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Hi. Curently in the process of making a decision between

Montana 6 - gives us the space, smaller pack size, and quicker pitch, or

Bear Lake 6 - bigger pack and heavy, but better quality 'feel' and ventilation, especially for Europe

It was a straight choice. However, looking at the postings, I'm getting the feeling that the Cabanon Biscaya 370 would be a great tent and would be better than the BL6. If that's the advice from this site, then I'd buy a Montana 6 first, and then see what we can get in the Cabanon range later.

So choice is now

Montana 6

Bear Lake 6

Montana 6 / Cabanon Biscaya 370/440 later.

Thoughts anyone? We need to make a decision as we have another trip loaming in a couple of weeks, so advice greatly appreciated!

Start with the Monty 6 for now the ventilation is really good in them & you don't want to spend ages in the hot sun putting a tent up! You will probably benefit from the extra space / weight. You can always progress onto the Biscaya at a later date.

Decisions Decisions !!!

Thought I'd post a quick update.

In the end we bought a Montana 6, with front extension and footprint (both definitely recommended), and a carpet (jury is still out). The space in the Montana 6 is great, and we've found that my partner (he with the much better back) can put the whole thing together, and I just have to help him heave up the first pole, and then stand and hold things whilst he pegs out. Whole thing takes about 20 minutes which is great. Our 2 year old helps by handing Daddy the pegs when he asks for them, which keeps her happy and out of mischief. Ventilation on the tent is really good, although the number of zips makes for a long and pretty noisy shutting up at night time (I can just feel the neighbours wondering how many more zips there can possibly be before they can turn over and nod off!). After a local weekend, we headed off for the Vendee in France last week, pitched up the shade of a tree (my partner is fanatical about shade) and despite temperatures in the high 20s had no problem getting our daughter down for her afternoon nap - the number of openings provide every opportunity for a through breeze to enter if there's one available. Generally very pleased, although 2 of the shock cords sheered when we took the tent down for the second time (which we were not impressed with - my previous tent had a shock cord system which has withstood 20 years of use with no problems).