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Quote: Originally posted by winhill on 27/3/2006

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Hi Clementine

I'm a big fan of frame tents too. They are bulky tho so you need to think how to transport it but some of the big synthetic tents you get nowadays are very nearly as heavy and bulky.

Cotton tents are much easier to re-waterproof too.

We have a five berth relum but it's quite big with a backdoor next to the bedrooms and I can get it up in 20 minutes on a good day (I nail varnished the poles to simplify things). It also has a roof lining so much cooler in the hot sun than synthetics. We would use ours for weekends no problem and I used it for Italy once for 2 weeks even though there was only me in it.

The double airbeds mentioned above are coleman comforts by the way.

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Quote: Originally posted by JK98 on 28/3/2006

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I'd go for a frame tent over a modern synthetic every time

A decent frame tent will last 20-30 years with a coat of Fabsil waterproofing every few years. They feel much more secure in stormy weather, and don't flap about so much as synthetic tents. They're roomy, light & airy if you need to spend time indoors when it's raining. You can cook inside in a frame tent. They're easy to erect, even by one person (while the other keeps the children amused).

There are some pretty good bargains on ebay at the moment, so go for it.

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Surely in this day and age no one would keep a frame tent for 20 / 30 years lol. If so I got one for sale .

Even with a kitchen area I would be warry of cooking inside a tent, accidents can and do happen.

Someone should have told me that before I could have divorced the wife and went camping on my own lol.

Watch what your doing on ebay you could end up with a bundle of trouble.

Hope you dont mind my late imput Jean

Despite their bulk frame tents are often easier to put up than the large tunnel/dome tent - especially if its a bit breezy.  I've struggles with a small tunnel tent in the wind, and at the same time my kitchen annex which is on the same principle as a frame tent was not a problem.
They have better thermostatic qualities than the synthetic types. 

Definately a fan of the good old frame tent.

I have found in my experience that a frame tent is less time consuming to erect and far more simple to take down. Unlike tunnel/dome tents where you must fiddle about feeding poles through sleeves, with a frame you:

• Lay the frame on the ground
• Once fully connected lift the frame to its 'knees'
• Lay the canvas over the frame
• Get someone at each corner, lift at the same time and bring the tent to its full height, then put in centre supporting legs
• The tent is now very stable and erected - all that is left to do is peg it down. To get to this stage it takes no more than 15 mins, if you've taken the time to know your tent.

All that's left is to put in inner tent etc.

Frames also offer better stability, and a cotton tent is far superior to nylon alternatives. A cotton tent will insulate in cold weather, and insulate from the sun in hot weather - unlike a nylon tent which becomes very sweaty and unbearably hot is sunlight. Also, cotton breathes much better than nylon meaning that even in rain and at night time there is no condensation build up. They will last forever too, providing they're looked after.

Ryan

Hi

I am a lover of frame tents, i have used  different ones since i started camping in my teens and would not be without one. As stated by others, yes they are heavy and take up a lot of space in the car but once erected you have lots of room, no condensation and very stable. We use our frame tent if we go anywhere for two nights or more.#

For one night stays we use a dome tent but all we do when we take that is use it for sleep and breakfast no other cooking done.

cheers

steve

Something I have noticed is that although there are lighterweight polyester tents out there, the trend in polyester family tents is towards much heavier designs with weights of 30 - 40 kilos (and attendant bulk when packed down) becoming much more normal. So there would be little weight advantage over canvas in buying one of those.

I have bought my first ever canvas tent this year, not had a chance to camp in it yet. Its a two/four berth tent, weighs about 21 kilos (4.4 metres x 2.2 metres footprint when erected) and I can put it up quite easily by myself, in the back yard, because of the way it gets erected. I wouldn't fancy putting up our ultra-lightweight 16kilos , large (6 metres x 3 metres footprint) polyester tunnel tent on my own!

I think its  case of judging each tent on its merits and how they suit your needs. MT

thanks so much for all your advice, it's much appreciated.

think we might have to go to a tent show, does anyone know the nearest one to us? we are in Carlisle.

Cheers

Dont get me wrong folks I still have my Marechal frame tent in the loft, a great tent, but as I get older I find the tunnel tent a lot easier to manage, maybe its all in my mind lol.

We prefer the modern dome tents and did have a wynnster mercury 9, which was an extended dome tent - Loads of space, shockcorded, colour co-ordinated poles made it easy to put up. Very waterproof and stood up to some very stong winds without any problems - the shape helps.

Tent design like all design moves on it's to do with better fabrics, different construction techniques, they are getting better all the time.

We had been looking at trailer tents and were always put off by the frame tent design, but Cabanon have now introduced the Stratos which we collect on Saturday which is the first TT to have a dome shaped awning - now watch as the other TT manufacturers copy it!

Sorry, I have just re-read my previous post and its a real jumble!

What I was trying to say was:

• some polyester tents are as heavy as canvas tents
• canvas tents can be easier to put up than polyester tents.

Phew! MT

Quote: Originally posted by big chris on 28/3/2006

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Surely in this day and age no one would keep a frame tent for 20 / 30 years lol. If so I got one for sale .

Even with a kitchen area I would be warry of cooking inside a tent, accidents can and do happen.

Someone should have told me that before I could have divorced the wife and went camping on my own lol.

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That's a fine looking frame tent you've got in your loft Chris

Cotton will burn if a flame rests on it, but it won't melt like synthetics if a flame is just nearby. Anyway, a lot of synthetic tent owners take a separate utility tent to cook in. And what is a utility tent? A tent with a cooker in it  

Lol

Quote: Originally posted by JK98 on 29/3/2006

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Quote: Originally posted by big chris on 28/3/2006

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Surely in this day and age no one would keep a frame tent for 20 / 30 years lol. If so I got one for sale .

Even with a kitchen area I would be warry of cooking inside a tent, accidents can and do happen.

Someone should have told me that before I could have divorced the wife and went camping on my own lol.

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That's a fine looking frame tent you've got in your loft Chris

Cotton will burn if a flame rests on it, but it won't melt like synthetics if a flame is just nearby. Anyway, a lot of synthetic tent owners take a separate utility tent to cook in. And what is a utility tent? A tent with a cooker in it  

Lol

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