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I have falllen in love with the Outwell Bear Lake 6!

At the moment we have a Vango Diablo 600, which is a great tent - there is no urgent  need to swap, and so the sensible part of me tells me to wait until the winter to see if i can get a good deal on it, but i am wondering whether there is likely to be any good sales on polycotton tents this year?  Most retailers at the moment seems to be selling in the region of £770.00, but have seen for as little as £700.

the other part of me thinks that with polycottons seeming to be more popular and the climate as it is, there isn't much likelihood of fantastic reductions, and so i might as well get one now so that we have it for our forthcoming 2 week hols in Northumberland and Scotland - but this could be me trying to justify buying it now to myself!!

What does anyone else think? Thanks! 

Claire

I have a secret suspicion that the UK is the main consumer of Nylon tents !

I feel that Pollycottons are more popular on the continent where perhaps they value comfort over cost, but I for one am 100 percent in the Pollycotton camp !!  As for the likleyhood of an end of season Bearlake bargain - then I think thats unlikely - unless you go down the E-bay / pre-owned route !

I might me totally wrong here - but I dont think so - I cant understasnd when I go to retailers that there are virtually NO Pollycottons on display - just cheaper nylon offerings.

Now Im not saying that we should all go and get a PC tent - there are some big dissadvantages - pack space - pack size - weight - cost - ( did I say Cost )  but really the difference  in comfort is fantastic - small things like - when its raining its soooo much nicer in a PC -  and when the sun is shinning at 7 am in a morning you know you can have a laze without fear of a roasting on its way !!

they are much cosier at night - quieter and dont flap around in the wind - they also pitch better - with less creasing or sag than the nylon ones do.  Im fairly sure that our European neighbours from France, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Holland use far less Nylon tents than we do here in the UK. ( quality over quantity )

I love Pollycottons - for me there is no going back.

Thanks for your replies, it's what i thought! For my family, i think that the cost would be outweighed hugely by the comfort. Now i have seen one 'in the flesh' at a camping exhibition, i too am surprised how retailers don't seem to allow display space for polycottons.

Claire, take a look here  and also at the site it takes you too if you click the union jack.

Some great tents at excellent prices and the majority are polycotton or cotton

Angie

Interesting that proper tent cloth is making a comeback and all the advantages as listed are true but in disadvantages nobody has mentioned the main one, which is trying to work out what to do when you got home with 45 kilos of wet canvas in the boot?

If you haven't got somewhere indoors you can hang your tent for 4 or 5 days, or space to pitch in the garden and wait for a sunny day, then cotton could be a problem. That's the main reason so many tents went synthetic. They need minimal drying time, can be aired simply and most importantly synthetic tent cloth doesn't get mould.

Cotton is nice though isn't it. :-)

Im not sure if agree with that - I know what you mean though

Pollycottons have the same anti-water treatment as do nylon - so little of the water is absorbed - they form water beads and droplets in the same way - and bounce off in the same way.

Nor would you leave your pollyester tent in its soppy wet state to rot - and the drying times are pretty much the same give and hour or so .

The only real anti - cotton argument is weight

My thoughts

Quote: Originally posted by Goose451 on 04/8/2009

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Interesting that proper tent cloth is making a comeback and all the advantages as listed are true but in disadvantages nobody has mentioned the main one, which is trying to work out what to do when you got home with 45 kilos of wet canvas in the boot?

If you haven't got somewhere indoors you can hang your tent for 4 or 5 days, or space to pitch in the garden and wait for a sunny day, then cotton could be a problem. That's the main reason so many tents went synthetic. They need minimal drying time, can be aired simply and most importantly synthetic tent cloth doesn't get mould.

Cotton is nice though isn't it. :-)

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If one of our tents is wet (almost every trip lol) we just fold and roll as normal and get it out the bag once we get home. We have no garden so get the tent out in the spare bedroom (which is now the camping gear room ) and make sure we turn it over/move it around until dry. Contary to popular belief, cotton dries faster than polyester. We have had the cotton tent packed away whilst waiting for sons poly pup tent to dry!

Cotton is imho (with OH nodding like a madman in agreement) the best.

Angie

Quote: Originally posted by louise_caines on 05/8/2009

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We haven't had the experience of packing up our NL PC in the wet yet...and dread the thought of it. It gives my husband sleepless nights the night before we are due to leave in case there may be a downpour!

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