Montanna 6 (Outwell)

[poppyboo]

So is this tent as amazing as everybody says it is? Is it worth the £399-£425 it costs?

Well I really want one. We first looked at them a number of years ago and decided it was too expensive. Since then though we have had numerous smaller, cheaper tents none of which have been very good.

So this year we are going to get one. Go outdoors will price match and give you 10% off the rival price, I've seen it online for £399 so you'd get it for £361.

thanks for the info Lynne. love to hear from you when you've bought it! thanks for the info on the price, very penny saved helps!

I've got one. I like it. Um. What do you want to know? What do people say about it?

LOL, I've heard that they're meant to be great, lots of space, steal poles etc etc so I was wondering if any Mumsnetters owned one!
So here's a stupid question can i cook in the tent or is that a fire hazard? or should i get the front extenstion to cook in....or is the front extension not needed? also have you bothered with the carpet you can get for iit?
How long does it take to pitch? is it an easy pitch?
We are a family of four...we're hoping this tent would give us plenty of space!

We v nearly bought one (alas too small for 3 dc),know loads of people who rave about it. I think you can cook in the side porch door thing,that was going to be our plan.

We went for the VermontXL in the end

We have one ...and we love it!

We have 3 dd's and haven't found it too small
It is very easy to pitch and very easy to put away afterwards (we have perfected the technique to get it back in it's bag )

Our first trip in it was a site in North Wales. The weather was horrendous (rainy and gale-force winds!) and whilst tents were collapsing or tearing all around us, ours stood as steady as a house!

We haven't cooked in it yet (we go with friends who have a huge porch on their tent so we cook in there) but are getting the extension this summer so that should resolve the problem.

We bought ours last summer from Go Outdoors for just under £300 after shopping around and then getting GO to price match and beat by 10%

How do you fit 3 airbeds in the 2nd sleeping bit?

Being nosey!!!

We nearly bought one of these, but in the end got a Vango Amazon 600. It's about the same size but has three sleeping compartments instead of 2. It means our two boys can have their own bedroom and we're in the middle. Makes bedtimes a lot easier. Also has the sturdy steel poles, doesn't leak in very heavy rain and is pretty solid in strong winds too.

It's a lot easier to put up with 2 adults doing it, (although we're both short, I don't think that helps). We can get it up in about 10 minutes and then dh spends ages and ages doing the rest of the pegs and faffing with guy ropes, while I unpack and sort out everything else.

The side porch is the only bit that is difficult to do (there are videos on youtube of the easiest way to pitch). Not sure what the porch is for, either - we use it as pram/coat storage.

We have a the front canopy with a windbreak round for cooking - they didn't do the extension when we bought the tent.

We have me and dh in one compartment and 3 dcs in the other. We cover the entire compartment floor with self-inflating mats and they all have a sleeping-bag.

Um. Lots of space, nice and bright inside, weatherproof! Lots of pockets and things for storage too.

It's a bit tricky to get back in the bag again. And if we have to pack up and go in the rain then we're in trouble as the tent is larger than our garden so can't put it up and let it dry out!

fruitful, how long does it take to get back in the bag, is it very tricky?
is it very nice and roomy inside?

I bought a Montana 6 (+ext, groundsheet, carpet) a few weeks ago.

Prior to purchase I'd watched the youtube video of the Yeomans chap setting up and packing away the tent. I was able to put it up in around 10 mins (not fully pegged out though). Packing it away took about 10 minutes too, I used one of the poles to gauge how wide the folded tent should be before I started rolling. Just take your time, roll slowly and keep it compressed and it will fit back in the bag easily.

The main downside that I can see is down to the bulk of the tent and pole bags - not too much space left in my car.

Mila - we use a double air bed sideways in the pod and the dd's sleep across it. Dd1 is 10 and still has plenty leg room

Poppy - the tent is really easy to get back in the bag once you know how (I think I got the tip from here ...it was either here or ukcampsite).

We fold the first fold of the tent so that it's just short of the length of the bag (maybe leaving about 5cms either side) and then dh and the dd's sausage roll down the length of it to get all the air out (we leave a small gap when zipping up the front door to allow the air to escape).
Once the air is expelled, fold again and repeat the sausage roll down the length. I'm sure that description is as clear as mud! lol.
The kids love it

We haven't had to take it down in the rain though yet, and I can imagine this would take the pleasure away somewhat

I think our problem with packing away has been that the bottom of the tent is wet and muddy. I guess if the ground isn't dry when you pitch or if it's really rainy all holiday then some of it goes under. I'm not sure. We've only ever done festival camping; maybe the pitches are better at campsites...

Anyhow when you roll the tent up you need to get the bottom fairly dry and mudfree so the tent doesn't go mouldy and smelly in it's bag and I think that's what takes the time.

That and packing all our stuff in the car. Now that is a military operation.

The main secret to getting it back in its bag is to make sure that the sleeping compartments are all unzipped before you take the tent down. Otherwise you end up with a big balloon.

And then fold it in thirds and get the kids to roll on it. They like that bit. Especially when its really wet and muddy ...

We love ours too - planning on getting additional space for this summer, but can't decide between the extension and the new awning?

If you use the footprint, it helps with the potential 'mud' issue when packing away - the footprint keeps the bottom of the tent clean and dry.

We've also got the carpet - nice and cosy. We use ours for long periods away during the sumer holidays and DH would only be persuaded to go camping if he was guaranteed some creature comforts - I'd say the Montana is well worth the money.

We have this tent and love it! We have two DDs (5 and 3) and another baby on the way and I hope there will still be room! The girls have self-inflating mattresses (although usually they end up on the floor so I'm not really sure why we bother) and there would be plenty or room for a third. We cover the floor of their room with a fleece for when they roll off so they don't end up with their cheek stuck to the floor .

It's dead easy to put up, hasn't leaked a drop of rain on us (despite some pretty horrendous rainy camping experiences) and we cook in it (with the front open). I want to get the front extension though for sitting out in the evenings and for cooking.

One thing I would recommend is buying the footprint groundsheet for it. That way the bottom of the tent won't get muddy and you can gauge exactly where it is going to end up.

The side porch is really useful - we used to use it for the pushchair, but now it's where we keep the pee bucket

We bought one second hand in the off season (after consulting MN at length) and are taking it out for the first time this weekend.

Ooh, footprint groundsheet! I didn't know they did those, I feel a purchase coming on.

And carpets! Snort - I can see dh's face if I said I wanted to spend £100 on a tent carpet. Pity. Although do you have to unpack it and hoover it when you get home?

Have fun Prof Layton!

Oh get the add ons.

If you ever resell it you will get far more if you used a footprint; even more with a carpet.

We had our last Outwell for 7 trips and got £125 less than the total purchase price from new when we resold a few weeks back- result! And it was becuase the carpet and foorprint protect the SIG which is the biggest damage risk in most tents.

it's also obviously a protection bonus if youw ant to keep in the long term, and great insulation so explands the seasons you can use the tent too.