Hi,
Haven't officially been away with it yet, but have been to a local site to have a practice run at putting it up. Although we didn't peg it out, we managed to get it up and packed away in about 2 and a half hours. Of course we opened the wrong bag of poles first but I've marked the bags now so we know which is which. We had a Cabanon Athena before and the basic principles are the same. Think we will do the same as you and get some toppers. Our first bit of awning canvas we left zipped on when we packed it away. If you have some tall people it can fold really neatly.But you're right we put the final bit of frame up and attached it without realising that it needed to slot through the canvas first. Still, it's a learning curve isn't it? Now just need to persuade one of our teenagers that they will be sleeping in the undertent. By the way, we don't want to put a portaloo in the toilet bit. We have an old washstand that we thought we might use for our early morning ablutions. Would it fit in the toilet section?
Thanks, Lynn
Not sure what you mean by washstand. If you mean a portable sink unit with stand then it will probably be to big. I think the toilet area is about 2 foot square so you could measure the washstand to get an idea. Have you seen the tent tidy's they have in towsure or even Argos for about £7.50 http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/redirect.asp?redir=http://www.towsure.com/product/902-Awning/Tent_Tidy i think they are a good idea for hanging in toilet area for toiletries such as shampoo, haircare, toothbrushes ect. We usally end up with a carrier bag of crap stored near the kitchen. We are looking at pumping cold water in to the sink at the moment because having the water container sitting on the drainer takes up to much room.Would be handy for brushing teeth.
------------- Nothing matters half as much as you think it does!
We have a tent tidy from Ikea- we keep all sorts in it - aspirins, forks, anything we can't think of a rational place for really. That sounds interesting, pumping water to the sink. We have an aquaroll that sits on a low stand but it's sometimes awkward to get water out. Let us know how you get on. Think our tent will already be weathered by now but we didn't find our last Cabanon a problem so I'm hoping this one will be the same. Noticed the Neptune (Stratos?) is a sort of modern version but they don't seem to have anywhere near the room or versatility of the Jupiter,
we have an old chantilly and found the mattresses a little thin .
we went hunting for more foam to go on top ,we were stunned at the price for just 2" thick,we declined the shopkeeps quote of over £140 for both.
we didnt want to go back to airbeds so grinned and beared it.
then oneday i spotted a pair of almost identicle mattresses at a boot fair with a £5 price tag on the pair ,you can amagine how fast that chap got paid!.we steamed cleaned them back home and they are perfect.
we needed to trim 3" of the side of one to make it the same size as the original ones and the mrs adjusted the size of the outer cover.
trouble is the tent wont fold correctly with both in place ,so one gets laid onto of the folded cabin and secured with the cover (the cover isnt quite deep enough to be rain secure with both mattresses underneath) the other gets rolled up and goes in the car!
beggars cant be choosers