[Closed] Buying a family tent. Things to know?

Depends what type of camping you want to do ..minimilist or on a site with a hook up ?

I would go for a tent one person bigger than you actually need if you are taking everything but the kitchen sink ..but there are others who will offer better advice as we only go once a year ..and I see that time coming to an end as the kids get older ( probably this year will be the last )

It won't be minimalist, just enough to not need a hook up guess. Though that would be nice!

If you're looking for a family tent, one with a 'living' area big enough to stand up in, has space to live through inclement weather with the children, and room to put on and take off wet weather gear!

Inflatable tents are expensive, but brilliantly easy to put up. Vango AirBeam works really well ime. Depends on your budget, but if you want to minimise the hassle to putting the thing up, they do the job.

We bought ours last year when the kids were 4 and 2. Top of my list was blackout bedrooms (kids sleep longer in the tent than at home) and blow up beams. Easy job for me to put the tent up whilst the wife is entertaining the kids. We used it 5 times last year (including 1 night stays away as it’s so easy to erect). Ours was a Coleman 6XL, quite expensive but we are looking at it as a 10yr investment.

Hopefully it will have its first outing of the year in 10 days time....🤞

As psling says,good head height and a bit of space.We used a Vango 400 (Killington) when our kids were small (two boys) . Liked the shape and being able to open up each side was good .

Whatever model you choose,go for secondhand one to see if family camping is going to be for you.

I’ve got a Coleman Mckenzie Cabin 4. Family of 4, 4&6.  although it’s a decent sized 4man with room to sit / dress in the tent, it simply wasn’t big enough when we were trying to eat / change etc when it was pissing down. I’d happily have the 6 man version as it’s brilliantly waterproof. Carpets / base sheets are good for comfort , having a ‘porch’ area is good for wet boots / coats / wetsuits etc to dry - and to lock your bike in too!

having said that, if you think it’ll be big enough, it’s for sale!

Top of my list was blackout bedrooms

We have the inflatable 6L - the blackout bedrooms are fantastic - not just for the kids. As well as the (relative) ease of erection, they’re by far the best feature of the Coleman tents.

Agree with comments so far.  We prefer the tunnel type with bedrooms at the back, living area in the middle that you can walk around in, kitchen/storage/changing area at the front.  All enclosed so no porch as we found everything just gets wet.  Front can be opened right up when weather allows.  Brand wise I'd say outwell, vango, Coleman in that order of preference and, probably, expense.

Definitely worth looking at bundles on eBay from people changing to caravans or just selling because camping didn't suit them.

And we chose a Coleman event shelter to add space to our tent. Works with our van too.

Those fibreglass poles are shite. Unless you only want to use it in fair weather go for one with metal poles.

+1 stand upiness area that's out of the weather. Separate sleeping spaces also really nice!

We had one for a while (Outwell iirc) that had a proper bathtub to sealed inner living space. In practice this was toast warm, drier and no midges.

I'm wanting a Helsport Valhalla though now - with optional living quarters inner and wood burning stove.... £1k plus stove though...

We've got a Berghaus Air 6XL. I'm 6'4" and can stand up in it. Quicker setting up is a godsend when you arrive on site and the kids are hungry. As mentioned before blackout sleeping compartments are fantastic. Also look for built in storage/hanging space. I wouldn't bother with kids sleeping bags, just get them adult ones. Self inflating mattresses are awesome. Pack your car so the things you need first are the easiest to get out. Insect repellent. Torches for everyone. Games. A portable potty so everyone can have a wee in the middle of the night without going outside - we've got some battery operated fake candles so we can see at night and not have to put a torch on.

Oh yeah - make sure the the tent bag will fit in your car/you can lift it.

the tent that @fasthaggis has is great for sitting in and playing games/eating when it's raining.  Recommended

+1 for making sure it will fit in you car but equally the camping mats and seats can take up just as much space if you are not careful.

Liking the idea of blackout sleeping compartments.

I'd say don't go for one where the interior is all bathtub groundsheet.  Because you either step into it with your shoes on, getting grass or dirt inside your sleeping area, or you have to take your shoes off outside which is a PITA.  Some have an internal living space with separate groundsheet, that's basically outdoors, and then you take your shoes off to go in the smaller interior sleeping compartment.

Full bathtub groundsheets tend to be an American thing where you spend all your waking time outside cos it's warm and dry and your pitch has a picnic table and fire pit.  In the UK we often sit inside when the sun goes down cos its cold, or we're cooking and eating inside cos of the rain.

An alternative would be to get a small tent just for sleeping, like a 4-5 man backpacking job, and then get a gazebo for your living.  The big domed ones are great, and you can zip sides in if the weather's poor or it's cold.  You can also just zip in one or two sides to keep the wind out and leave the other two open for views/outdoor feel.  There's also way more space under them than in any tent.

A lightweight alternative to that is to use a tarp instead of a gazebo. Not as cosy, but hardly takes up any car space.

Inflatable tents are expensive, but brilliantly easy to put up. Vango AirBeam works really well ime. Depends on your budget, but if you want to minimise the hassle to putting the thing up, they do the job.

They don’t have to be, the Decathlon inflatables are huge, and not that expensive.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/air-seconds-family-42-xl-inflatable-tent-4-man-id_8357357.html

I’ve got the next one down in the range, and at 6’, there’s about a foot of space over my head in the ‘living room’, and it took less than thirty minutes to put it up, including laying out a separate ground sheet to keep the base clean; pumping it up took about five minutes. Brilliant tent, I had people asking me about it at Greenman, ‘cos I had it put up and sitting outside while most people were still fannying around stuffing poles through little pockets.

If you plan on going somewhere you might encounter strong winds, then an airbeam will probably survive whereas a family-size poled tent will probably end up a shredded heap. Airbeams are easy and quick to erect single-handed - less so with poled tents.

Same one here as CountZero, l recall a longish thread about them last year when I bought mine. Really good tent and simplicity itself.

We have an Outwell 500 something or other. It has two bedrooms & a large lounge . We also bought an extension thing for it which is handy for longer stays. The footprint makes packing away a lot quicker imo. (Dryness issues).ours has a fibre glass poles, a friend has one with metal poles- crikey it’s heavy!!!

It coped with Wales ,Cumbria ,Oxfordshire & Herts last year....:-)

6 or even 8 man. We have a Eurohike Buckingham elite 8 man. That's for two adults and two teens. It has 4 bedroom pods, we use one for storage. We invested in a trailer, and take a fridge, kettle and microwave. We've only camped with this set up abroad and this year we're camping in the Lakes in May and Cornwall in August. I'm going to get a small oil filled radiator for the May jaunt. We're still learning.

Just bought Vango Icarus 500 delux tents for the cubs.  I think that would tick off many of the obvious options noted above.  The poles and fabric are a bit thicker than the cheapos, so should last.  There's a tension band thing to support it in the wind.  Headroom good, and two 'bedrooms' if that's beneficial.  280 at Go Outdoors, topcashback etc.

The same tent seems to be sold as slightly different things so each chain can claim 'exclusive to'.

Otherwise, the simple answer is to pick the decathlon one you like the best.

Trap/day shelter suggestion is a good one - with a bit of care and maybe an extra pole you could possibly rig a tarp as a porch extension.

At the other end of the scale we've used a vango beta 350xl successfully with the kids on a few trips.  Lower and smaller, but enough space to get out of the rain if you need to.

Make sure you get one that erects quickly.  You’ll use it far more often than one that takes an hour to put up / pack away.

How big is your car?

I've camped self supporting but then I've also camped with a massive frame tent. Huge frame tent FTW..

You need plenty of standing space in the living area, and if possible, a separate porch are to take dirty shoes off without getting wet. If highly recommend a carpet too, very cosy. Get some rock pegs in case ground is tough.

Outwell used to make the Montana with a nice proper porch, a mate of mine has one and it persuaded me to upgrade my leaking fibre poled vango. I've now got the Vermont which is bloody huge! Unfortunately it's very heavy too. 2x25kg bags! However, once up, it's solid as, and plenty of living space, separate eating area, wardrobe. It is annoying how long it takes to put up and take down though, especially if it's wet and you need to re erect it to dry out at home.

Love camping with the kids, probably get more relaxing time then any other holiday, even discounting the faff. Just hope it stays dry!

Any decent camping shops near you ? Best thing I did was go to outdoor action in Blackburn, staff where all campers and went through all my wants and needs. Didn’t try and force any certain makes but really did recommend the blowup type and went through the different types.

I was torn between two and then he said “ what car have you got ?” Could only get one of them in the boot because of the pack shape and that only just went in.

Whichever you buy, make an electric hookup a priority. Keeping butter and milk fresh in hot weather is a nightmare without a fridge, or at least an electric coolbox, and a small fan heater extends the potential use beyond summer months. Having an electric kettle is an underestimated blessing.

We got a trailer tent! 2 Proper slatted beds with foam mattresses - King Size in our case. Sleeping compartment goes up in 20mins for intermediate stop-offs. The awning is essentially a 3 sided frame tent and is a right pain in the arse - probably an hour including pegging out, but gives us 5m x 3.5m x 2m high living space. If it rains on camping weekends away with friends, they all pile into our living space and we keep the brews going constantly.

We have a second awning half the depth, which might be easier, but never had it out.

Proper kitchen with sink, 2 burners and grill too.

This was all bought immaculately for a grand on Ebay. Pretty competitive if you consider what you would pay for a very robust 6 man tent, beds, cooking equipment and the wherewithal to transport it all.

We would only change for a more modern trailer tent with rapid pitching awning and sewn-in ground sheet.