We went to see a tent display last weekend, looking for a poly-cotton tent that's a decent size yet not too heavy.
The Outwell Baltic Sea L ticks a lot of boxes, BUT we noticed it was incredibly squeaky/creaky. It seemed to be caused by the poles rubbing against the fabric inside the fabric pole-housing sections. I could imagine this noise getting REALLY annoying! The Trout Lake also did it a bit, but not quite so badly. None of the other brands' poly-cottons appeared to have this problem (Nomad, Eureka, Khyam).
Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon in Outwell, or any other, poly-cotton tents? Could just have been due to the set-up or should we avoid the Outwells if we want to avoid the creaky-ship sound effects? Why does it happen and is there anything you can do to prevent it?
Thanks alot!
Sarah
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I don't have an Outwell polycotton but I do have an arctic army ridge polycotton and for the first time ever I heard that squeaking sound this Easter!
It was caused by the pole (ridge)rubbing in the sleeve housing as you say...it was only very faint but have never had this before and could not work out what I had done dfferently to cause it. The winds were only light and yet last August I camped in an exposed site in severe winds and I never heard a squeak! ( although perhaps that was because the sound of the wind and the sea drowned it out!)
I have a feeling with mine it was dodgy pitching (first time out this year!) and with a bit of tweaking it won't happen too often......I still prefer the 'creaking ship' effect to the constant slap/flap/flapping of polyester in winds though.....in fact I rather like the description you used......describes the sound spot on.
We have a Bear Lake and have never noticed a noise of this time, and we have camped in some strong winds in it.
It may be due to the way it was erected. Some displays don't use all the guys and this could lead to incorrect tensioning which may result in this creaking?
I would either mention it to the people who have the display and see what they say the noise, or try to see one erected by someone else.
Good luck
Pauline
------------- Campers: Nature's way of feeding midges!
2010
Easter - cancelled 8-(
April - Hawkshead
May - Riverside Cononley
May - Keswick Mountain Festival
May - High Yedmandale Farm
June - York Cycle show
August - Hartlepool
August - Riverside, Cononley
September - Pillaton "The Return"
I suspected it might have been the way it had been pitched. I'll try to persuade OH to go with me back to the display and check it out again / ask the folks there. I was impressed with their knowledge on other things (Taunton Leisure).
Splendid Isolation - now I'm starting to think I could grow to love the creaking ship effect! Definitely agree about it being a lot more atmospheric than flapping polyester.
Plus in the tent's defence it was VERY windy that day.
Thanks Gary, that's interesting and makes sense. Would you say the glassfibre poles are what give the Baltic Sea such a favourable weight compared with the other Outwell poly-cottons?
Can you recommend anything? We want a stand-up poly-cotton tent, big enough for a 190x160 inflatable bed, plus gear, plus big dog, i.e. 11-15 sq metres ground space and weighing 25kg or less....
thanks!!!
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The Baltic sea is one of the largest glassfibred non sewn in ground sheet poly cottons from Outwell. Have a look at the Trout lake, you need to check the bedroon size and weight but it has a zip in groundsheet and is the smallest of the alloy framed outwell poly cottons.
IMO none of the other well known brands make a poly cotton as good as the Outwell fabric.
We loved the Trout Lake when we saw it, but it's so heavy!! Nearly 40kg! Having said that, weight is probably the thing we're most likely to compromise on, particularly if (as with Trout Lake) it comes in 2 packs.
Would you say the outer fabric on Trout Lake and Baltic Sea were comparable quality? I want to avoid the "plastic coated" effect.
Yes the fabric is the same and is far more breathable than any of the other normall brands out there. If the poly cotton is shiny on the inside then it will sweat and not be as breathable. On the other hand the more basic poly cottons will last longer than a normal polyester tent and be cheaper than an Outwell poly cotton tent.
Thanks again Gary. We'd much rather stump up the cash for good quality. In the running along with the 2 Outwells are a couple by Nomad and Eureka. I guess these aren't really 'normal brands'?
I'm going to start a new thread, see if I can get some views on my "shortlist", would welcome yours too. Thanks for all your help (shame you're so far away or we'd stop by).
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I have been camping for over 45 years uurgh feels old. Anyway when i started camping polyester tents did not exist. It was a major discovery at the time for hikers due to the light weight and probably cheapness of the material. How ever it became apparent that it had negative sides including condensation forming on the inside of the tent and dripping, little or no ventilation, hardly any shade is created and noisier than cotton tents in the rain. Polyester tents are still great for hiking but not for large family tents. Weight seems hardly an issue when most people turn up with MPV's, roof boxes and or trailers.It seems to me that alot of the cost of a tent is surely in the man hours taken to stich it together so the material is hardly the issue. So then why, here in the uk, have we a massive choice of polyester tents and hardly any choice of polycotton tents. PROFIT. Its more profitable to sell polyester tents than polycotton tents. We the british public are easily persuaded as we only buy whats on offer. We are not very demanding consumers. Therefore all the tent retailers sell a majority of polyester tents. If you want choice start to look on at the Dutch retailers they have an amazing choice of cotton tents. I have just bought a HYPER CAMP cotton tunnel tent from a company called
http://www.obelink.nl/ws/home.asp
We received it today after ordering it 4 days ago over the internet. We have just had it up in the garden and its a brilliant quality for less than half the price of a poly cotton tent in the uk. We are still so cynical about the so called recession and retailers being greedy. It still seems to be rip off Britain to me. If you want cotton go Dutch.
we just purchased an outwell troutlake with canopy after a couple of years of camping using various makes of synthetic tents-nothing wrong with them but,when we got the outwell home and set up-wow,the quality of the material and all the little details made us realise why it cost soooo muchplus it was suprisingly quick and easy to pitch.So glad we went for it as we actually went to the shop to see a Sunncamp vario 400 that we'd asked them to pitch for us
like you i am a little concerned about the weight,but if i have to leave she who must be obeyed behind,so be it