Oh my GOD i am in love with my new tents. Yes, that's right, TENTS! and what a bargain, chaps, get over here and admire.

[Aitch]

POP UP, ya bas!

really? with the greatest respect to your dh, they must be absolute morons.

oooh tent porn

Stinky, I saw the cute French guy first!

Agree with Aitch, they are ridiculously easy to fold down - even the likes of me who struggles with the most minimal amount of technicality found it a dawdle.

Groovy - there is a decathlon store in Merry Hill near Brum (train to Cradely Heath and 5 min bus). I went there and they are great, have all the tents out and will put up and down what you want plus link them all up etc.

I will take the shine off dh's halo when I see him.

He thought he was the man as he sorted their tent out. they were clearly crap!

Hello all, you seem very knowledgable and
helpful, so... I'm a camping with kids newbie (in fact haven't set foot in a tent since travelling 15 yrs ago), but we have rashly agreed to go camping for a few days in august and I need to get the gear

Well a tent to start with (but recommendations of other essential kids-camping life savers very welcome...), so the question is - is a Seconds Base XL a good idea, and 2 bedrooms attached? will that be gigantic?
We are 2 adults and 3 kids (medium, small, small), and we would like standing room, storage space, airbeds etc. so will that suit?
Whilst I'm here any recommendations for airbeds? self-inflating? does that work?
thanks..
Last question - is it safe to put in the kids in their own pod (attached to a living area) or should we put them in a bedroom with us?

the seconds base xl is ENORMO, are you sure you need it? my dream scenario for me and dh and two dds as they get older would be three base seconds, set up l-shaped, one bedroom in middle made up with airbeds etc, one living, one storage. buy extra bedroom and at night make the living or storage area into extra bed for me and dh, grabbing airbeds from other room before putting dds down. wouldn't worry about them being 'away' as the tents could be joined up and therefore open and they are in middle. do you understand what i mean? them at the corner of the L.

Thanks for photo Cabanon, that looks like an excellent set-up.

Aitch... just bought a third to do as you dream... Have XL on order (rash moment) but may cancel - thinking of attaching 2 bedrooms and 1 'store' to it. Tried out my two last night at Witches Gusset, but not big enough for our needs. Did you pay 'large tent' supplement for your set-up?

Re our 'needs' - we all snore, and like playing indoor rounders and hide-and-seek!

SP - I would stick with the XL, it sounds perfect for you.

We have an XL as the central living and 2 base seconds as bedrooms, and I am saving up for a third!

Love them. I looked at pop ups the other day for when we can't be bothered to put our proper tent up, but they were tiny and very clastrophobic. I really like these though.

Oh Arctic I am so glad to hear that!

DH has been very anxious today wondering if we have made a huge mistake, and about to make another even bigger one. He is concerned tent will be too big for us, and is worried that they will fall to bits after a couple of years.

We have looked at a couple of tenting mags and as they are not discussed or advertised, he is concerned that this means they are c**p. I think they are great. He does too, but thinks they are 'too good to be true'.

Any reassurance would be gratefully received from more experienced campers

Another advantage I see to these is if DH pisses me off, I can just take a section off and move it to another part of the site! (for him obviously if we do get the XL!)

DH is lurking BTW - hi gorgeous - he is very interested in the opinions of you lovely ladies

Right, have decided that dam the fact I don't need any more tents I'm getting one/some of these.

My plan is to get a Base Seconds (the square one) and also a Base 4.1 (the square one with a little bedroom pod). So there will be a bedroom, a living space (will get a groundsheet for the 4.1), then will use the Base Seconds without a groundsheet as a big porch, dog sleeping area, etc.

Does this sound good?

When we're away in the campervan I'll probably use the Base Seconds as a toilet tent as well. Will also be good to "mark" the pitch when we're out in the van for the day. I hate coming back to find someone is in "my space"

Stripey - Sounds ideal, but I am a novice, so best wait for someone sensible

Hi all
I'm a bit new to posting on here but have been a lurker for a while now.
We have one of these
and it was great when we used it last year that i can't wait for our next camping trip next week.
Wigglesatic, We also had a a really helpful french guy help us with it

I took my XL to ds's footie tournament at the weekend - his coach turned out to be an experienced camper and he says they are the best selling tent in France by far (it is a French make) just not as readily available over here so less well known.

All the reviews on uk campsite are favourable too, so I think your dh can stop worrying

Many thanks Arctic

Perhaps it being a French make explains all the French cuties?