Hey!! all you TENT FANATICS, over here please.......

[LadyTophamHatt]

This year we are going to start buying camping equipment for future holidays, been camping pre-kids and always went on camping holidays as a child.

Ok, Dh thinks we should get a big frame tent. I'm sure you know the thing I mean. Big window at the front, 2 layers of canvas.
I prefer the big dome tents, they look so much more 21st century for a start.

Which is better?

Also if you have any other helpful hints and tips of stuff to add to our list I'd be grateful.

They had a photo of a Vango in one of today's papers, a Cath Kidston design with cowboys, £70 for 2 people.

Big advantage of the Outwell range is that they go up 'as one' and not inner first. Inner first make them harder to put up, take more time, and a real PITA if it is raining when you pitch

so anything wrong with \link{http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&productId=230915&categoryId=33978&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=33978&crumb=34005&varient=&CarSelectorCatalogId=&CarSelectorGroupId=\this budget one from Halfords £99}

would it be stoopid to go for this kind of thing?

Anyone used/got a trailer tent? we were after a campervan but can't afford one as prices seem to have gone through the roof recently so looking at a trailer tent as another option. Anyone got any recommendations?

depends on what the hysdrostatic head was, and also how long you planned on keeping it......it might not be that 'robust' IYSWIM. But a great little started pack

doh .. what's a hydrostatic head when its at home (or away for the weekend)

I don't camp .. DH determined to make me .. I'll give it a go .. just the once ... if I'm away I kind of like en-suite facilities, a tv and phone .. ooo and walls

The HH (to those in the know ) is a measure of how waterproof the material is. It is the collum of water that could fall on one square cm of fabric and still stay dry. Most folk recon that 3000mm is desirable for the UK, the UK army say 800mm is waterproof, but they are roughly toughty types who will wipe their arses on bracken and all that jazz!

give it ago twig, I love it. Mostly because the kids bugger off and play leaving dh and I in peace to read books and drink wine (me< dhis tt)

deffo agree re the wine drinking bit, and the fresh air knackers them out too!

Try \link{http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=3&TopicID=28347&SearchPagePosition=1&search=hydrostatic+head&searchMode=allwords&searchIn=Topic&forum=3&searchSort=dateDESC&ReturnPage=Search\this explanantion of hh} although most of it is completely beyond me!

would a 5 year old and 2 year old bugger off and leave me alone to drink wine ?

ooo I might just be persuaded

hmm, possibly not the 2 year old!

Mine are 9 and 6 and they love the extra freedom that we let them have on a campsite....they get to go to the park on their own! And it think it is good for them *as well as my drinking/reading time

And the simplest things entertain them. We have just come back from a trip to holland, we stayed in a caravan. What did they spend a day doing? Hitting a tree with a stick! Amazing.

LC is dead right about the fresh air bit as well....does wonders for ds's asthma

We will have a 6 and 3 year old this year and their absolute favourite thing is collecting shells and 'pretty' stones from the beach and the washing them outside the tent, keeps them amused for ages! or running round in huge circles seems to be fun too!

I have a HUGE tent. It is supposed to sleep 12 in 3 bedrooms :) We are just 4 of us. DH and 1 have a bedroom, the 2 kids have a room and the 3rd bedroom we don't actually hang at all \link{http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tent-Vango-Colorado-1200-DLX-12-persons_W0QQitemZ8798492508QQcategoryZ82292QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\vango colorado 1200} We bought it off ebay for £250 and have used it for two summers so far. I would defineatly get the biggest you can if you plan to do more than weekends away. We are doing 2 weeks this summer in our tent and when it rains we can put all the table/chairs inside and eat there too.

Don't know if this might interest some of you

\link{http://www.lidl.co.uk/gb/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20060424.p.Self_Inflating_Airbed_Single_\airbed}

Second that! With children and possible rain, big is better! I remember camping with dh with two rucksacks and a hiking tent. Now we have to take a trailer to fit it all in!

agree totaly with Crunchie re the size of the tent. this is one time when size does matter!

We can put the table up in our living area and have been known to play dvds on the 'puter, when it has peed with rain

Have a look at \link{http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Hurricane-from-Ridgeline-12-berth-family-frame-tent_W0QQitemZ8800865678QQcategoryZ82292QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem\this one on eBay} it seems a really good tent, not sure how much it will end up going for though!

i'm disagreeing with everyone on "bigger is better". it depends if you go occasionally for a week or two, or quite often for weekends. bigger ones take longer to put up and down. we do quite a lot of weekends and are really very grateful for the ease of putting up a not too huge tent.

we have a Vango Diablo 400 - very like that Vango Colerado posted below. we find that a "4 person" tent is plenty big enough for us and 3 small dds. one berth for us, one for the girls.

May I jump right in and ask for a link to a montana/monty tent???

LTH - I agree the frame tents look horrid and outdated, the dome/tunnel ones are definitely nicer too look at.

And they look more like tents!!
One of the frame ones on the link was described as a country club - Yuk Yuk Yuk

I've just bought a vango diablo 600 - it arrives tomorrow and I'm very excited (but expecting to see lots of 'oh no, don't get one of those' posts now).
Ours has 2 sleeping pods which are meant to fit 3 people in each, but since dh is ahem..of muscular build, we wanted genorous space for us in one pod and 2 kids in the other. I also wanted the 2 sleeping pods to be seperate as I have strong memories of camping as a child in a big frame tent, and having my dad roll over in his compartment and squash whoever the unlucky child was in the next compartment.
I also chose a sewn-in groundsheet (SIG) for the living area, partly to keep the bugs out, and partly to keep the kids in :)

I tryed for a while to get one from ebay but kept losing at the last minute, and so used outdoorworld website which was the cheapest price I could find.....then found some on the for sale board at ukcampsite.co.uk (camping forum with loads of advice - free to join).

I'm hoping I've made an OK choice as dh is not impressed by the idea of family camping!

\link{http://www.outwell.co.uk/\link to the outwell website}

Just drool!

Cor MB - not only a top teacher but a fount of knowledge on all things tentish :)

fennel, all I mean by bigger being better is that we tend to use our tent for a weeks holiday, therefore big is good. I also fancy - when my kids get a bit older (they are 5 and 7) getting a smaller 'pop up' type one for one or two nighters, or even 2 small tents, one each!!

Can I just creep in quickly and ask if anyone has a Jack Wolfskin or a Vaude tent?
These are a lot more expensive and I'm tempted but not sure if they are worth the extra notes.
I have memories of sitting miserably in leaky tents so want the best I can afford ...