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 Topic: Khyam- new or old- which is best?
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10/6/2012 at 9:26pm
Location: Leicestershire
Outfit: Khyam Ridgidome XXL and many others
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Joined: 28/9/2007 Standard Member
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My second hand Khyam Ridgidome XXL turned up a couple of weeks ago and I've played with it in the garden and also taken it to 3 gale force wind nights in Norfolk. It's time to give the verdict...
Firstly, ease of pitching was excellent, I had it up by myself and I'm only a 5 foot 4 female, for that size tent it was impressively easy to put up.
The tent turned out to be one of the old models with a thick canvas type fabric and two windows. The build quality was very "Old Skool" and reminded me of my parents' canvas family tent.
I liked the fact that the thick fabric blocked out light, since I don't like to wake up with the 5am sunshine. The two windows let in enough light at other times.
The fabric also turned out to be really quiet in the strong winds, unlike my noisy flappy polyester tents.
The Khyam Ridgidome is meant to be stormproof, and indeed it was one of about two tents which didn't budge at all with the 29mph winds. I'm sure it'd be about the last tent standing if there was a hurricane. As long as it's pegged well, it should stand rigidly with its aerodynamic shape and not shirk at any amount of wind. Farewell to scary nights in a flappy creaking tent in the wind!
I noticed that it can get quite hot in sunny weather, but then you just open both doors and let the breeze cool you off.
The build quality is reassuringly sturdy and it's a well designed tent. It's already quite old, but instantly gives me the impression it will happily do another 10 years of service. I'm so pleased with it that I'm selling all but one of my fibreglass poled polyester tents, since they don't come close to the delights of the Khyam.
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My OH is convinced that a permanent raincloud follows my tent where ever it is pitched. Apparently, I could end all drought and famine in Africa simply by pitching my tent there!
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11/6/2012 at 1:17pm
Location: Leicestershire
Outfit: Khyam Ridgidome XXL and many others
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Joined: 28/9/2007 Standard Member
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You're welcome, I'm happy to help!
When like me you have a permanent storm cloud following your tent everywhere, you inadvertently become an expert in your tent's performance in wind and rain. A tent that's noisy in wind can give you sleepless nights and you're lying there wondering if it will hold up or not. That's not exactly what you want for your camping experience.
My tent did come with the groundsheet and I'd highly recommend having one. It keeps the bottoms of the bedroom pods clean, and when you're taking the tent down you can pack everything cleanly away inside the tent even when it's raining. I even put down a picnic rug on the main lounge area and it made it really cozy, and kept any wet footprints at bay. Once home, all I need to do is hose the groundsheet clean (and dry the tent ha ha).
I peg the excellent mud flaps outwards as far as they can go, flat to the ground with the pegs driven right in. This makes the rain fall off outwards of the tent and created a waterproof seal. You could of course peg them under the groundsheet, but personally I consider that too much hassle when I can get a pretty good seal just by pegging outwards. The only weak point with rain is the big main door which doesn't have a mudflap, so watch out with driving rain. Same with the vent covers at the ends of the tent, if you get driving rain from either end of the tent just peg the window flap flush with the wall of the tent.
As one final point I forgot to mention, the bedrooms in this old model are made of cotton which was really warm and breathable. Very pleasant to sleep in, especially in the Summer when the polyester bedrooms in more modern tents can get quite stuffy by the morning despite having large mesh vents.
Congratulations on keeping the old model; I don't have experience of the newer Khyams but I can certainly vouch for the old ones and they have a kind of nice retro look to them too!
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My OH is convinced that a permanent raincloud follows my tent where ever it is pitched. Apparently, I could end all drought and famine in Africa simply by pitching my tent there!
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