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It's time to replace our tent and I'm attracted to the head room and internal living space of a tunnel tent.

What are they really like to live with? Good or bad?

Kyam, Lichfield, Royal, Gilert, SunnCamp and Outwell all seem to produce versions of this tent design. What have you got and how does it fair?

Thanks

 dont forget the vango vista!

this is really stable, easy to errect large tunnel tent. i love the tunnel design, its nice to be able to stand up in the bedrooms! they have lots of living space.

only draw back with mine, is it takes a fair while to errect and hang pods, ok for longer trips, but we are thinking of getting something smaller for weekends

We have 3 aztec Sala's for our scout group, they are great to put up. can be done by 1.

Loads of headroom and large living space.

Another to add to your viewing list

They van be a bit bowey in the wind but ours have held up very well.

The only problem is unless you get a double ended bedroom you all have to sleep across the rear of the tent

The gelert alaska 8 is a really roomy tunnel tent and you have the option of moving the inner tent also the campus indiana 8 and the lichfield commanche all good sizes

We have a campus indiana 8, which i believe is the same as the kyham indiana 8. We have not problems with pitching and the size is great. You can omit pitching the bedroom at the front end of the tent giving you a huge door and large living space.  Everyone comments on how big and spacouis it.

We have tried it out in awful weather condition and didnt have any leaks at all, but the wind so was high it did break a pole when we was taking the tent down, but to be fair to the tent that was most likely our fault as be pitched the tent in a open field, and instead of taking out the pins first we took out the guy lines OOPS!.

We too like the tunnel tents.  After looking around on the internet and looking at some tents in stores, on camp sites and on a camping show we have finally decided on a Vango Vista 800.  We could have gone for the 600 but for the small amount extra in money we have loads more space/flexibility.  We did originally look at the Gelert Alaska 8 and the Vango Oregon 800.  Whilst we liked the overall design of the Gelert we wanted the quality of the Vango.  The Oregon was very disappointing for us, whereas the Vista combines the flexibily of the Gelert along with the quality of the Vango.

We have yet to use it so can't comment on how easy it actually is to put up.

HTH

Louise

Hiya. We've just been given the tent i've been fancying for ages as a wedding present ! It's a marechal vario 9 - a tunnel tent which has detachable pods for sleeping. It's got plenty of head height for my 6ft 3 husband and lots of windows which you can actually look thru when u sit down. Can't wait to try it out !

You can see if on the outfoor2go website.

Good luck with your choice.

colette

We (mum, dad, 2 kids and the dog) embarked on our first ever camping trip in May with a Gelert Cyclone 6.  As this was our first experience of camping we didn't know what to expect.  We loved it and decided that although the tent was adequate we wanted a bigger one.  After lots of deliberation we purchased an Outwell Sun Valley 8 (we were unaware until very recently that several people have experienced problems with the zips on these tents but we've had no problems atall).  We had a week's camping in Devon last week (the only week of the summer that's had rain so far!) and were absolutely chuffed to bits with the tent.  It went up very quickly in the pouring rain and provided lots of living and cooking space - it was too wet and windy to cook outside!  The SIG is a godsend as it stops draughts and we now know that our new tent is very waterproof and stands up very well in high winds.  You can leave the inner tents attached so don't even have to worry about attaching and detaching them each time you unpack and repack the tent.  It has so many openings and windows that open fully that when the sun finally does come out there is plenty of air circulating and you don't feel that you are roasting as in some of the other types of tents on the market. 

Another factor which pushed us towards the tunnel style tent was that many campsites did not want to entertain the tent we had orignally thought of buying as its floor area was too large - it was one of those large satellite tents.  Although our SV8 actually covers less ground area we have more living space than any of these.

Overall I would thoroughly recommend this tent to anyone who asked.  We can't wait to go away again. 

Happy camping!

Another one to add to the list is the Coleman Columbus, a well thought out tunnel tent with a full SIG.

One advantage of the Vango tunnel tents (Vista and Oregon) is that they have the tension band system (TBS). Tunnel tents are more likely to get buffetted by high winds due to their less wind-shedding shape and their greater reliance on proper guying for their stability. This is because the hoops are less stable then tents which have poles crossing over.

The tension bands are internal and do not have to be up all the time - they clip in place and run from the pole foot up to the centre-top of the arch. This prevents the hooped pole from being able to move as much. We have them in our Vango Quest 600 and put them up if it is windy, and when we are going out (in case the weather changes). With the use of Delta pegs on our guy ropes we had one rock solid tent in a very bad Lakeland storm last year!

The other thing to be aware of between the different tunnel tents is that some have full sewn in GS, some have a riser GS and some will have the ordinary loose one that is just flat. It is a matter of personal preference as to which you go for. Also they can have widely varying bedroom layouts, so you will also need to think about what will suit you best. Seeing tents in the flesh is always the best way to go - there is often just that wee something that stands out as important to YOU.

So go and enjoy the hunt!

We have the sunncamp vario 600 2006 version which has a S.I.G. It is our 1st tent and we love it.We were also in Devon last week when it rained and we had no problems ,loads of living room didn,t feel cramped at all when we were stuck inside. The only thing we felt was missing was some sort of porch area for wet gear etc.

I agree with Foggers try and see the tent before you buy and then you will probably see alot more tents to add to your list!!

 happy hunting