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Quote: Originally posted by Simon W on 30/8/2009

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And they are PROPER tents - Im sorry but I think that the Pollyester Pilgrims have got it all wrong - Lets have cotton and canvas any day of the week ! 

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Quote: Originally posted by Francais on 30/8/2009

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My tent (gallery) is a twist on the theme, using steel poles and Cotton Canvas, kinda old meets new, as it is a modern tunnel design with ZiG, you could say it is the best of both worlds or worst of both worlds, all down to ones own opinion really.

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Quote: Originally posted by Merry on 30/8/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by Simon W on 30/8/2009

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And they are PROPER tents - Im sorry but I think that the Pollyester Pilgrims have got it all wrong - Lets have cotton and canvas any day of the week ! 

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Planning on buying a cotton or canvas tent then, Simon? LOL.

Post last edited on 30/08/2009 20:20:46

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Erm...   Yes acctually - A Vango Peace Tipi - ( for my 10 yr old ) -  to add to the other cotton / pollycotton ones I have - a Cabannon - an Outwell Bearlake and and Outwell Baltic - I wouldn'e ever buy a nylon ( pollyester ) tent ever again - not ever !    LOL

No problem - just done it all with the nylon ones and wouldn't go back

Hi Merry.

            If there was a Cotton Canvas Traditional Frame Tent with ZiG, like say the Cabanon Andorra, I would have gone for that, but there is no such tent available, so the Biscaya Cotton 370 was the best compramise, I don't see any advantage of a tunnel over a traditional Frame tent, on the contrary, the tunnel actualy wastes space due to the curved walls, this maybe why I find the 370 just right size for the two of us, when it is supposed to be a 5 berth tent!, my tent of choice would be the Karsten 380, but at 3K versus £699 for the 370 it's was a no brainer, but maybe one day when I have money to burn, I will bag a new Karsten, although one of the things that I do like about the 370, is that for it's pitched size, it packs a lot smaller than a Traditional frame tent of similiar size, if not smaller, mainley due to less poles, but also because the roof is the same materiel as the walls, unlike most a frame tents which usualy have a laminated almost flat roof.

Andy.

I totally agree Andy

but lets face the Biscaya 370 is something special - as is the 440 - but that gets a few bad reports for some odd reason.

I love both - but somehow - I just feel that there is better out there and, Im sorry but, I think the modern approach of Outwell with the Bear and Wolf lakes - just out pipps the Cabanons - Im sorry - I know thatt the Cabannon is quicker to pitch - hand made - and a more "rounded" design -  but ( and this is a personal opinion ) having used both - I swaying towards the Outwells,  I know thats against my own nature - but somehow the colour scheeme - the little details and the general feeling of quality - still mkaes the Outwell Lakes the prefered choice ( for me )

Simon

You can see mine in my gallery.

Hi Simon.

               When I was looking to buy a tent last September, it was a tough choice to make, but I had got it down to a choice between the Wolf Lake 5 or the 370 Cotton, they were both the same price, and same size, I did prefer the look and feel of the Outwell Polycotton to Cabanon's "All Season Polyester", as Cabanon don't do a PolyCotton, but it was the "Qulity Cotton" of the 370 that swung it for me, espcialy as the tent was only to be used in Southern France during July, it could be argued that Cabanon's "All Season Polyester" Canvas is both stronger and longer lasting than either Cotton or PolyCotton, but we won't know the answer to that for about 20 years!, another deciding factor although not important, was how all the poles are exposed on the Outwell, I just preffered the clean lines of the 370 due to the conceled poles, which provides good attachment points inside the tent, I think the problems you mention with the larger Biscaya's like the 440, were mostly down to the Ali poles, the 370 of course has 23mm steel poles, as for quality I can't agree with you on that one, both Outwell and Cabanon are at the top of there game in that respect, but I would say that the RRP's of the Cabanon's are OTT, and also that they do tend to over engineer thier tent's, nothing wrong in that of course, I inspected both makes very closley, and I would say the finish on the Cabanon's is superior, nice touches like the name of the person who worked on the tent, signed on the labels, even if they don't offer none esential extras, like carpets/footprints etc.

Andy.

Andy. 

Quote: Originally posted by Simon W on 30/8/2009

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..... I know thats against my own nature - but somehow the colour scheeme - the little details and the general feeling of quality - still mkaes the Outwell Lakes the prefered choice ( for me )

Simon

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Simon, you're confusing me .

First you say that you will only camp in cotton canvas tents and never in nylon/cotton mix or nylon but then you say the Outwell Lakes tents are your preference .... but they are all nylon/cotton mix fabric aren't they?

Im sorry if I confused you there - when I say only in cotton / canvas I include in that Pollycotton - well yes maybe there is a percentage of pollyester in there - but the materials are to me simmilar - I just wont use the "full on" Pollyester Nylon feel type materials that account for around 90 percent of the tents you buy these days. thats all - I know you hve to consider weight and pack size - but for me and Cotton mix is a welcome choice.