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Welcome to the mad house.

Don't know of any camping shops in Brighton, but S K Camping at Godstone, and Camping International at Horsham are both good, and not too far from you.

All the best

Mat.

HI - I'm new here too and from near Eastbourne.

CE Sports are based in Seaford and Newhaven.  I have just bought a Khyam Indiana 8 the Newhaven shop.  Very good deal (price-matched best I could find) and they even carried the tent to the car in the rain!  They organise the tent display at Middle Farm (between Lewes and Eastbourne) that runs at the end of May for a fortnight.  I've also visited the SK Camping at Godstone - they had quite a few tents on display.  The only other place local to us that had display tents was at the John's Cross caravan center at Robertsbridge on the A21 - quite a few tents upstairs.

Using the Indiana as a "coffee table" in the middle of the floor at the moment and waiting for a clear day to try and put it up.  It is an 8 berth (4+2+2) and well recommended by the folks on here (thanks for the notes).  You could even stick a few more in the middle if you wanted to.

Thanks,
Wyn

Hi Pete,  In their advertising CE sports have the Indiana at the standard £225, but I asked if they could beat or pricematch the £199.99 from OutdoorGear.  Paul replied with an "Early Season Price" for £194, and later confirmed it was for the 2006 model.  I went to collect on Easter Saturday and took the email to show the assistant.  He gave me the impression that it was a great price I'd be getting it for, but they were great.

Do a search on here for the Khyam or Campus Indiana 8, it was the feedback from the others on this site which nudged me towards this tent.  I also looked at the Gelert Vancouver 8+4 - its a few quid cheaper and had a SIG - but after nearly tripping over going into a SIG tent at SK Camping, and imagining the kids running about and tripping over I plumped for the Khyam.  The staff at SK Camping at Godstone didn't seem to think much of the Gelert, didn't stock them as far as I can see - Our old tent was a Gelert and was fine.

Hope you manage to get the tent you want soon,
Wyn

Hi and welcome pete - yes the bedroom "pods" in flysheet-first pitching tents have their own groundsheet type bottom sewn in, so it is waterproof to the same extent as the GS in the living area.

Some folks put an extra groundsheet or thin layer under that (e.g. one of those plastic-bag type dust sheets you can get from DIY places) just to keep the bottom of the bedroom clean and dry - otherwise you can find yourself doing a big cleaning job before you can pack it away.

HI again Pete - Did you manage to make it over to Newhaven? I have just posted a new topic saying that there is a tent show in Eastbourne this bank holiday weekend - at the Miniature Steam Railway site on Lottbridge Drove - next to Willingdon Golf club. We popped in there today and saw they have a fair few tents up, all sizes and prices.  No sign of my new Indiana but did catch the Gelert that was an early option, and a few very nice Wynnster tents as well.

The show runs from today until the 1st May.  Might give you a few more options if you are still looking.  Hope it helps,
Wyn