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Camping under canvas - Tent talk. Advice, info and recommendations

Topic: Frame Tent or Nylon?

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Katieep

03/11/2012 at 8:41pm
Location: None Entered
Outfit: Xplore 422

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I would really recommend getting a sewn or zipped in groundsheet - i wouldnt consider a family tent without one as it makes a tent snug and dry. Also a separate porch for cooking and wet/muddy gear for us is a must. We camped for a few years with a cheapish vango (tigris 600 with a porch) abroad and uk and had fab time. Have upgraded now to polycotton which is very luxurious but big and heavy. As long as you stick to a decent brand I would focus more on getting the layout right than what the tent is made of. Also might have to accept that you might have to kiss a few frogs (buy a few tents) before you find your prince (somewhere out there there is the perfect tent

Post last edited on 03/11/2012 21:03:16

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Tynxuk

03/11/2012 at 11:09pm
Location: Sunny Suffolk (West)
Outfit: inflatable dome Palamos6 frame tent

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I have a similar sized car to yourself (Citroen synergie) and it really was a struggle getting the 6 man tent in with everything even with inflatable roof bars & bag for bedding, the car looks low at the back before you load it and once loaded I'm not really sure on how legal it was! I have the smallest child in the very back and remove the centre seat and other rear seat, tables and solid stable stuff go in the middle with poles across the centre footwells to try and keep the weight across both axles but it still looked low

AngelicMinx

04/11/2012 at 2:34pm
Location: Netherlands
Outfit: De Waard Esvo (3) Hypercamp

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If you have space in the car/trailor then go for the canvas.

Cotton has many advantages over poly.

If you have a frame tent then there will be no sig but this really is not a problem. Lay a good groundsheet over the mudflaps and it is as snug as a tent with a sig.

You can also use a carpet on top of the groundsheet if you wish. A cheaper version is to use picnic rugs or cheap ikea rugs etc.

Hope this helps

Angie

PennyCV

05/11/2012 at 9:29pm
Location: None Entered
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After tynxuk's reply and comments about not having enough space in the car I started looking at other options and have seen an advert for a Sunncamp Shadow 800 8 berth tent with porch, footprint, gas stove, cooking stand, camping table, electric hookup, electric cool box, some plastic cutlery and camping pans and 2 single blow up beds for £400 for everything. Apparently the tent is in very good condition and only used for 4 weekends and is 2 years old. What do people think in terms of value and reliability? all the reviews on hear for a Sunncamp tent seem really positive however you can buy a new tent for £200 and a porch for £70 and a footprint for £30 so is all the other stuff worth it? How much is the going rate for a second hand tent?

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Opensauce

06/11/2012 at 8:45am
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One would hope the tent has been put away dry, difficult in UK conditions unless tent is unrolled & dried indoors. This is the main problem with 'little used' secondhand tents, they may be covered in mould & only fit for the bin.

Tbh if you want a tent that is less than £400 new it is better to buy it new.

lidds0

06/11/2012 at 10:03am
Location: Yorkshire
Outfit: None Entered

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Quote: Originally posted by PennyCV on 05/11/2012
After tynxuk's reply and comments about not having enough space in the car I started looking at other options and have seen an advert for a Sunncamp Shadow 800 8 berth tent with porch, footprint, gas stove, cooking stand, camping table, electric hookup, electric cool box, some plastic cutlery and camping pans and 2 single blow up beds for £400 for everything. Apparently the tent is in very good condition and only used for 4 weekends and is 2 years old. What do people think in terms of value and reliability? all the reviews on hear for a Sunncamp tent seem really positive however you can buy a new tent for £200 and a porch for £70 and a footprint for £30 so is all the other stuff worth it? How much is the going rate for a second hand tent?

You can pick up a brand new Sunncamp Shadow 800DL for under £200, with warranty, so I wouldn't even think about paying £400 for a used one, no matter what the extras! IMHO the used package is well overpriced, especially at this time of year.

If this is the tent you want, you should be able to negotiate a package inc porch and footprint etc, with a retailer.

bluenosewidow

09/11/2012 at 10:26am
Location: West Midlands
Outfit: Bailey

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Quote: Originally posted by Katieep on 03/11/2012
I would really recommend getting a sewn or zipped in groundsheet - i wouldnt consider a family tent without one as it makes a tent snug and dry.

Post last edited on 03/11/2012 21:03:16

Most frame tents have aa decent depth of mud flap which just tucks inside the tent and you can lay a tarp over it. In my opinion it would be a shame to rule out a tent just because it didn't have a SIG or ZIG.

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bridgeywidge

10/11/2012 at 2:22pm
Location: North Herts
Outfit: Monterey4 Cabanon E

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Quote: Most frame tents have aa decent depth of mud flap which just tucks inside the tent and you can lay a tarp over it. In my opinion it would be a shame to rule out a tent just because it didn't have a SIG or ZIG.

I'm with BNW. putting a tarp over the mudflaps works well with the option of lifting the groundsheet to air or for access. Just weight the edge down with your kit if you need to.

Canvas is lovely if you have the space and actually doesn't take that long to dry out IMHO.

I have both and love my canvas frame tent but merely like the others with for their relative speed of pitching/utility.

For a long break in one place I'd plump for cotton anytime - despite the fiddle with roof linings and curtains. And I don't think they're that much bulkier than large nylon/poly tents TBH but, probably heavier!

I can put up the frame tent on my own too, but even the small B&B polyester is better with two bods.

Happy bargain hunting.

-------------
Do campers 'peg it'?

newbie73

02/12/2012 at 9:20am
Location: South Coast
Outfit: Cabanon Estoril Quechua Base 4.2

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We were in your situation 2 years ago and bought a Cabanon Estroril - a truly lovely canvas frame tent for £75 from Ebay. It is a great tent, much more solid than a nylon tent and a great price. It even has flowery curtains. We use thick pond liner as a ground sheet (just measure and buy online - ours was abou £30). As with the Eurocamp tents, we can sit comfortably inside if its a bit chilly at night and open it all up during the day if its hot. I do genuinely love the tent. But... it weighs a lot, it takes up a lot of space in the car, its at least an hour to put up and take down with two people, and, the dealbreaker fo me, if it gets wet you're stuffed if you need to take it down before fully dried.

So we bought a Quechua Base Seconds Family 4.2 for stopovers and in case it rains and we now have two tents to fit in the car plus 2 adults 2 children and all our camping kit. To be honest I don't think we'll take the Cabanon next time - too much hassle and not a lot of fun to put up in 40 degrees.

dk168

02/12/2012 at 12:19pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: MWB VW Crafter PVC

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Check out the range of Hypercamp canvas and polycotton tents at Obelink.

They have a small fan base on UKCS, myself included, and would gladly replace like for like should my Escala 4 goes to tent heaven.

DK

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Suzianna

09/12/2012 at 4:36pm
Location: Gtr. Manchester
Outfit: Going Go Pod

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Cabanon tents are brilliant and if you can get one in decent nick on Ebay for £300.00 then I would go for it. The bedroom areas have a sealed groundsheet so no issues there. I never found any problems with our frame tent living area without having a SIG. I simply pushed the mudwalling bottoms under the tent inside and then put the groundsheet down on top and pegged out where there were gaps. Rather than buy a carpet, I bought three camping rugs and laid those out on the floor and found them much warmer to walk on, they were flat so no issue about tripping over them either. I had a thin roll up mat for near the front door for taking boots off under the canopy. If you want to do comfortable camping then I would highly recommend a frame tent. Downside of a canvas frame tent - bulky packed size (helps if you separate canvas and pole into separate bags and don't attempt to put them all in the same bag) - they weigh a tonne. We have camped in very high winds, storms and all sorts and never had a leak or a bent pole. You can buy replacement parts easily and cheaply too.

Suzanna

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Suzianna

09/12/2012 at 4:41pm
Location: Gtr. Manchester
Outfit: Going Go Pod

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The tent getting wet thing - we have taken the tent down wet and simply folded it and put it on top of everything in the back of the car. We had no garden to dry the tent out at home either. We put the tent in our spare bedroom on two workmates when we got home and turned it over for a day or two and it dried out fine. The problem with canvas tents when they are wet is if you pack them up wet and leave them. The canvas needs space to air out and breathe whilst it is drying. For the comfort of camping it was worth the pain in the arse of the odd occasion where we had to dry the tent out in the house when we got home.

Suzanna

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