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We bought this tent for the 2007 season and for the usual reasons, loads of space, advantages of cotton, great price etc etc. Unfortunately, at the time, we were unaware of this website ( insert swear words of choice here ) and new to camping. It would have been so reassuring to nervous newbies like us to know that other owners of this tent have had exactly the same problems getting the damn thing up. Whether I would still have bought one, I don't know.

Over the course of 5 or 6 camping trips four of the poles have developed splintering sections ( all replaced very efficiently and at no charge by Taunton Leisure - good people ). The damaged sections didn't affect the performance of the tent or our enjoyment of discovering camping. We did get some very bumpy roof outlines though! It seems to me, having followed the manufacturer's instructions carefully, that there is an awful lot of stress on the poles ( note to mention the erectors ) during the clipping process. Our camping season is about to start and already I don't feel too confident about the poles and the fight to put the tent up.

Naturally I feel that I must be at fault to some degree. Or is it purely Khyam's problem? I would be very pleased to hear of other people's experiences with this tent, especially if they have discovered the secret of erecting it without nervous exhaustion.  Apart from the pole problem the tent is great and does exactly what we want it to do. It's cool and spacious. There's tons of room. Passers by say nice things about it. Torrential rain has failed to penetrate it ( apart from when my wife left the door open ). I just don't want to hear that splintering sound again!

Hi steveinbristol welcome to the forum, 

I am one of those people who bought this tent last year.  We took it to France in May and erected it for the first time in Huttopia Versailles and were unimpressed at how difficult it was to bend the poles into place.  We then moved on to the Loire and on quite a hot sticky day huffed and puffed putting the thing up for a second time.  It was only when it was up we noticed a problem with one pole at one end of the tent which we started to suspect had split.  On taking the tent down we realised that it was indeed broken and a second pole was going the same way. 

We sent it straight back and recieved a full refund.  I really don't think that it is acceptable to have broken poles each and everytime the tent is erected.  I would say that there is definately a design fault.  

A frame tent is much easier to put up, more reliable, just as spacious and does not suffer any problems with drippy flappy doorways.   You can also see out of a frame tent better if it is raining and it is not any heavier.  

We have just returned from our first camping trip of the year, a weekend at Pont Kemeys near Usk ( a very good site ). You will all be aware that the weather on Saturday night could best be described as challenging, although bloody awful would also do. Managed to erect the tent without any pole breakage. The other crap design fault with this tent is that unless the front door is kept zipped shut then the entrance area gets wet. Assuming that the numerous occupants in the admittedly generous living area want to go in and out occasionally this can't be done. If the door is kept open and poled up in the sunshade position it then collects water which, when it reaches a certain level, runs into the tent. Add gale force winds to all this and it gets pretty tiresome. Khayam are marketing a polyester/nylon or whatever add-on porch/sun shade thingy which I noticed at my local camping showroom. I shall investigate this more thoroughly.

Despite all the above we had a good weekend. Good company compensates for bad weather and irritating tents!

My thanks to Gingerlily and Picantose for their posts. Gary, if I were in a position to spend more money on tents I think I would look for a decent used frame tent on Ebay. Several friends have made very good purchases that way. The Indiana, when packed up, is not much lighter than many frame tents.

Glad you managed to escape without a broken pole and most importantly you had a good time. 

I agree with you about the tent needing a porch but I think a lot of the modern designs need one so it is not something wrong with this tent in particular although it is annoying.  I would have bought one if we had decided to keep the tent as it would definately have been an improvement.  I did have a look at the time and was disappointed they didn't do a polycotton one to match.

How did you find the mud flaps did they keep the wind out?  I seem to remember not being that impressed with them because they were floppy and got really mucky.  It wasn't very windy when we used the tent but I remember thinking that they might not keep the wind from blowing under the tent.