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Topic: Change of polyester setup 4 Soulpad Bell?

mitzionline

27/8/2014 at 9:17pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: Cabanon Barbados & Cabanon Guadeloupe

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Had our Outwell Nevada + front canopy for 2 years + loads of kit. It's lots to carry in the car so we'd like to minimalise.

We are considering trading for a Soulpad bell tent. The 5m one with zipped in groundsheet we saw this week (and went inside) was lovely and spacious. We'd want a "sail" type canopy to go with it for cooking outside.

Amongst other ways of paring down we are thinking of using thick sims instead of camp beds. Suitcase stove instead of gas bottle type stove.

Questions we have.

Interested to see if anyone else has done a similar switch and if it worked ok.

How long do the bell tents take to pitch?

We're wondering if 4m square would feel significantly smaller than the 5? (althoug we'd need to look before committing, opinions would be appreciated).

What are they like to dry out if wet?

What are they like for insulation from the cold/heat?

Advice much appreciated....

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Tynxuk

27/8/2014 at 9:58pm
Location: Sunny Suffolk (West)
Outfit: inflatable dome Palamos6 frame tent

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We've had various tents and when we had the 5m soulpad found it difficult to get warm in the colder months hence keeping the 4m. The 4m is significantly smaller than the 5m and not big enough for all 5 of us for more than a few nights even with a drive away awning as kitchen diner as is just big enough for 4.5 beds our clothes and changing/entrance space.

Bell tents are quite quick to pitch, definitely quicker than our pyramid and drying is pretty much the same for any canvas tent.

I've already mentioned how cold the 5m bell tent was, I made a full liner for the 4m which does seem to make it cosier but never got round to making one for the 5m never had a problem with being to hot.

Blue Stripey Kitten

28/8/2014 at 8:22am
Location: Norfolk Cambs Border
Outfit: Soulpad 5000-Hybrid-G

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Currently sitting in a 5m Soulpad in Arisaig. We have a fan heater with us and ended up switching it off last night as it was too hot. The night before we had it on all night as it was frosty.

Very easy to pitch, I can do it on my own in about half an hour. Then it takes another 1.5hrs to put everything in and do the bunting & fairy lights

We are just using 10cm sims on the floor at the moment but do have camp beds we normally put them on. I just couldn't be bothered to put them up as the take up do much room.

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GlamperDuffs

28/8/2014 at 8:52am
Location: Devon
Outfit: VW T6 and Glawning Bell Tent

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We have a 7m Bell Tent from Boutique Camping.....We previously had a Canvas and Cast 6m Bell Tent and sold it early last year for the new Outwell Wolf Lake 7....We used the Wolf lake on 2 occasions and went back to the Bell Tent due to the time it took to get the Wolf lake up! We just find the Bell Tent super quick to put up and looks pretty cool too....Would definitely recommend.

Gareth29

28/8/2014 at 1:02pm
Location: Lincolnshire
Outfit: 5 m zig bell force 10 trigano ridge

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Yes the 4m bell tent is quite a bit smaller than the 5m, I know this as we have a 4m one in the family. You loose quite a bit of standing up space.

Ours was to accommodate 2 adults and 2 children (3 & 9) and the 4m just wouldn't cut it.

It drys the same as any canvas tent really. Think of drying times comparable to a pair of lightweight jeans on the washing line. Ours just fits in the garden too, with around 30-50cm gap to the fence on some parts (We have to tie the guylines really short or to hooks on the fence.

The flymesh is why we chose to go with Karma, the 4m is from somewhere else, I can't remember at the moment. But yeah, really happy with it so far.

The 4m nearest (although looks the same size in the pic!) and the 5m Karma in the background.

The tent up in the garden, just!!

Happy to help if you've got any more ???'s.

Post last edited on 28/08/2014 12:57:55

Post last edited on 28/08/2014 12:59:15

jelboy53

28/8/2014 at 5:19pm
Location: Cumbernauld Scotland
Outfit: Monty 6Icarus 500 Halo 300

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Most of the bell tents I see on here are pitched with no inner tents for sleeping in....Saw one the other week with two inners inside....Couple using it did say it made a big difference comfort wise both in sleeping and general keeping the tent warm of an evening....Theirs was 5m tent....And they were camping for a month...Had four nights of wind and rain while I was camped next to them and the Bell tent never moved or let them down in any way....Going by my conversations with them.....

I got the impression they had moved to canvas and bell tents years ago....And had no intention of moving back to poly any time soon...

Jelboy.

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