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Being a very happy Montana 4 and 12 owner, we have decided we need a more compact tent than the Monty 12 for those shorter stays, but the Monty 4 won't sleep all 5 of us when the whole family is camping. For this reason we are thinking of a Monty 6 - which has the added bonus of accepting our side canopy from the Monty 12.

Can anyone offer advice on sleeping 5 in a Monty 6?

We prefer that SWMBO and I get the privacy of a bedroom if possible, but from the published measurements I'm not sure how we can sleep 3 kids in the other bedroom in comfort. In our Monty 12 we use a double and a single Coleman Comfort airbed in the 230cm bedroom which works well, but the Monty 6 shows as having 2 x 180cm bedrooms - 40cm more than we need for the double airbed and 40cm less than we would need for the single in the other room. The only way I can see to do it is to remove the divider and all sleep side by side.

Alternatively can anyone recommend an alternative tent. I thought of the bear lake but it seems to loose many features compared to the Monty - such as Fire Retardant Materials and the side porch?

Quote: Originally posted by BrummyGit on 17/9/2006

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Being a very happy Montana 4 and 12 owner, we have decided we need a more compact tent than the Monty 12 for those shorter stays,

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How about foam mats instead of airbeds for the kids? We had extra kids sleeping in our awning inner tent on foam mats with a duvet over the mats, under their sleeping bags, no complaints from the kids. or if the kids are  young, can the 3 sleep on a double airbed, but across it instead of down?

i'm not totally sure that you can sleep across the two bedrooms, isn't there a raised bit left in the middle when you take the divider out?

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm not sure about using roll mats or self inflaters as (whilst I've never tried them) I can't imagine they are very comfortable and the insulation from the ground concerns me.

I like the idea of turning the double bed around - but it is 8 cm too wide if I do that and the oldest is too tall for the shorter length that way round.

I'm really hoping for a true to life experience for a Monty 6 owner to save the day. That or fitting a 140+ 240 from a Bear Lake would be ideal if the were exchangeable. Maybe I'll call Outwell and ask.

Hi, Could you not use 2 singles as this would be 160cm instead of the double which is only 137cm ?

my three girls sleep in one monty bedroom, no problem

they  use a  standard single and a blue and red double, and they all fit in the pod with room to spare down the side for shoes etc.

all you have to do is put the single in first width ways (across the back), the put the double one next to it....voila!  easy!

and in the other pod we have a coleman kingsize high rise airbed for us, with room to put holdalls etc down the side

and just to clarify, my girls are not tiny! They are twins of 13 but they are 5`9" tall, and a 7 yr old, who all like their own space

Quote: Originally posted by BrummyGit on 17/9/2006

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Thanks for the suggestions.

I'm not sure about using roll mats or self inflaters as (whilst I've never tried them) I can't imagine they are very comfortable and the insulation from the ground concerns me.

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Kids do very well on self inflating mats or foam mats. They don`t compress mats and sleeping bags the way adults do, and their young bones don`t need the padding that us oldies do!

And as for insullation, both self inflating mats and foam mats are considerably better insulators than airbeds. In airbeds the air can circulate round between warm body and cold floor and thus chill you. Mats do not have this problem, belive me. My kids are both a lot warmer on self infl;ating mats, I find. It`s them sleeping on top of a slab of freezing air that would worry me!

Just remember, serious mountain climbers use self inflating mats or cellular foam mats rather than airbeds when camping.....

We have 3 in a Montana 6 pod. We use a double airbed and a junior size ready bed.

K