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Hi,

Can anyone tell me what is the best 5/6 tent on the market if cost is not a problem. Are British tents best and how do i find tents from other countries. I have tried looking on the internet but not knowing the different words for tent I not having much luck. Also can you buy tents directly from a supplyer. Outwell do not seem to sell direct to the public. who are the good Tent makers and who are bad ?

Thanks

Tincan 

Have a look at Wildcountry tents, we have the Wildcountry Homestead 5 and it is very sturdy and easy to pitch.  It is genuinely a 5 berth too - you can fit 3 airbeds in one 'pod' and 2 in the other.  They also have a decent amount of room in the living area. They are not cheap but I believe you get what you pay for with tents.  A lot of the cheaper enormous tents that are so popular now are really only fairweather tents.

Fat Bum

Quote: Originally posted by PigletandTigger on 03/9/2006

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Snap Marksward - I must learn to type faster

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Quote: Originally posted by tincan on 03/9/2006

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Can anyone tell me what is the best 5/6 tent on the market if cost is not a problem. Are British tents best and how do i find tents from other countries.

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Best for what?

Weekends away, weeks, months away? Easy car transport, packbacking? Crossing mountains or summer fields?

There are not many "british" tents, if you mean made in britain, if you mean made for teh British market then yes they are darn good, in my experience, but are aimed very much for the wetter noth european climate.

If you look at US tents, then you will see that they are aimed at hotter climates with the priority been on keeping bugs off, rather than rain. You will primarly see bikini flysheets, rather than european full flysheets. just as an example, see the diference in the UK Coleman range, compared to the use equivelant (www.coleman.com).

As for some of the more expensive tents out there, have a look at the Eureka range, their light weight and technical cotton models: http://www.eurekaeurope.com. Or the Cabanon frame tents (www.cabanon.com) or the Outwell Lake Models (www.outwell.co.uk). Then you have the prized De Waard or Ransted tents from Holland.. then you have...

Are these the best? Possibly, but there are lots of others, it is very much horses for courses, as they say.

Hi everone, thanks for your replys,sorry maybe i did not give enough infor (thats me) i agree with what a lot of you have said about a tent being suitable for one may not be suitable for another. what I meant to say was which is the best tent makers as i know there are some bad designs around. We did have a outwell Montana 4 tent which in looks , size and design was idea for us but after trying it out in the garden it rained before we could take it down and when we did there were quite a few leaks so we took it back and after a lot of hassel we managed to get a refund.

There are only 2 of us but so we don't want one thats to big but since buying the montana we have bought quite a lot of equiptment so we would proberly need on of a size simmerler to the Montana 6 with either a full SIG or just in the inner tent so as not to be to draughty. We want to us it for both weekend use here and touring abroad so we would need to be able to pitch it easy enough also we want one that wont leak or fall down at the first puff of wind. (Are full SIGs more dangerous to get out of if there is a fire or will a tent go up that quick that it won't matter one way or the other.) Thanks for the links big bunny i will check them out now. I welcome all  of your advice. Tincan 

Quote: Originally posted by tincan on 05/9/2006

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Hi everone, thanks for your replys,sorry maybe i did not give enough infor (thats me) i agree with what a lot of you have said about a tent being suitable for one may not be suitable for another. what I meant to say was which is the best tent makers as i know there are some bad designs around.

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From a previous thread on makes.

Commonly available (UK) tents, with established reputations are:

• Cabanon
• Easycamp
• Coleman
• Gelert
• Kyham/Campus
• Outwell
• Relum
• Sunncamp
• Vango
• Wynnster

Less common and specialist brands, but still with established reputations:

• Aztec
• Basecamp
• Eureka
• Force Ten
• Heidelberg
• Jack Wolfskin
• Jamet
• Karsten
• Lichfield
• Blue Diamond/Outdoor Revolution
• Messager
• Marechal
• Quechua
• Quest
• Robens
• Royal
• Vaude
• Wild Country

Then there are some established shop brands, including:

• Blacks (Blacks)
• Eurohike (Millets)
• Peakland (Yeomans)
• ProAction (Argos)

.. and then finally there are the famed too-good-to-be true, direct from China Ebay "specials", which are to be avoid like an unexploaded bomb in a fireworks factory.

Quote: Originally posted by tincan on 05/9/2006

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There are only 2 of us but so we don't want one thats to big but since buying the montana we have bought quite a lot of equiptment so we would proberly need on of a size simmerler to the Montana 6 with either a full SIG or just in the inner tent so as not to be to draughty. We want to us it for both weekend use here and touring abroad so we would need to be able to pitch it easy enough also we want one that wont leak or fall down at the first puff of wind.

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Given this (inc. SIG), and an intetrest in "best tents", personally I would have at the top of my to-view list Outwell's Shastra Lake and, if you have a real lot of stuff, the Bear Lake.

I would then follow it with the Relum Bardani range (http://www.relumcamping.co.uk/pages/domebardanictn2.htm)
.... and if I have a lot of cash to spend, the Eureka Technical or Light Weight Cotton models (as listed above).

If it is touring hot counteries in europe you might find cotton works better than synthetics.