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Hello

We like the idea of camping, however have no experience at all!   We need to buy not only the tent, but all the equipment too.  We have two young children, age 3 and 15 months.  We are looking for a tent which is easy to put up, but also one with plenty of living space.  Today we went to look at some tents on display, however the choice is mind blowing.  Spending this much money on a tent and equipment I was just hoping for some advise from people who know all about camping. What should we be checking for before we buy and is there anything we should avoid? 

We really liked the look of the Beyond, Corvus 6+2 in particular and also Kampa, Studland 8....any thoughts??

Thank you in advance

Susie

Hi Susie & welcome to the forum

Can you give us a bit more of an idea as to what you would like? Tents come with a fully sewn in groundsheet in the bedroom pod, but do you want a sewn in groundsheet in the living area too? I would recommend a six berth tent for four of you, but do you want the children sleeping in the same pod as yourselves, or do you want them to have a pod next to yours? When looking at 8 berth tents, be aware that some campsites have marked out pitches, and if your tent doesn't fit on the pitch they may charge you for two pitches.

Have you considered a good quality second-hand tent to make sure you like camping before you spend a fortune on a new one? How big is your car - would you have enough space for a canvas frame tent? And lastly, roughly what is your budget?

Sorry, you're probably even more confused now

Hi Jean,

Thank you for your reply, there are certainly plenty of things we haven't thought about.  For instance, what is the benefit of a sewn in groundsheet, is it for warmth/prevention of damp, (sorry if that's a silly question).  As for the children, our 3 year old would be fine with her own pod next to ours and we would hope in maybe 6 months time our son would also have his own. 

Thank you for pointing out that campsites may charge us double, for taking up 2 pitches, that is something we must definitely consider. 

Yes, I did think we could get a second hand tent, however I also thought that as we don't have a clue about camping/tents we could just buy something that leaks/bad quality and a complete waste of money, which would put us off camping totally.  If we bought new and gave it a good shot, then if it's really not for us we could sell our new tent.  The rest of the equipment we may well get second hand, depending how our budget stretches.  We are thinking of spending up to £500 on the tent etc. 

Our car is a Citron Piccassa, we also have a top box, however we are still using a buggy for our youngest, which takes up a bit of space.  We may well have to buy a second hand trailer in order to fit everything in!  We do plan to start with just long weekends away,  we live in Dorset, so plenty of campsites to choose from without going too far from home.

You have certainly given me plenty to think about, thank you.

Susie