[Closed] Inflatable family tents?

I like the idea of an inflatable tent from a weight point of view

Went through the process last year,finally decided on a 4 man Vango Airbeam.

Very pleased, withstood some pretty high winds and lashing rain on a weekend away in Cornwall.

Had a bit of a look last time we replaced, but they seemed expensive and no smaller pack size than a traditional tent (which would have been a killer feature for me). Our current 8 man (Outwell, I think) takes about 20 minutes to get built now so not much saved there either, though I guess you maybe get to read the paper whilst it inflates!

I have a Vango 6 person family 'Airbeam' tent, and i'd say its a great tent.

[url= http://www.outdoorworlddirect.co.uk/vango-eclipse-600-tent.html ]this[/url]

It's not light at all, so i'm not sure which part of the 'weight' interests you, but really does go up into a usable state in under 15 mins. This is great when i arrive somewhere late at night and need to sort the little people out into their beds as quick as possible. I can also put it up on my own, very easily (which couldn't be said for my previous pole tent) so my wife can sort out the sleeping bits inside after about 10 mins of pumping up the poles. By the time i've pegged it down and put up the guy ropes, all the gear is inside the tent and the kids are asleep!

It's certainly not flimsy and has stood up to some pretty windy and rainy conditions so far.

Just bought an Outdoor Revolution Airedale 4 model.
Quick trial in back garden only so far but initial impression is that it's very sturdy. More so than any alloy or fibreglass poled tent I've been in. Air-beams are lifetime warrantied too.
About 25kg packed, inc pump.
Really quick and easy to erect. All goes up together in about 5-10 mins.
Probably take it along this weekend for Sam Houghton Challenge in Lakes.

I like the idea of an inflatable tent from a weight point of view
??? You like heavy tents?

Inflatable family tents are lighter than regular steel pole family tents?

Ok ignore lighter... A bit quicker and easier maybe 😉

We got one of the Berghaus ones in the sale last year - with a porch which increases usable area if we're somewhere for a long time.

I've not used it in anger yet, but Mrs Dubs can put it up on her own if required.

Watching this with interest, I'm looking at a Vango Capri 500. I'd also be interested to know if the more expensive, heavier-weight tents are actually worth paying the extra for. We'd probably use it about twice a year but I like buying well-made stuff - I've never had a problem with Vango.

Surely the air beam tent overall weight is lighter - but a regular tent has the advantage of splitting the weight between the tent bag and the pole bag.

I haven't bought one yet, but one thing I noted was that the Outdoor Revolution tents have a pressure release valve on the air tubes. I guess if you inflate them to the recommended PSI on a cold night, they are way over the allowed pressure after sitting in the midday sun and quite a few people reported other brands going pop on them, which is pretty catastrophic I guess!

Not quite a tent, but took a Vango Airbeam camper van awning on a recent trip around the north of Scotland - whilst camped on Skye, we endured gusts of 80-90knts and squally showers. The wind was so fierce the awning was semi-collapsing at times but would 'spring back' and remained dry inside

Talking to the campsite owner, he reckons that airbeam tents are more durable than most larger pole-tents - one night last year the only 'large' tents standing after a storm were the inflatable ones. It can be erected quickly, single-handedly too - simply peg it out, pump it up and secure the guys

I love ours. I asked the same question on here last September and plumped for a four man Outwell and I love it. I can se the whole thing up on my own within 15 minutes. That includes guide ropes. If you're setting up on your own, which I am from time to time, then they are a revelation.

Perhaps I'm missing something but my large family tents mostly go up in 5-10 mins... one of them really benefits from a 2nd person but unless its blowing a gale the most time consuming bit can be getting tent pegs in ??

Putting them away usually takes longer if you are packing small....

presumably you can take your fire extinguisher airshot alternative and get it up (missus) in double quick time?

Modern airbeam style tents are pretty fantastic now- but come at a price.

Pretty much twice the price compared to a poled equivalent
Increase in pack size and weight

If speed of getting the tent up is really important, or you ever need to put the tent up on your own, and you can afford it then they are great

We have a smallish car and as my 7 year old daughter tells me "We're not lazy daddy!" so have poled equivalent ...

TM

If speed of getting the tent up is really important, or you ever need to put the tent up on your own, [s]and you can afford it then they are great[/s][b]then just get a pop up style tent from decathlon?[/b]

presumably you can take your fire extinguisher airshot alternative and get it up (missus) in double quick time?

Or connect up your valve to the tent and seat some tricky tyres 😀

watching with interest as I am away camping with my 2 teenage boys in a few weeks. Car camping, and we do a few weeekends per summer.

Have an old Vango that is on it's last legs and about to press button on this Decathlon one :

[url= https://www.decathlon.co.uk/air-seconds-family-41-xl-id_8384152.html ]here[/url]

anything else I should be looking at ? It doesn't come with optional footprint or carpet, but have a tarp that can do the former

Iain, we went to the Oxford Decwthlon to have a look at that one. Tbh, I thought they felt a bit flimsier than the likes of Outwell/Vango etc. Good value but at a price perhaps. Anyway, we just took our Coleman Air Valdes (the 6L) camping at the bank holiday. It was a great tent. Even first time, it didn't take long to erect. I imagine next time will be even shorter.

To be fair, it's all the guying out and tensioning stuff that takes more time (IME). Also, got a cheap tarp from eBay as a footprint. Coleman do a 4 man version as well (not cheap but the quality was good).

dd - thanks for that, really useful. I can't really justify a load of spend as it sees maybe 3 weekends a year. The Vango it is replacing was £100 from GoOutdoors about 6 yrs ago...

stevextc - Member

Perhaps I'm missing something but my large family tents mostly go up in 5-10 mins... one of them really benefits from a 2nd person but unless its blowing a gale the most time consuming bit can be getting tent pegs in ??

Really...? 5-10 mins?! What tents would these be?
I ask because we've got a Vango Orchy 600 & I reckon 30 mins would be a good time if you are doing it with another person & working well as a team.
Just getting the footprint laid out, pegged in & the main tent rolled out into position on top is 5 mins+. Main poles another 10 mins, then the whole lot needs pegging in & guy lines laying out.

I suspect it's not the easiest tent to put up, but with the Wife & I putting it up (we don't work very well as a team in this regard) I reckon 45 mins is good going....and that's not including the canopy...
I suspect our next tent purchase will be heavily biased towards ease of erm, erection.....

stumpy - I'm not saying you need to go on a skills course or anything but... 🙂

a bit of time thinking about efficiency will be well worth it. Pegging the groundsheet - you only need 2 pegs either end to keep it in place. 1 min tops including getting the angle into the sun/slope right. tossing the roll onto the top will unroll it. One person the poles and gets them locked out (top tip - hold onto one end and fling the other end away from you) while the other pulls the tent into position on the footprint - again, 2 pegs each end - you can even use the same two and clip the two together.

You're into teamwork getting the poles in and the thing erected, but split up after that - you can go round pegging (not that sort) guying (not that sort), tensioning and clipping while she sorts the bedding out. 15 minutes to fully done would be comfortable, then you can get the chairs out and have a beer.

Or start with a beer and take your time over it! You're camping.

We bought the Coleman 6XL with blackout rooms. It has 4 air frames. I can put it up by myself in 5 mins with 10 mins to peg out, whilst the wife keeps the kids busy. Used it 3 times and so far it's a huge success. The only issue I can see in the future will be taking to hot countries as the air expands in the frame and can rip apart, but it comes with a puncture repair kit! Some tents have a air regulator, I will have to use common sense and let air out as and when

Really...? 5-10 mins?! What tents would these be?

Same with our 8 man Outwell. It's a big 2 person job to put up and take down (3 if you count someone to keep our small kids entertained!)

Got a Berghaus Air 4 on the cheap at the end of last year and it's superb (for the price I paid.) Pack size is big and it is heavy but can have it up in a few minutes. Superb if it's just me and the kids.

Inserting the poles doesn't take much time, and an airbeam is no quicker for all the other stuff such as pegging out. Plus I assume it takes longer to take down than erect as the beams have to be deflated. I have to say I'm not quite seeing why you'd spend all that money for such a small time saving.

I'm with stumpy, our family tent takes around 30-45 minutes to pitch, depending on how windy it is, how rocky the ground is and how much "help" we get from the kids.

[img] [/img]

Good point, how long/easy to take the air of the beams?

I haven't got a family worthy tent, I can't really face the faff of all the stuff required, plus the size of storing it and carrying it in the car (roof box usually full of stuff, 2 dogs in the boot!)

I like basic camping without all the shenanigans (like bivying and tarping), not sure how I'm going to deal with family crap needed to make them all comfortable. It'll be like moving house each end and take the fun out of it. It's why we've stuck to AirBnBs and self catering places so far. I've said to the kids I'll take them camping this year, but probably just me and the kids, might leave the dogs with the wife

Faff? No idea what you mean benp1:

[img] [/img]

😆

(Maybe the time required to unpack our car impacts a little on our pitch time?)

Not sure about other tents, but the Coleman jobbies have sprung one-way valves (I'm sure there's a better description). To deflate, just push them in, attach hose to the deflate side of the pump and a few cycles gets most of the air out. Then roll up tent towards the valve to squeeze any last bit out.

Folding it is a bit of a bastard. 😆

The bag is ****ing huge!

The blackout bedrooms are excellent.

Really...? 5-10 mins?! What tents would these be?

Probably a fore-runner of
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/arpenaz-family-41-id_8378237.html?utm_source=Criteo&utm_medium=Display&utm_campaign=Retargeting

Just getting the footprint laid out, pegged in & [u]the main tent rolled out into position on top[/u] is 5 mins+. Main poles another 10 mins, then the whole lot needs pegging in & guy lines laying out.

No need to do that .... just thread the poles through (5 of them) the outer then the inner hangs inside... the majority of the 5-10 mins is putting the poles through then it will unless its blowing a gale peg at the corners

I'd not buy a tent the inner has to be put up first ... your stuffed when its raining.. but they also take much longer...

If I was to do it right now it would take longer but I usually stick it up in the garden before anyway (just to make sure I have everything) but its just stick the poles through and the tent is fundamentally erect (ahem) .. then its just a matter of pegs and guys... (more ahem)

To be fair, it's all the guying out and tensioning stuff that takes more time (IME).

Which is why I question the inflatable.... its just replacing threading a few poles (I can't keep the innuendo up) ... but you still need to peg it and then you have to deflate it? Granted the poles also seem to take longer to get out ...

Our set up goes something like:

- get footprint out, unfolded, oriented correctly and pegged out.
- get tent out, unfolded, oriented and main pegs in to stop it blowing away.
- assemble and thread the poles through (3 big ones in a "semi-geodesic")
- missus gets in the tent and lifts the arches from the inside while I try to get the ends into the keys.
- peg out all the guys lines
- adjust tensions
- peg out the skirt
- put up the inner (bedrooms)
- put in carpet and hook up the leccy

Each of those jobs takes us at least 5 minutes. More on hard or windy pitches, or with bored children pestering.

Putting poles through, lifting the arches and getting the ends into the keys are definitely the most time consuming jobs of that. So I can see the appeal of inflatable.

(And we'd still need to put up the canopy, inflate beds, and unpack all the other guff from the car after all that)

We have a Vango Airbeam, it's quick to put up sure, but the main thing that sold it to us was how bloody rigid it was. I hate flappy tents and so wasn't looking forward to joining the family camping revolution - but it's ace.

The lining is already pre-hung, so as soon as the the tubes are up you can get on with unloading sleeping gear whilst someone goes around pegging out the guys.

Taking down is easy, there is a valve that you push to get the majority of the air out (like a big schraeder) and then 10s with the pump set to 'suck' makes it easier to fold.

I'm sure poled tents have come on loads since I was a kid, but the airbeams feel like a big improvement. It convinced my other half that camping with a child could be fun, so we'll use it more. Winner.

I'd second the stability thing. Well, I dunno if it's more stable but it was a lot quieter in the wind.

I'm a little worried about the reports of the beams bursting though. 😕 If it's a hot day, I'd let a few psi out before leaving it for the day. Only takes a few seconds to top the beams up again.

But yeah, having tried it once, I'm a convert. (I'm sure the amount it cost is convincing me to be a convert too. 😀 )

The Airbeam tents have a blow-off valve so you can't put too much pressure into the tubes. The first generation didn't have that & too many people pumped them too hard 'just for luck'.
Nowadays they are pretty foolproof.
One other good thing is that they are very resistant to wind damage, if there is a huge gust it will flatten the tent then spring back up again, a poled tent will suffer damage.
Having said that, we have a poled Vango Amazon 400. It's huge & was only £300, whereas an equivalent sized Airbeam was £1000..

Watching this with interest, I'm looking at a Vango Capri 500. I'd also be interested to know if the more expensive, heavier-weight tents are actually worth paying the extra for. We'd probably use it about twice a year but I like buying well-made stuff - I've never had a problem with Vango.

We have a Vango Airbeam Capri 500 Xl. It goes up in about 10 minutes when doing it on my own, taking it down is an absolute joy, no faffing trying to get poles out (except the one in the porch) Very sturdy, loads of space in them, There's also a side porch option as well. Replacement beams are available from Vango.

It's used way more than our Atakama 5 from Go Outdoors simply because there's less faff involved in putting it up and taking it down. It even goes back in the bag easily!

nedrapier - Member
stumpy - I'm not saying you need to go on a skills course or anything but...

Ha ha. I'd love to see you putting our tent up properly in 15 mins. I'm not talking about slinging it up as fast as possible. I'm talking about putting it up properly keeping track of where the bags and ties are, putting stuff away as you go along etc.

The footprint has 8 pegs for a start and laying it out/orienting it takes longer than a minute, if you want to avoid creases and get it taut.
The tent is to big to unroll by flinging it out. It is folded before being rolled. Once you've unrolled and unfolded it you need to make sure it's the correct way round and rotate if necessary.
The main portion of the tent is a dome, the poles are very long and are definitely quicker to feed through with 2 people.
You also need two people to get the poles into the stops. The first one isn't too bad, but the 2nd one fights the curve created by the first one and it's difficult to lift because of the weight and size of the material hanging off it.

Once they are in, you peg the tent out (8 or 10 main anchor points) and then there is a pole at the back, plus two brow poles.

Once it's at this stage there is generally a bit of tweaking to get the inside flat, or you end up with areas where the groundsheet lifts.

Once this is sorted we normally split into hanging the inside and finishing the outside. My wife does the inside and the bedding while I finish the outer.

Like I say, it's not a particularly easy tent to put up, but no way 15 mins is realistic for a proper job...

Beers are normally opened shortly after finishing up!

We have the Vango Eclipse 600 air beam and it's amazing. Up in 10mins. It's also massive, which is what we wanted. When it rains, the kids have plenty of room in the living area to do what they want.
Weight wise, it's a little heavy, but I can still lift the bag (just ) above my head to place on the racking in the garage, but remember, the bag contains the tent inc groundsheet, pump, peg and a hammer.

In France last year we had some really strong winds hit us and it was as stable as anything. They have a storm system inside that you clip across to stop it from folding in if the wind gets too high. Ours came with footprint and carpet for £850 which was nearly half price, but I've seen the 2016 for £719 last week which is a bargain. (That's £300 less than a set of Fox 36!!)

It's transformed the way we camp as normally the kids go mad while waiting for us to get set up. Now, I put the tent up and my wife sorts the kids out. They can be inside within 10mins of getting to the campsite.

I feels really robust and so far, it hasn't got any battle scars even with the kids falling out of the doors constantly. The zips are really well made too. They also do a sun canopy which we have and a extension for the front, but that makes it nearly 10m long!!

Decathlon popup FTW, literally five minutes for our four man, biggest part of that is pegging.

If you can hold out get one in winter when the prices drop!

4 man Decathlon here. Nothing to compare it with but have been very happy with it. £450 iirc, seems good qual to me (zips etc seem robust) but as I say nought to compare it with.

If you can hold out get one in winter when the prices drop!

"Now is the winter of our discount tents"?

"Now is the winter of our discount tents"?

Richard III was found in a Millets car park...

Weekend before last I camped next to a Eureka Aeris Northern Hill. Not my kind of tent, but I still thought it was lovely. Held up perfectly through the bit of weather we had, nicely thought out inside, easy to put up. Packed down smaller than you'd perhaps figure.

I won't buy anything but an Airbeam from now on.

A couple of years ago we were camped at Horgabost on the west coast of Harris when we had an overnight gale. The tent thrummed a bit, but it didn't seem too bad. At daylight when we stuck our heads out to check we were the only tent standing.

The only quibble is the entrance - there's nothing to stop water pissing in when you unzip it to go out. Not a major problem in summer, but a real pest in the winter. I notice the later models have improved the entrance.
(Which reminds me - must get a flysheet to protect the doorway 🙂 )

The only quibble is the entrance - there's nothing to stop water pissing in when you unzip it to go out.

Get a canopy or tarp:
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/camping/tent-accessories/canopies

That's why we have that green canopy shown in my photo. Keeps the doorway dry and provides just enough space to cook in if required. Ours is the "Freedom Trail FT Universal Canopy" which is £35 from Go Outdoors. Only used it once but seems pretty good so far.

(Fancier canopies are available)

Ha ha. I'd love to see you putting our tent up properly in 15 mins. I'm not talking about slinging it up as fast as possible. I'm talking about putting it up properly keeping track of where the bags and ties are, putting stuff away as you go along etc.

The footprint has 8 pegs for a start and laying it out/orienting it takes longer than a minute, if you want to avoid creases and get it taut.
The tent is to big to unroll by flinging it out. It is folded before being rolled. Once you've unrolled and unfolded it you need to make sure it's the correct way round and rotate if necessary.

Stumpy, I reckon you have the wrong tent... but also a bit of left over scouts ???

I often don't repack the tent between pitches when with a car... I just roll it up (the groundsheet is often wet anyway)

Then I fling it out from the front .. if its really windy I'll leave the car in front as a windbrake anyway..

Once it's at this stage there is generally a bit of tweaking to get the inside flat, or you end up with areas where the groundsheet lifts.

If you have the groundsheet sewn[u] into the inner [/u] you can split this...

I'll often go and repeg the outer a bit later, once everything else is done..especially if it looks windy or if I ended up putting in pegs not quite where I wanted (usually when its rocky ground) but the focus is getting the tent up...

Due to the design that means you can be a bit sloppy and correct later but I still struggle to see how an inflatable can be that much quicker...

This isn't a particularly expensive tent ... from memory it was bought at Decathalon (though in France where they have more choice perhaps) and was a quick replacement to an expensive one that went missing with all my luggage flying from Italy

question - how essential is a footprint ? They seem to come as options on more expensive ones, but not on the Decathlon Air Seconds. I have a tarp that can be folded to approx size....

stumpy, to be fair, I have no idea! Only looked at internet pictures, and it
looks like ours, but a bit bigger with one extra pole and a couple of extra clips. Still, I'm sure you can shave a bit off your 45mins. Putting up ours takes about half the time if I'm actually thinking about it.

One simple investment that did speed up our erection a little bit (giggity) was buying an second mallet and peg bag.

We have a Kampa Croyde 6 Classic Air. The polycotton and air combined make it very big and bulky, almost half of the Octavia's boot. It is however very easy to put up solo and even easier to put away.
Ian C - Footprint is pretty much essential to keep the tent clean and dry when packing away (sewn in ground sheet gets rolled up with fly sheet if not). If you do you own make sure its sits inside the extremities slightly, if not when it rains water will pool between the ground sheets.

One simple investment that did speed up our erection a little bit (giggity) was buying an second mallet and peg bag.

Forget mallets, you want an [url= https://www.msrgear.com/ie/tents/stake-hammer ]MSR Stake Hammer[/url] -

[img] [/img]

Other than that, I've used both the Vango AirBeam tents and awnings and both have been brilliant. They pitch all in one, so basically all you do is peg the corners, inflate three or four air tubes with the pump supplied then peg the rest and guy as needed.

Also, as a few folk have said already, because the beams tend to deform and spring back in strong winds rather than failing catastrophically, they are deceptively tough.

stevextc - Member
...but I still struggle to see how an inflatable can be that much quicker...

It's definitely quicker as a one man job.
Roll it out, peg, inflate, guy ropes. Minimal faff.

Forget mallets, you want an MSR Stake Hammer -

Pretty! But I suspect a little more expensive than the generic rubber headed mallet from the bargain bin at Go Outdoors 😉

And I'm not sure I'd want my wife swinging that sharp looking claw next to an inflatable tent!! 😯

Watch out for those cheap mallets GrahamS - last trip we had I had a comedy "mallet on head" moment as the head came off as I was pegging out the tent. Flew off on the upstroke and clocked me on the nut! 🙂

We have a Vango Solaris 600 airbeam tent and it's great. As has been said already, I can put it up on my own so the Mrs can entertain the kids whilst I do the donkey work 🙂

Nice and tall so you can stand up inside, nice big living area so we can play games etc at night. Will be buying a side awning for it soon so we have a bit more room to store junk and wet gear.

They are big and heavy, but no more so than equivalently sized pole tents (~20kg airbeam vs ~19kg poled, pack size is similar too).

I have an unused footprint for a Vango tent if anyone needs one (it's the wrong size for my tent):

http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/fs-vango-tent-footprint

It's definitely quicker as a one man job.
Roll it out, peg, inflate, guy ropes. Minimal faff.

Ah, yep I guess one-man (or woman)
I've always done family sized tents with 2 adults.... but I also choose family sized tents specifically on how easy it is to put up (which means actually seeing it in person).... (I found more expensive isn't always better in that regard)

I have a trip coming up with just me and Jnr ... so I guess I'll see how it goes with 1 adult and 1 7yr old....(with an attention span of a goldfish)

Based on my earlier post, I went to Decathlon at lunchtime where they have loads set up, outside, in the hosing rain. The Air Seconds Family 4.1 XL is the one I was keen to see :

[url= https://www.decathlon.co.uk/air-seconds-family-41-xl-id_8384152.html?utm_source=Affiliate&utm_medium=LinkShare&utm_campaign=TnL5HPStwNw&utm_content=10&utm_term=UKNetwork&ranMID=41036&ranEAID=TnL5HPStwNw&ranSiteID=TnL5HPStwNw-juoRCV06C7t6KPu1R1oDrA ]here[/url]

Quite impressed with it in the flesh - very heavy rain, place was bone dry inside and not being affected by the blustery conditions. Seemed well enough made for weekend use so have ordered one in.

I take back my original advice on the Quechua ones then iain. Glad you liked what you saw.

I'd say a footprint is handy as a bit of extra protection for the sewn-in groundsheet tents. Just make sure you order something same size or (just) smaller. Something bigger will cause water to wick under and pool between tarp and SIG. Your tent will have a footprint size on the Decathlon website. Note size, go to eBay, search for "tent footprint" and there are any number of sellers selling tarps in a variety of sizes. Pick up a bag of the eyelet pegs while you're at it. For the Decathlon 4-mans, a footprint tarp should be less than £20 delivered.

EDIT: don't forget the pump! AFAIK, Decathlon don't include one with the tent.

thanks DD - the tent footprint size is 4.8 by 2.9, which includes a tapered section of porch area. Decathlon do a 4 by 3 footprint for £13, so I got that, as I reckon the 5 cm each side will be lost under the pegs. Pump also purchased, along with some spare hard ground pegs and a new mallet. some great advice on this thread, cheers.

@iainc - how's the headroom in the XL?

^^^ in the living section it is spacious - I am 5 ft 10 and my head was well below the roof, I reckon you'd need to be well over 6 ft to get close. The sleeping bit is similar at the entrance, quickly tapering down to where your head would be when lying.

That's good to know, thank you. I'm 6ft and quite often find i have 50cm sq to stand up in most tents

I've got the Air Seconds 4.2 XL and it's a great tent. Goes up quick and easy, plenty of space, and has stood up to some fairly horrible weather. Just been to get it out of storage ready for a trip to Wales this weekend.

^^^^ I looked at that one, but couldn't really justify the extra cost - it's usually just me and my 2 boys on 'dads and kids' trips while the better halfs do other things 🙂

GrahamS - Member
Forget mallets, you want an MSR Stake Hammer -
Pretty! But I suspect a little more expensive than the generic rubber headed mallet from the bargain bin at Go Outdoors

Ah, but the MSR Stake Hammer doubles as a heavy duty bottle opener. Not only that, but it leaves the removed bottle top absolutely flat, making it ideal for anyone with one of those beer cap headset caps 🙂

That aside, I think they're about 20 quid, but the thing should last for decades unlike cheapo rubber mallets which routinely snap in use ime. They're also dead sexy and draw endless compliments from passers-by of both genders. 😉

They're also dead sexy and draw endless compliments from passers-by of both genders

Cutting quite a dash down at the annual Serial Killer Camping Club annual jamboree?

Cutting quite a dash down at the annual Serial Killer Camping Club annual jamboree?

annually held at Hoddam, innit ? 🙂

Not any more. Numbers have been dwindling year on year.

Just me left now.

^^^^ that's scarey 🙂 .....heading there for a dads and weans weekend end of the month....

.....and now I know what your tent looks like.

Sweet Dreams. 😉

it's ok, we have a GP and 2 First Aiders in the group 🙂

(edit, if you're going to be there weekend of fri 30/sat 1st drop me a note and we'll grab a pint..)

What's currently also p*ssing me off is the number of tents on eBay listed as "New other" which have descriptions like "thanks for looking at my tent! We bought it last year and we've used it for three week-long family holidays, but it's in really good condition, it just has a couple of little tears" ...THAT'S NOT NEW THEN IS IT?

We have the Air Seconds 4.2XL. An excellent tent all round. I'm 6' and can stand comfortably in the main living area. Lots a really useful well thought out features, such as the ground sheet stops short at the door with a decent lip so you can get in out of the rain and take your boots off on the grass without spreading water and mud all over the living area. Good storage, plenty of family space. It's withstood plenty of weather, and as others have said, in the wind it flexes really well, rather the the usual snapped fibreglass poles of most equivalently priced tents of that size. It's not light, it's very bulky, but as a car camping family tent I really cannot rate it highly enough.

K

(edit, if you're going to be there weekend of fri 30/sat 1st drop me a note and we'll grab a pint..)

Would've loved to , but we're away to Cornwall the following weekend so that weekend is gardening / packing / fitting roof boxes etc.

we got a berghaus air 4 after last year in the sales and asking on here, its great, super quick to get set up and great when you're in it and stands up to weather fine. Family of 4 and me at 6'3" no issues with space. only issues are it needs a porch / canopy, the matching berghaus one is almost as much as the tent was, so will try one of those one grahams has if i can cope with a green canopy on a blue tent! the bag it goes in takes up loads of room in the car and taking it down in the rain is no less a miserable experience than a poled tent and if you're in a hurry you can't just chuck the different bits in hte car and leave, ie flysheet/inner and poles etc its all connected and has to go back in the bag in a specific way! otherwise all good!

Fenboy, the porch for the air4 is quite pricey but it is huge.

thanks mr blobby, we're going to try the cheaper canopy on a trip in a couple of weeks and decide if we need the proper porch then! it would be useful as the kids grow as it almost doubles the tent size!

Couple of Qs

Are you sizing up? I would always buy an extra persons worth of space i.e. 5 or 6 man for 4 people, but it looks like you're buying a 4 man for 4 people, hows the space?

Where are dog owners putting their dogs? Inside the awning or in a room? 1 of my 2 dogs has been camping with me, but that's either floorless shelters (a mid or a tipi) or tarps so no worries about traipsing wet or mud through

Fenboy, the porch for the air4 is quite pricey but it is huge.

If you wait until the end of the season it's a bargain 😉

Are you sizing up? I would always buy an extra persons worth of space i.e. 5 or 6 man for 4 people, but it looks like you're buying a 4 man for 4 people, hows the space?

Mrs Dubs & I have the air 4 for just us. We have the porch as well for a bit of extra room / bike garage if we need it.

right o! ta MRs Dubs will wait for the end of the 'season' and get the porch!