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 Thanks so much for the replies . Im getting a feel for the whole thing.

I have made a list of the things I think I may need and had a good browse through the message boards for tips and hints.

Is this a good time of year to buy a new tent ? I seem to get a feeling that a new model tent for instance is better bought at the end of the season when reviews are available and potential faults ( like leaks !!) have been spotted.

Also on the IT front   should i post new questions like this on a new thread or just carry on this  thread?   thanks

I find it almost impossible to know where to start. This site has a great variety of people on it - from those who think it isn't camping if you cant carry it all on your back to those who won't go anywhere unless they can have the TV and heating.

Yet they are all held together by a love of camping. Some people use the same tent they bought 20 years ago and others will have 2 (or more) a season.

We came back to camping last year for the first time in 4 years while we had a caravan and were really impressed by how much the equipment and tents had moved on.  We bought a Monty6 and had some really good times in it, but it did leak and was eventually swapped for a new one. We havn't tried it yet so fingers crossed it will be okay.

So you need to work out what kind of camper you are going to be first - which will inform what you need. Try to get as much information from other people as you can - about how they manage. Don't buy everything at once, but think about car room. A Monty takes up a lot of room and we tow a trailer to keep all our kit in as we have a small car. Try an overnight close to home first- even in your own garden would do.

James  

Whoever said this site is addictive is spot on!!

This is what we have decided so far......

Buy new unless its canvas and certainly not an ex demo

We like the monty 6 ot indiana 6 ( which is the better tent by the way)

We need to see one erected first (going to stafford in aminute to do that!)

Think about boot space  we have a scenic so I am hoping with a roof box that should be sufficient.

Dont buy everything at once

I have so many other questions i will need to do a few more posts   but thanks everyone for all your help

We have the Indiana 6 and like it - friends have the Montana 6 but I prefer our Indiana - I like the flat front - more useful for storing things - and also the canopy which we cook under.  However the Montana also has its plus points - more mesh doors and windows.  I'm not a bug fan but am quite happy with the bathtub groundsheet of the Indiana - as long as the sleeping bit is (fairly) bug free then I'm happy. 

For both of the above tents, the sleeping compartment is a good size - we have 2 girls (9 & 6) and a dog and we are all quite comfy and have space to have all our clothes in the compartment too.  We have it as one big bedroom then we can all lie and chat in the morning without having to get out of bed!

We have a Ford C-Max and a roof box and manage fine, though it is a bit of a squash.  We take the middle seat out and the girls still have things at their feet.  Both of these tents take up a lot of boot space - ours takes up about 1/3 of the boot; the rest of the boot is filled with cooker, gas bottle, a folding crate with lights etc in and another one with kitchen stuff.  Sleeping bags, self inflating mattresses, chairs and clothes go in the roof box.

I am amazed at how much I have enjoyed camping the past couple of years, and it is undoubtedly because we have decent sleeping bags and thermals (I hate being cold and we do live in Scotland) and now Fat Airics to sleep on - hated air beds.  The girls have the regular Airics which roll up much smaller and are fine too but just not quite so luxurious!  We don't tend to use electric (used it when we went to France in the summer as we could hire a fridge from the site which was great) but for weekends here we just use a normal cool box with no probs.

I am thinking of getting a smaller weekend tent but do really like the space of the Indiana so might have to get a bigger car if the girls start complaining about things at their feet.

Hope your trip to look at tents was successful.

This looks like a good deal

http://www.oswaldbailey.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci=product&wce=51154601&desc=TOTALLY+COOL+DARWIN+7+CAMPING+PACK

or they also do the 5 bierth for £199

Teresa