Righty.
We have a requirement for a 4 person (3 x adults plus 1 small dog) tent for occasional use.
Ideally has separate sleeping and living area.
Must be easy to erect plus be able to shed rain.
A neighbour has a used Vango Airbeam plus we have looked at various Decathlon offerings.
So...go for inflatable or traditional poles?
Recommendations please.
Inflatable decathlon works great. Dark and cool stuff makes a difference. I'd go for their bigger 4/5 man, the living space on the smaller one is stingey
Quite liked the Wild Country Etesian 4, possibly more so because I somehow lost it somewhere. Easy to put up, can stand in it and doesn't pack to a ridiculous size.
We have a Vango Air beam tent now pack size isn't an issue. Corner pegs in and pump. Few more pegs and done. Easy for one person to put up.
Wife's Guides have just got a Eurohike Air600, if there's a 4 person version, go for that.
Wild Country
They can suck a shit before they get any more of my money.
Nice designs poor company with poor back up.
A far cry from their pre buy out reputation.
+1 for what ever decathlon dark and cool is the size you need. Great bits of kit.
The immediate question that needs asking is how big is your car boot?
If you've got a mid sized hatch you might want to give the air tents a swerve. They're brilliant but they're more bulky when packed and there's little option for splitting the pack down to more manageable parts.
If you've got a big estate or MPV then less of an issue.
Also consider an open ended awning/porch to the front to give you outside space under cover for cooking and sitting. The smaller your base tent relative to the number of occupants the greater the value of that I reckon. I'm contemplating one for our 8 person behemoth just to have a dry place to de-shoe and cook.
No recommendation on model but might help your decision
I just got a second hand decathlon air beam, only had it up in the garden briefly but it looks great. Decent dark bedrooms, can stand up in it, loads of space, feels very solid etc. Very easy to put up and pack away. It's bulky and heavy packed though.
Nice designs poor company with poor back up.
That's a shame, I had amazing after sales service from them a few years back.
Decathlon Air Seconds. Separate sections, from finding a suitable spot, to having the tent up and sitting watching everyone else struggling with poles not fitting through the appropriate bits took less than thirty minutes, I think about fifteen, and that included putting down a separate tarp, can’t remember the correct name; footprint?
Did take longer to take down, but that’s not too much of an issue, and I was doing it all on my own. Brilliant things, and not stupidly expensive for the size of tent. I have a double self-inflating mattress, about 15-20 cm thick as well - sheer luxury.
We have a 4 person Decathlon dark air beam tent. It's absolutely brilliant.
The dark fabric makes a massive difference.
No poles except 3 small ones for window canopies, so up in minutes.
Remember to take the little poles out before you deflate and fold it.... 😬
Agree with the comment about assessing space available in the vehicle.
We've got a selection of various tents and the Coleman air beam one we've got is superb, but it is very bulky.
Have you considered getting a smaller tent (or tents) and a separate shelter as a living /mess area?
Out of all the setups we can do, that's probably my favourite and the most flexible. If the weather is good then no need for the shelter so less setting up/packing up time.
If the weather is poor then enough space under the shelter for cooking and /or friends to sit under also
Posted before, but same as CZ
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15 mins to erect and stood up to bad storms infinitely better than the pole tents around me
It's not a huge space for 4 people though
