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Hi all - I'm new to this site and new to camping too,so was wondering if anyone could give me some help!!

We are a family of 5 - me,hubby,2 teenage boys and a lively 8 yr old girl.With so much choice of tents,equipment etc i'm really stuck what to choose for the best..

Also,any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated as we'd like to make our first camping experience awesome!

Everyone seems to recommend the Vango Diablo 900 for a family about your size - worth a look possibly!

oh and hello (and buy a trailer..............)!

First of all, welcome to the forum, hope you enjoy it!

Personally I'd go for at least an 8/9 berth tent to give you living space for 5.

Also, I'd recommend 3 sleeping areas so you can seperate you and OH, your boys, and your girl. (and if you have another, hope it's a girl )

Something like the Vango Diablo 900,

http://www.yeomansoutdoors.co.uk/products.asp?category=Tents&subcategory=9-16%20Man%20Tents&product=Vango%20Diablo%20900%20Tent

and I did say something like as I have no idea what this tent is like. But I'm sure there will be other replies soon from someone with a family.

Steve

Hi and welcome to UKCS!!

We have a Vango Aspen 700 (7man), which we think is fantastic...we are more than a little biased though!!

There are some excellent family tents on the market at the moment - do you have a local retailer where you could go and have a look around a selection of display tents? Thats possibly the best way to size up what would be best for you and yours for your budget.

The folks on here are most helpful and knowledgable so I'm sure there'll be others dropping by with advice for you very shortly!

Thanks for the reply - yep we were thinking of three sleeping chambers,one for extra storage,but would you recommend a dome or a frame tent..The dome ones look like you have to crawl to get into bed!!! but then again the frame ones seem soo bulky when packed up..

If you like a ballroom type space and three "sort of" seperate walk in bedrooms then I don't think you could beat the Vango Aspen 700dlx

http://www.allweathers.co.uk/index.asp?function=DISPLAYPRODUCT&productid=509

Both the big dome/tunnel tents are also very bulky when packed, the Aspen 700 is

Pack weight: 52.00 KG
Pack size: Canvas: 80 x 50 x 55cm Poles: 110 x 30 x 18cm

Steve

Pam,

Go and have a look around ABC (not very far from you me thinks?). They have a really good variety on display, so you'll be able to get a feel for what you like (and don't like).

One word of warning though - DO NOT BUT FROM THEM! - see other threads on non-existent customer service if you want details of why.

Thank you all for your advice - will let you know what we decide on as we're definately gonna get one by the weekend.

Thanks Avril for recommending a visit to ABC.We've been to our local retailer but there wasn't much on offer,so we'll take a trip up to ABC's this afternoon.

As for a trailer,hubby not keen on towing!!

The vango sounds great,about the right size for us i think.Will take a look at it hopefully if they have it on display.Thanks again everyone - I'll keep you posted!!

We have a frame tent. It is a 6 berth, but could very easily sleep 8. We have got masses of room and plenty of headroom ( oh is 6ft2 ) . Yes it is a bit bulky when packed ( 2 bags ) ,but the the good points outway the bad ie warmer,dryer,more space etc. We got ours second hand from our local paper, but the first one we had came from e-bay.

You can have lots of fun checking out all the different tents and different price tags!!!

Karen

Hi it would be worth going and having a look at some tents up, as we went to look at the vango diablo 900 and it is absolutely massive (hubby said it was grounds for divorce if I'd ordered it without seeing it!!). Anyway we have now got the vango Diablo 600 which is big enough for us although we are only a family of four. Hope this is of some help

Little ern

hi pam both the aspen 700 or dlx(go  see it has an extra tunnel) or the diablo 900 would certainly be big enough for you the aspen has near vertical sides as it is based on the nomadic style of tent  and the diablo is a classic dome tent with sloping bedrooms both tents are excellent quality and very stable in stormy weather(but remember they are also only as stable if they are put up properly and without compremise) 

me the aspen always wins we are a family of three and opted for the 500

 a good rule of thumb would be to always go for a tent that sleeps at least 2 more than you have to sleep?

but which ever way you go it will only be forward as once the bug hits theres no going back

Another recommendation for the Diablo 900 here.  We are a family of 5 too, children of 15, 13 and 8.  Dh is 6'3" and I'm 5'10" so we needed space and height!  We have been so pleased with our Diablo in the 18 months we've had it. 

The only downside is that we found it a faff if we were going away for only one or two nights so, after a lot of investigating, we invested in an EasyCamp Napoli 500 a few weeks ago which is a really good size for the 5 of us (and dog!) and takes less than 20 minutes to put up (compared to well over an hour for the Diablo, more if you peg out all the guyropes).

Any excuse to buy another tent!

Deb x