Message Forums

Hi All,

I am a new member and new to camping. I am in the process of setting up my family with all that we need to hit the road and enjoy the outdoor life this summer. Its been a struggle with the Mrs but she has finally caved.

However, which tent?? I thought we decided on the Montana 6 but for no other reason than my Mrs liked it and it seems to be everything I need as well. I have read alot of good threads on here about this tent but I really am not sure if I am buying the right one. At £329 it seems to be on the expensive side and although that is not a major concern of mine- how does it compare to others in how it performs.

I suppose my major concern being new to camping is how easy it pitches and I have read some info on here saying that it is not the easiest. If I want a 2007 model tent what is going to tick all the boxes a for a new family. I can spend up to £400 on it.  (oh and to my Mrs - colour is important!)

Thanks everyone - this is a great site.       

How many of you are there?  How long will you be camping in it at a time?  Is it just for summer camping? 

You can have your pick of tents for £400, go and do some looking at camping shops, they should have their tents up by now but before you buy one come back here and ask others what they think of your choice and check out other companies prices on the internet, you may get it cheaper somewhere else.  You do need to see them in the flesh to get a proper idea of what they're like.

Kate

you should go and have a good look at a variety of tents, as you are based in slaford you may want to visit Camperlands ( near the christie hospital), also Go outdoors in stockport. There is castle croft in Radcliife, also one in Blackburn town centre ( cant remember name) and Winfields just up the motorway

Thanks for your replies.

There are four of us, my daughters are 5 and 3 and we intend to get maximum use out of the tent by camping for weekends and longer throughout the uk. Next year I hope to get to france aswell.

I'll come back when I think I have found the best option

If your'e using it for weekends you don't really want anything that takes too long to put up, have a look at some of the different makes of tunnel tent as these tend to be pretty straight forward i believe although not had one myself. 

The Montana 6 is very easy to put up..( we nearly bought one to replace our Hartford XL, which we love but takes too loing to put up  for weeknd trips)..in the end, though we knew we needed a porch.. and to buy the Montana extension it put s the price up too.  We bought a second hand Sun Valley 8 last year.. Ok it was on it's last legs but we used it on 2 trips and it ticked all the boxes.  Have now bought a new one.    Anyone want a Hartford Xl  2005 model.. if I can bear to aprt with it ?

Take a look at Khyam Ridgidome Tents. Either the Classic XL ( 4 berth ) or the Classic XXL ( 6 berth )

Both under £400.

Quick & easy to erect.  Superb quality. Up in 5 minutes & fully pegged out & finished in 15 minutes. Ideal for weekends & longer stays too.

An alternative strategy would be to buy two tents to do the different jobs you want.

For example, a Vango Idaho 600 for quick weekends at about £120.

And a larger tent for longer trips, polycotton or canvas have a more comfortable feel inside and that will be especially important if you are thinking about holidays in the hotter French sun. You could get, for example,  an as new Cabanon Antigua from Ebay (£200ish) or a brand new Trigano Madura (£350) http://www.highbridgecaravans.co.uk/tentdetails.php?AN=178 or a bargain-priced Coleman Columbus 6 (£250) http://www.worldofcamping.co.uk/shop/Detail.asp?ProductID=1606. More money would buy you an Outwell Bear Lake or Arrow Lake. MT

Well I went to Winfields today and saw a few contenders. Montana 6 still stands out as the best display tent I have seen, although I also liked the Nebraska. The Outwell's seem to have great headroom and a feeling of space inside as oppose to the Khyam XXL classic which I liked other than for its lack of headroom. The Khyam quick erect system seems great for the weekends, just a pity about the headroom but I will look further at the Khyam range and the others suggested on this thread.

Q - How much emphasis should I place on hydrostatic head/weave i.e. 5000 or 2000 etc. Is this abig consideration for you experienced campers?

Cheers  

There are many good points about the Nebraska, but one thing to think about is that it is a very big tent and it is the opposite shape to most tent pitches. In other words, the longest measurement of most (all?) tent pitches is front to back, and people very often prefer to pitch their tent facing the front of the pitch if they can, so that they can look out into the world rather than facing sideways and straight into their neighbours tent.

The longest measurement on a Nebraska is side to side, so on some (most?) pitches you might find yourself forced to pitch sideways on  - which is not really ideal. MT