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Just after opinions really. We're not looking to change our tent this year as we've only had 1 trip out of it so far. But how often do people change tent?

At the moment we have the Aztec Palacio 4 man tent and we consider it excellent for our needs.  Even with us using 1 pod for each child and then us sleeping in the middle in the living area. The living area is so big we can do this without needing to move our bed during the day.

But with all the recommends that happen, i'm always dreaming about our next one! 

Look after your tent and it will last several years.
What you do find is that several people have more than one tent for different occasions - a week away, a weekend away,  how many are going etc etc.
If you are happy with your tent and it suits your needs, then why change it?

hi

we started camping in1998 bought a 2 man dome tent just for 2 adults and 1 dog went camping once in it and upgraded bought a 4 man frame tent went camping for 2 years in it then my son came along decided not big enough so up graded to a 6 man frame tent used this for 2 years then my mum got a static van so stop camping and we now have a 1 year old girl and my son now 7. last year bought a 4 man dome tent for weekends not big enough so just bought a 8 man dome tent hopfully this one will be big enough and last,

5 tent in all

and it will last if i follow some simple rules

no looking on the web

no looking in camping shops

no going to shows

and finally blind folded when on camping holidays lol

The main reason we have a nylon tent is because there is no way we would be able to get a canvas one dry should our camping trip end with it being wet, we don't have a large garden nor anywhere in the house big enough to open up a large canvas tent. When first starting camping we considered the possibility of a trailer tent, but we would have to store it somewhere when not camping, and don't know of anywhere in the area, plus there is the added expense. We now have a dog and so are going to have to buy a trailer, and that problem has arisen again, don't know where we're going to keep it

That said i am perfectly happy with ours, I often look at frame tents and think, hmm yes that would be nice but at the end of the day, just know it's not for us. I do find our Campus Indiana 8 very sturdy and we have camped in very strong winds and rain, all we've had to do is tighten the guys up again.

We only have one tent, we've had it about 3 years, if we got another it would have to be a replacement for the current one for the same reasons above, we don't have room to store another one!

Quote: Originally posted by TraceyD on 02/3/2008

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The main reason we have a nylon tent is because there is no way we would be able to get a canvas one dry should our camping trip end with it being wet, we don't have a large garden nor anywhere in the house big enough to open up a large canvas tent. When first starting camping we considered the possibility of a trailer tent, but we would have to store it somewhere when not camping, and don't know of anywhere in the area, plus there is the added expense. We now have a dog and so are going to have to buy a trailer, and that problem has arisen again, don't know where we're going to keep it

That said i am perfectly happy with ours, I often look at frame tents and think, hmm yes that would be nice but at the end of the day, just know it's not for us. I do find our Campus Indiana 8 very sturdy and we have camped in very strong winds and rain, all we've had to do is tighten the guys up again.

We only have one tent, we've had it about 3 years, if we got another it would have to be a replacement for the current one for the same reasons above, we don't have room to store another one!

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Quote: Originally posted by Safeway56 on 02/3/2008

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Quote: Originally posted by TraceyD on 02/3/2008

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The main reason we have a nylon tent is because there is no way we would be able to get a canvas one dry should our camping trip end with it being wet, we don't have a large garden nor anywhere in the house big enough to open up a large canvas tent. When first starting camping we considered the possibility of a trailer tent, but we would have to store it somewhere when not camping, and don't know of anywhere in the area, plus there is the added expense. We now have a dog and so are going to have to buy a trailer, and that problem has arisen again, don't know where we're going to keep it

That said i am perfectly happy with ours, I often look at frame tents and think, hmm yes that would be nice but at the end of the day, just know it's not for us. I do find our Campus Indiana 8 very sturdy and we have camped in very strong winds and rain, all we've had to do is tighten the guys up again.

We only have one tent, we've had it about 3 years, if we got another it would have to be a replacement for the current one for the same reasons above, we don't have room to store another one!

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Won't it feel the draught ?

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We have two tents a small one and a large one.  The small one is 4 years old now and the large one we are hopefully be taking out for the first time next weekend.

If you look after them well, a tent should last you years BUT once you start buying them, its hard to stop

I actually threw away my last tent but two when I moved down here, as there more bits broken on it than working and it had a few little tears etc. A year or so later, I bought a little 4 man dome tent (you could only get 4 men in there if they were little!).

A couple of years after that, I met my husband. He had a little 2 man dome tent, so we used mine and his would occasionally be loaned to friends who came with us.

After a couple of camping trips in my 4-man, we decided we needed a tent big enough to stand up in, so bought a bigger 5 man dome in 2003. That served us well for many a trip and saw us through a fair few storms, although we found the lack of headroom in the porch a pain in the neck (literally, in my case). After a few years, and a particularly windy holiday at Three Cliffs Bay on the Gower, the elastic bits that hold the sleeping pod up had stretched so much that it billowed in and was effectively half its original size. I thought about sewing new elastics on, counted how many there were and decided I couldn't be at rsed! Plus it still wouldn't have head enough headroom in the porch and with a second dog we really needed a bit more living room. We still used the little 4-man for occasions like camping overnight at parties etc, or for lending.

Then we bought a cheapo Pro Action 6-man tunnel tent which was perfect in terms of its size and layout but died one windy night in the Dales, when 3 poles buckled, two snapped and one of them ripped the outer. Argos gave us our money back without quibbling and after looking about for the rest of the season we settled on a Khyam Excelsior which we haven't even put up yet!

We still have the 3 dome tents in the loft. We can comfortably accommodate several people, should we ever have lots of friends who want to come camping but don't have tents!

One important factor to remember is that manmade tents get their waterproofness from having a layer of polyurethane (PU) bonded chemically on the inside. UV from the sun degrades that chemical bond, so the actual life of the tent is determined by how much UV exposure it has before it loses its waterproofing layer. This can be as little as 10 weeks. (Though if that is used just for a 2 weeks hols a year, your tent will last 5 years). Once the PU coating starts peeling off it cannot be re-attached, and water resistant treatments on the outside will not replace the function of the PU coating. I would say a maximum of 20 weeks UV exposure is all you can hope for.

Cotton canvas is UV resistant and that is why cotton canvas frame tents can keep going for 20 years; they are not as affected by the sun and their waterproofness comes form the swelling of natural fibres when wet, thus sealing to little gaps in the weave of the fabric.

The jury is still out on how long the new poly-cotton fabrics will last as they have not been around long enough; manfacturers seem confident that it will last longer than purely manmade fibres, but none are claiming it will be as good as cotton canvas.