Hi Gear Kalahari 10 Elite Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Hi Gear Kalahari 10 Elite

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Hi Gear > Kalahari 10 Elite Reviews

Current Model?
Berths:
Weight:
RRP on date added:
Bedroom inners:
Living area groundsheet:
Pitching Style:

Yes
10 (more 10 berth tents)
32.20 KG
Ł500.00
2
Fully Sewn-in
In one

Average User Rating:

9.31/10 from 91 reviews

Viewed: 258747 times

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91 Reviews of the Kalahari 10 Elite Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

By: TomandIs Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2016 Rating: 9 from 10

We previously owned a Coleman Magellan 9, which was a fabulous tent and did us about ten years of good service. We'd weatherproofed it once, but basically it was perfect for maybe four or five camps a year with two adults and (eventually) four children—but finally one of the main poles buckled in a massive downpour in the New Forest. This meant we had to hastily buy a replacement (we had 40 minutes to get to a Go Outdoors 20 minutes away, and make our purchase) unless we wanted to cancel a fortnight's worth of UK and French camping.

So the Kalahari 10 deal (with footprint, carpet and porch) seemed like a good upgrade in size, if not quality. The price was good: it was on a crazy offer of about Ł300, and we were in a tight spot with no other real options.

We still miss the pod layout of the Magellan (which had a central area with three zipped pods off the right left and middle), plus small porch. But the layout of the Kalahari is pretty good, with four sleeping areas, two at either end of the large central area. It certainly beats the tunnel tent design of most other large tents we've seen, where everyone sleeps in the same area. With four children ranging 7-15, we wanted the option to stagger bedtimes, and on rainy evenings have somewhere older children / adults can go to play a card game or similar, without being too disturbing for those trying to sleep.

I love the extra room created by the porch—this means the central living area can hold all the indoor type stuff (like towels, boardgames, books etc) that you may not have room for in pods and want to use during the day, and then the more outdoor stuff like wellies and footballs can go out in the porch, still covered but not messing up the carpeted area. (Also love having a carpet! Would never have bought one separately, but it makes it much warmer and cosier.)

We have all our cooking equipment and food in the porch too, so there's plenty of room to cook, and if it's wet / cold we can eat in the central living space. This layout segments all the different equipment and stuff very effectively, and makes longer camps (1 week+) much calmer and easier to manage.

The pockets down the centre of the tent aren't amazing—they're big but can't cope with much being put in them. The Magellan had a a separate hanging pocket space, and more flexibility in terms of hanging things up out of the way. The central cord/hook in the middle of the Kalahari living space just means any lantern hits everyone on the head all the time!

The main concern I have (as raised by other reviewers) is the zip quality. Right from the start, the seams felt under a lot of pressure, and I'm not sure how many years they have in them. On our second season with the tent (after just three trips in total since buying) a main pole bent and snapped. We had it replaced at a Milletts but it cost a few quid, about Ł30 from memory.

Overall the tent is pretty robust, goes up well and quickly for its size (about half an hour total with 2 experienced people)*, and is perfect for us in terms of size, living space and pretty near perfect for layout. The build quality is not as convincing as the Coleman, which never had any breaks, snaps or snags in 10+years of hard camping. But the design is better from a waterproof perspective: the tent height is higher and we never have any leaks, even in deluges, high winds and electric storms.

I really enjoy camping in the Kalahari, even though it's less distinctive than our dear old Coleman Magellan, and as long as the zips hold out, I'll be a happy camper.

*(We recently bought a Vango Woburn 500 for mini-camps, when we're going for one or two nights somewhere; the kids sleep in the 2 pods and we sleep in the front bit. This is a fun quick solution for impulse weekend camping when you don't want to spend 4 hours packing, 2 hours pitching and setting up stuff, and the same at the other end taking it all down and putting it away again!)

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By: Ruth Grossberger Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2015 Rating: 10 from 10

This tent is fantastic. It's big so great for a family and gives plenty space. It's easy to put up and really doesn't take that long considering it's size! The porch is a great extra which gives another extra room, really useful for storage. We've managed to stay for 3 weeks with a large family and have been really comfortable! We used the Kalahari 10 for about 6 years and had really good use out of it before we decided to replace it this year with the Kalahari 10 Elite. It even withstood gale force winds and still was in perfect condition after! It's well worth investing in for a great holiday. The only downside is that it is harder to find sites which will take such a big tent.

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By: Happymomof3 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 10 from 10

We have the Kalahari 10 we love this tent big enough for our family of 5 had 3 brilliant summer holidays 2 weeks at a time stood the test with summer rain and winds you just need to make sure it is 're proofed to have the best benefits porch is also a welcomed bonus for extra storage like pushchair we used a gazebo for cooking in it is a great value for money tent just make sure you buy the deal works out cheaper at go outdoors.

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By: Jimmijemz Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2015 Rating: 9 from 10

We've camped in this twice now for around a week each time.

It takes 2 of us 2 hours to pitch & get everything in set up (including bedding & kitchen set up). We had comments this holiday on how impressive it looks! The 1st camping trip

It held up to some nasty rain & wind & held up no breaks rips or leaks. Loads of living and bedroom space. Porch is ideal for keeping shoes & drying washing in the rain! I took off one point for the Zips, they regularly catch the material and can be hard to open, I do wonder how long they'll last. We returned our 1st porch as the 1st time we went to zip up the door the zip broke! The replacement lasted the whole of our last holiday no problems though. I'd recommend this tent if you want/need the space.

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By: Loubielou5 Reason: I've used one Made in: 2015 Rating: 7 from 10

These are big tents which are relatively easy to put up. 2 pods for sleeping, large groundsheeted are in middle (fixed). Back window needs watching that cover stays up with velco at top. After a week camping, we had real trouble getting some of the poles apart. The central section has 2 bends in it and we couldn't get these apart without boiling water to heat the metal. Even then 2 poles had to come home intact. The straight ones are fine. This is on a green Kalahari with total black poles

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By: Trevor h Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2014 Rating: 5 from 10

OK, so it's huge, can't fault the space at all, makes for easier family camping.

Pitching is painless, so another plus.

I have now owned two of these, first and second returned due to faults. The first had rips and tears all over the place and the second (shop replacement) turned out to be a repaired return! The groundsheet leaked like nobody's business. Water seeping through, ruined tent carpet and the smell was horrendous!

It's a real shame because I really love this tent! I've given it two fair cracks at the whip now, I won't get burned by a third!

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By: CJAngus Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 9 from 10

We have owned the Kalahari 10 (blue version prior to Elite) since 2013. We bought the bundle deal from GO which includes footprint and carpet.

Love the living space which is ample for our family of 5. It is easily pitched. No issues with leaks.

We camp regularly from March-October.

We added the porch in 2014 which provides fantastic extra space (we use as our kitchen) although I loath pitching it as I can never get it to 'sit' right and it gets a bit lairy when the wind is up.

This was my first tent and I have no regrets with this tent, excellent introduction to camping.

We will certainly buy Hi Gear in the future.

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By: Bullybite Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2012 Rating: 6 from 10

Excellent size, loads of room for kids to play in even on a rainy day. Does shuffle around like a giant jelly dessert in the wind, however it seems to hold up well. Ours leaked after a night of light rain. This was only on the second trip out with it. I think to sum up, it is a big tent for not a lot of money, however don't expect it to perform as well as some similar sized tents which are twice the price.

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By: Kmbatley1981 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 10 from 10

Love our tent and even when we have tent envy we speak to the owners and discover that the tent envy was not required! lol. When we need to look for a new tent we will be looking at the same model but the lighter colour. Easily sleeps 10 and you could add more people in the middle if only for a short time. Kids all had their own rooms this year. Porch is fab too - We use it as the kitchen area.

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By: Monstro Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2015 Rating: 10 from 10

Was really looking forward to our first weekend in the new toy and wasn't disappointed. Was also nice that 4 people came over admiring it.

Pitching wasn't difficult, first tent I've had a footprint for and it was handy being able to position the tent exactly where you want it with it. Took us about an hour but we weren't rushing. Got the tent from Go Outdoors on a deal with footprint, porch and carpet and the porch made it, having the cooking stuff out in it made the expansive living area even bigger. Bedrooms are a great size, easily get 3 adults in the big ones but realistically the smaller rooms could only fit two kids not adults. I'm 6' and there was loads of space above me in both the living area and bedrooms.

Great that both doors and windows have mesh, really helps keep the tent cooler when sun is shining. Another handy touch is the storage pockets outside the bedrooms, 24 really handy cubbyholes.

Bought the bigger tent so on rainy days there's space for our two kids to mess around, space isn't lacking in this tent, living area is massive and great with the carpet down especially with bare feet on those cold mornings.

Thunderstorm first night and we all stayed dry, no leaks anywhere. Wouldn't hesitate recommending this tent to anyone.

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91 User Reviews of the Kalahari 10 Elite - Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

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Manufacturer's Description

An updated version of Hi Gear's extra large tunnel tent, perfect for relaxed family camping holidays.

The Hi Gear Kalahari 10 Elite is a spacious and stable tunnel-style tent with two large partitionable bedrooms in a face-to-face layout, roomy enough for you, your family and all your gear.

Pre-attached high-visibility guylines, reduced pole sleeves, and sewn-in polyethylene groundsheet make pitching the tent quick and easy.

The bedrooms comfortably sleep five at each end of the tent, and have breathable polyester walls. Bedrooms can also be removed, to give you extra storage space, or room for dirty gear.

The huge living space has two large windows and hanging storage pockets to help keep it tidy, organised and liveable. Multiple vents along the roof help air flow throughout the tent.

The sewn-in groundsheet combined with the fire-retardant polyester flysheet (with 4000mm hydrostatic head) give you a fully sealed and ventilated internal environment, so you'll be completely protected from draughts and sustained downpours. The two doors can be propped and extended out to use for extra shelter from rain or stretching the space out for more room if it's sunny.

Other useful features include the water-repellent zips and an electrical cable access point.

... there may be more info on their website

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