Hello. I have an Orchy 600 with extension...and I love it...however, I am now a single mum with 3 kids nearly 6, 4 and 2. So can't help much. I cannot put my tent up by myself (need help to get it up and pins in poles), and it is taking me FOREVER to get the car packed, unpacked, tent up, down etc. Is there an easier tent to put up that will still give us plenty of space if it is wet? Ideally I'd like one where I didn't have to rely on the kindness of others- in the rain people don't tend to be about so much. I don't want to give up camping because the kids love it, but this weekend I feel like I've spent all my time preparing, putting tent up, down and not spent much time with the kiddie winks! Any help would be much appreciated thanks.
------------- It's not about the rain it's about the bits in between!
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i have a similar situation where i have to put up the tent on my own now. i had 2 tents, a vango orchy 500 and a outwell nebraska and i loved them both. but i had to change them because they both use the "crossover" poles to hold up the dome which is the difficult/impossible bit to put up single handed!.
i bought a bear lake tunnel tent - this is almost as big as the nebraska but it just has 5 poles going across the width of the tent and you can make up the poles, feed them into the tent fabric slots whilst the tent is lying down on the ground and then once they are all in, using the 3 guy lines at the front of the tent, pull the tent front up and into position then pull up rest of tent all on your own.
i also bought a smaller overnight/weekend camping tent and thats easy to put up take down on my own too - again a tunnel design with no crossover poles ( kampa minnis 4 .
have a look at the vango calisto 400/500/600 tents - they are tunnel tents with 3 strong steel poles - easy to put up - if your budget stretches to it an outwell bear lake or wolf lake tent also is the tunnel design that you can put up and take down by yourself.
most simple straight tunnel design tents can be put up single handed - just avoid tents with complicated crossover poles with central domes and multiple bed pods that stick out of a central living area as they are harder to put up.
I'm a single parent too although my kids are teenagers now and they are much more help than they were when I first was camping with them on my own.
The Orchy isn't really suitable as you've found out, I would recommend a different style of tent, and as has been said a three pole tunnel design, with two bedrooms and stand up height throughout. It will do you now and when the kids get bigger so it's futureproofing too.
I have the Vango Icarus 500 which I can put up on my own, and can be put up pretty quickly. Two bedrooms and plenty of space
It might be a good idea to look at the family sized pop up tents by quechua, from Decathlon stores. They might be a bit fiddly to put away but it's worth watching the youtube videos. I've done this by myself and I'm not exactly tall or fit.
I know I'll get shot down, but if I were you I'd stick to tents which use fibreglass poles, they are so much lighter and a lot less faff (IMHO) than steel poles, which are great - if there are two of you.
------------- Is it Friday yet?
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I agree with Dinkydeb, fibregass are so much easier to pitch alone.
I had an Outwell Nevada XL which I could pitch easily on my own, with a front extension. Loads of room too.
I tried once to pitch our Norfolk Lake alone, it really was a huge task and took me forever with the steel poles. I certainly couldn't have done it with our 2 year old running round too.
Hope you get sorted and enjoy many more fun trips with your kids.
I could put up our old Khyam XXXL Ridgidome by myself but it was HORRIBLY heavy. We swapped it for a Gelert tunnel tent but it was too tall for me to get up on my own and I'm 5'9.
A single parent friend of mine got a vis-a-vis Outwell which she could put up alone but she only had two kids and they were quite small at the time.
If I were you, I'd have a look at the Quechua tents, but that might be because I fancy one myself
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Thanks everyone had a good look at the Quechua...didn't realise I'd already seen one in action in TERRIBLE weather in June- seemed solid, never would have guessed it was a pop up! Like the look of the living area that you can have pods off...will also have a look at the Icarus, hadn't considered that before...and had better get selling the Orchy. And thanks for not making me feel like a woos for not being able to put it up solo!
------------- It's not about the rain it's about the bits in between!
Hi - there are a few things to think about with the Quechua pop ups. Firstly, they don't pack down very small, secondly they do not have fully sewn in groundsheets, and thirdly, from my experience of using the Base Full with a small tent acting as the bedroom, its a right faff to unzip three lots of doors (fly and mesh on small tent then entry door on Base) in order to pass through to the living area.
I also agree that tunnel shapes are easiest to handle solo, and that steel poles are still too heavy, so fibreglass poles are easier to manage, though of course they are not as strong. Some models have an extra woven layer around the fibreglass which strengthens them without making them as heavy as steel. I think the Outwell Nevada series uses this pole design.
Pyramid tent designs are also very easy to do single handedly.
I have an Esvo fairly large pyramid which can fit all 5 of us if necessary and I always pitch it on my own as I usually use for weekends with DD and I am only 5ft 3!
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Hi, yes I would second Sharlene and suggest a pyrimid. I am a single parent also (just one small child, not three like OP!), and I have tried several tent styles (domes, tunnels, bells, pyrimids, pop-ups) etc in the search for the right tent (ie easy to pitch and sturdy). Perhaps a Hypercamp canvas pyrimid tent ... peg it out, do in with the centre pole and up it goes ... easy and sturdy as a tent can be ... we've been thru some terrible storms in ours and it hasn't budged or leaked.
vango midas, armadillo design will stand up on its own with just the corners pegged and the 4 poles in, dead easy to pitch single handed far more stable than a tunnel design imo.
I've found in general tents with steel poles are easier to erect...You can *half* erect it on it's knees and after you've dealt with the taller bits lift it up to it's full height...They are a little heavier than the *bendy* poles but much more stable.
I've been pondering the same question, although I can pitch my kyhAm xl classic on my own, it's too heavy and big to lug around and now I've a smaller car nearly fills my boot. I've been tempted by the Icarus 500, with the thought to get the enclosed canopy too, to give more living space for longer holidays. There's 3 of us. We debated the steel pole v fibreglass pole today at work, and as someone said, in recent bad weather they were on a site where steel poles snapped and fibreglass survived...