Message Forums

Hi there!

I am looking for advice on a tent (we are new to camping) there are 2 adults and a fourteen year old daughter.  We would like a decent make with soom sort of living room  (in case of bad weather).

I am confused about the groundsheet, as I always thought that was part of the tent.

hi simplymylife. there is a huge variety of tents, first what is your budget? do you want a sig (sewn in groundsheet). if you can give us more info of what your looking for, the advice will soon follow.

Hi carpman

I am not sure of the (dis)advantages of a 'sig' so I am unsure if I want one or not.  I actually posted this message in the general 'camping under canvas' section before I realised it was supposed to go in this subsection, and one post suggested a 6-person two room tent to give us all some privacy.  Do you agree, all advice is greatly recieved!

Hi

There is a 'sticky' post at the top of this section 'sewn in groundsheet or not..'  you'll find all the different pros and cons in there with regards SIG's.  It comes down to personal choice though.  I'd love to go without a SIG but I like to sleep in a relatively bug free environment - so that's my choice.   A lot of 6 man tents are 2 separate bedrooms so I would say that would suit you, there are 3 of us and it's perfect. Remember you need somewhere to put all you clothes etc  so a bit of extra space doesn't go wasted.

If you can get to a local camping dealer who has some tents on display of both kids and or varying sizes it may help you make up your mind and also let you see what you get for your budget.  best of luck. 

Thanks hlk01

I was looking at a vango killington, but that is a 3 bedroom 6 man tent, someone else recommends an outwell montana 6.  I think the sewn in groundsheet sounds like a good idea as my wife and daughter would not like the bugs.

I live in Carlisle but originate in Scotland.  I drove to Oban the other week via Callander, there looks to be some lovely campsites up that way.

It doen't get any easier - if you intend to camp in scotland you may encounter 'midges'. This may mean that an inner first tent will be a good choice for you preferably with a porch.  To put it in brief most flysheet first tent offer protection from insects only in the sleeping area.  An inner first tent will offer protection in the living area (as far as I am aware all Sig) also but in all honesty how you are going to keep them out is a mystery to me.

The best bet is to go to a dealer with a large tent range of varying manufacturers and ask.

An example of inner first Tent (not recommendation):

http://www.aztecoutdoor.com/tents/leisure/falcon/falcon6.htm

The red lines indicate the inner tent, the black lines the outer.

The Killington is a flysheet first, the alternative is a Vango Diablo its predecessor and Inner first.

Inner first is possibly a problem when putting it up in the rain.