We have the Kampa Bude 4 you listed. We are 2 adults and a 3 year old. I wouldn't call the tent big, but is a lovely size for tidy campers. With its 4000HH 100D flysheet it will have double (if not more) the life under UV degradation than other polyester tents and is more tear resistant. The inside of the rear of the flysheet and front of the inner tent has a reflective coating as insulation and darkens the inner tent. With only two of you, one half of the inner tent can be collapsed and rolled away for more living space. With a SIG and many top end features its a lovely tent. Plenty of lamp hanging points, organiser pockets, etc. Its also very well made too!
We love the windows - not too many that you're in a goldfish bowl, but low enough to see out if you sit on the floor (low tech camping) or in chairs and sufficient to enjoy the view if stuck inside due to the rain. We also love the stand-up height to make moving around, getting dressed etc much more pleasant.
The poles and pole sleeves are long, which with the 12.7mm diameter PE wrapped fibreglass poles and thick metal ferrules it might be more of a fuss to insert the poles, but with one person keeping the pole-sleeves open as the other threads them it doesn't take long. Take a look at our tent review for ideas on pitching. Its a doddle and fast doing it the way we suggest. The method we describe works a treat and you can pitch as one with the inner kept in place. The strength of the poles and the semi-geodesic design make it a very strong design for a fibreglass poled tent. The long pole sleeves prevent dome sag and keep the flysheet taught, spreading wind loadings across the tent and not only at the points that clip the poles to the flysheets on other tents.
The only thing we've found that requires a knack is the zips. They are substantial quality zips, but they have a tendency to snag on the zip cover when opening them from the inside. Just needs you to hold the zipper rather than the zip pull so that your fingers keep the zip cover away from the zip.
The front is windshedding but not too sloped, which is a help on a wet morning, but we've found that using the Vango Adventure Tarp adds a great wet weather shelter for the front to cook and sit under - just add a set of longer guys and use the tent's porch pole. There are pictures of this set up on the tent's review page.
As you can guess we are very pleased with our Kampa Bude 4! We've had a fair few tents in our time and this certainly rates as one of the best...
Helen
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Topic: Help! tent for outer hebrides!
