]

...or if you hate it also why?

Mine is Outwell Harford 'L' with carpet, doormat and kids room . I like its lots of doors and headroom so I dont get flies in my hair when I stand up.

Your tent sounds great Glitterkitty.

Ours is a Vango Diablo 600, purchased second-hand last year from another lovely MNer and used three times so far. We like it cos its big! We like a bit of camping luxury and couldn't do hardcore minimalist camping. It has a large living area (with carpet), two bedroom pods, and a big porch which we use as a kitchen/storage area. The only drawbacks are it is inner pitch first and takes quite a while to put up. The only other small niggle is I don't think it is very 'sociable' when camping with friends because of the porch bit. Our friends have a tunnel type tent which has windows and a big door at the front. That is the kind I want next (but DH has vetoed any further camping purchases ).

I know a lot of MNers are big on Bell tents but I have to say I really don't 'get' it - what is that all about? They have just one big living area, no SIG i.e. bugs aplenty and not much room to stand up, plus v. v. expensive. ????

(runs off before being shot down in flames...)

We have the vango killington , was choice between that and diablo.
Has been a great tent for us large living area still with the porch section that diablo has although not seperated.
Good sized bedrooms for the 5 of us although ds does share with our clothes!

Love love love our Royal Winnipeg 6 man - it's a big tunnel tent with huge built in porch and an extra annex with door on the side so you can have a separate "front door and porch" when it's raining or use it to hide all the clutter. The large living area did it for me - DH has even been known to set up a TV and comfy chairs and have a few mates round to watch the Formula One!!!! (ok, sshhhh, he only did it once)
I could actually quite happily live in our tent for a month!

Vango spectre 3 man Perfect for me dp and dd. its so much bigger than the old two man we had when dss was small but hten we need more space now we are older We also have a smaller vango for 1.5 people for the occasions when dss comes along too.

I think mine is a Coleman Bispace 400. I'm ashamed to admit I don't actually know!
It's definitely a Coleman and 4 man, and looks a lot like the ones online, but mine is all one colour. It's about 10 years old though so they've probably changed the design.

I've decided today though that I am going to get an Outwell Nevada L. I wasn't sure because I like having a canopy, but today I realised you can buy that as an extra.

Wiggle - I'm glad someone else agrees with me about Dome tents. I can see them being nice for couples, or people who are remarkably tidy, but I'd go nuts not being able to stand up, stuff everywhere, and no groundsheet. Okay they have the zip up thing to let the cool air blow through on hot days... but how many of them do we get?
Maybe if I ever got to go in one I'd change my mind though.

Outwell indiana 8 - love it cos its easy to put up, has loads of head room, has loads of space, has a front canopy which we cook under if weather is bad, has pockets for all of your niknaks and most importantly has never leaked despite the fact we always get torrential rain everytime we go camping

Outwell Montana 6 (Monty)
He's like the daddy of tents. Boring and a bit well errm plain looking but is very dependable.Bags of room,sturdy, big big big, good for long stays. Pitch in one ..easy peasy, single skin but gets too hot too quickly and hard to cool down. Porch is pretty useless...and annoying
Terra Nova wild country Halo (Terry)Smaller,handsome, cleverer attention to details (2 way zips , good porch area etc), thicker groundsheet than the Monty, Double skin. Pitch inner first then fly which is a pain and a bit fiddly tbh but once pitched,is nice and taut and the double skin means it remains at a more even temperature inside. A lot smaller than the Monty though...tend to use it for short trips

I love them both but Terry has stripy button-up curtains and corner net pockets and i'm afraid that does it for me.

argos 12 man tipi, great cause we can put 4 small tents inside as bedrooms, keeps very warm with all that insulation, big middle area, windows..

Vango Aspen 700 DLX. Bought it off Ebay last year and it is fab but very very large!! We also have a smaller tent for weekends which I think is a Suncamp or something??

Can't wait for better weather so we can go camping again

Cabanon Guadeloupe (Canvas Pyramide - some photos on my profile). I love her. 20 min pitch, warm in the cold, cool in the warm, no condensation, SIG, smells of canvas, quiet, strong, looks lovely.

For long camps (week +) we also take a polycotton utility tent (also on profile) in which goes all the cooking stuff/stove and the plastic boxes of gubbins. I much prefer having a seperate area for cooking in. It is a child free zone

For weekends we go all minimalist and take two Outwell popups and a tarp.

Bear Lake 4 - love love love it......it's cotton, stays up in gales, not a drip of rain has ever come in, the floor is zip in and really really thick (have had a cheap vango in the past and you could feel blades of grass through the floor..very surprised how much I noticed it )
www.yeomansoutdoors.co.uk/products/tents/2-4-man-tents/outwell-bear-lake-4-tent.aspx

its plenty big enough for us (we are only 3) but have had 3 more sleeping in and 8 of us in the living space comfortably....but not too big had a Monty before and it felt too big!

downsides;
it is bulky when packed and not the fastest to pitch...
is too plain for glamourous accessories ..dh has convinced me bunting/fairy lights etc do not go with utilitarian green/steel tent

so am now looking for weekend tent...

Outwell SunValley 6. It has a big living area, porch area we can cook under, big "windows" and is quick and easy to put up. I love it.

Also have a popup for teenage boys and their socks and a 3 man dome with extended porch for festivals, weekends and garden campouts.

Just googled your tent Batteryhuman and v. jealous , that is exactly the type I would like (if only DH wasn't such a meany who won't allow me to get another tent or any more camping equipment )

we had a lichfield madrid. you don't hear much about lichfield but they make v. good tents. we camp in scotland so it was v. robust adn v. comfie. lots of room adn we could stand up in the living area.

Vango Amazon 800. It's absolutely enormous. You can do acrobatics in it. There's so much space we don't know what to do with it! the front opens right up, so in good weather it's fab. In bad weather you can fit two lots of tables and chairs in (we often camp with friends) and still have plenty of room. It has 3 separate bedroom areas, so the DCs don't squabble. It is sturdy, waterproof and has really good ventilation. This will be our third summer with it, and I don't regret buying it one bit.

Vango Amazon 800 here too... usually 7 of us camping, and we have a full size camping table (seats us all), and tons of stuff..with 5 teens we take a lot of things like guitars, amps, singstar and portable tv..(really!) Microwave ....

I could park my smartcar in it and not notice! Takes a few people to put up but we adore it and get lots of use out of it. Since we bought ours 3 years ago several of our friends have copied !!

I agree with OP - what is the fuss all about with bell tents? What am I missing?

Outwell Florida 6 with extra extension which is huge and airy. Sewn in ground sheet, all the cooking stuff stays outside under the canopy. It weighs a ton so we only use it for 3 nights or more. here

Easycamp Boston 500 - weekender tent that basically a baby Florida that I can put up on my own. Sewn in groundsheet and full head height throughout - I'm 5ft 9 and can't be doing with stooping all of the time. here

Outwell Oregan 3 - teeny tent for when dc's go to grandparents and dh & I head out to camp in a field at the back of a pub . Goes up and down in less than 10 mins. here

5m Bell tent. A thing of beauty.
Reasons to love:
you can stand up easily,
masses of room inside on wet days,
can roll up the sides on hot days (yes we get them even in this country!),
takes me, on my own, 20 mins to put up,
can withstand a hurricane or a heavy rain storm,
is very quiet to sleep in,
did I mention that it is beautiful??

Downside is that you have to live up to it and admirers are often very disappointed at our unglamness when coming out of our gorgeous canvas home.

Vango Colorado 800dlx - it's the daddy because:

It has 3 sleeping pods
One sleeping pod for four people is fab for myself and dh
2 entrances for cool summer breeze
sep groundsheet so inner stays dry if you put it up in rain
bigger interior than our living room
you can stand in it if over 6ft!

We are Pimms type campers so have the footprint, carpet, sun extension, wardrobe, kitchen etc lol!

I want to get the new extension but dh is putting me off as the pitch will be bigger than a Winnebago needs ha ha!