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Hello,

I'm thinking of one of these tents for 2 adults, a 6yr old, 3yr old and baby. Mostly weekend camping but the odd week here and there!

Do these tents all have a SIG?

How easy are they to put up?

How are the rooms divided - can the curtain be zipped down to allow access between the rooms?

I quite like the Mallard but compared to the others, the living area looks gloomy!

Doess anyone have experience of these tents? Your opinions would be welcomed!

Thanks again,

Mikki

Been looking again. I was thinking of the Sunncamp vario 5, but looking again at the Wynnster Anglesey Excel.

Can anyone tell me the size of the two bedrooms - I have overall dimensions but no idea how the bedroom area is divided. Can it be used as one big room as well as divided into two?

The other thing I was wondering was how easy is it to put up? And it looks huge - do you have problems with this size of tent on some sites - are the pitch sizes able to cope with this, or are most tents around this size?

Thanks again,

Mikki

I have the Wynnster Angelsey, the slightly smaller brother of the Anglesey Excel - there is someone with the Excel on here, so hopefully they will come along soon.

The Anglesey does have a full SIG - i.e. the bedroom pods and the living area are all SIG; plus it has a relatively big porch.

Given the double skinned SIG, we all sleep in the main area (the living area), as with the great roof height it is like being in a teepee; we then use the bed pods for the porta-loo and the bigger one for storage.

It is a nice tent, well put together (some nice little touches) with LOTS of room, especially if you are tall and lots of light (3 doors, 4 windows); however, it does need two of you to put it up (as do most big dome tents) and pitches inner first, which is a pain when it rains.

One thing to note is that it has two bedrooms, which are next to each other (although it looks like one on some diagrams), it is not a single bedroom with a removable divider. As said, with it being a double skinned SIG, the living area can also be a bedroom - which means you could put baby in the smaller pod, the two kids in the bigger pod and you sleep in the massive living area (as we do). During the day we put all the bedding in the larger pod to keep it out of the way.

The Anglesey, or Anglesey Excel, would definately give you more room than the Mallard (which to me looks like it does not have a living area SIG).

No site problems, as it is long, but does not spread out like the hang-off domes (Diablo, Hartford, Brekenridge etc.).

I picked mine up at the end of last year in the end of season sales for aroun £100.

Thank you all very much for your replies.

That's a good point about using the living area to sleep in. Our kids still frequently join us during the night, which is why I was wanting a tent with the bedrooms together. Does anyone know the actual width of the 2 bedrooms on the Excel, as most diagrams I've seen just give the total width as if it is one room?

Also, how long roughly does it take to put up (2 adults) - and how much arguing?!

Thanks again,

Mikki

Quote: Originally posted by mikki7 on 25/5/2006

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Also, how long roughly does it take to put up (2 adults) - and how much arguing?!

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It takes us (me and the two kids, 7&10) around 40mins. 2 adults could be a little quicker!

It is not comlicate to put up, just a bit time consuming compared to some of the really quick tents. As with all big domes, you have to thread quite a bit of pole through it (easier if you lube the poles a bit).

However, once up it does not really need adjusting, like some other domes I have done (Diablos especially!), which can get really frustrating, as it is like sawing off the legs of a table.

So yes it takes a bit of time, but it is not complicated and annoying (no arguing!). The downside is that it pitches inner first, so in rain the insides can get wet. Something we found out last, very wet, weekend - however, the insides dry relatively quickly and we had a dry and warm night (and it can't get much wetter than last weekend!).

Mornin BB

Out of interst what do you use to lube the poles ? Mr Sheen ?

Quote: Originally posted by hlk01 on 26/5/2006

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Out of interst what do you use to lube the poles ? Mr Sheen ?

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Mornin,

[slightly red faced]    I use good ol' KY - obviously keeping it well out of sight form other campers. My mates however, usually delight in asking, in a very loud voice, where it is and I have got enough etc.

However, it does do the trick very well on the Wynnster, which has large poles and lots of nylon to transverse.