We unzip each time. The tent is polycotton and would be far too heavy if we kept the zig in. The tent goes in one bag and the zig in another. Hope this helps.
------------- August 2013 - Kingsbridge, Devon
April 2014 - Ladram Bay,Devon
May 2014 - Whitehill Country Park, Paignton
July 2014 - Rivendale, Derbyshire
Just realised you must be talking about the Familia!!! Glad it arrived safely.
------------- August 2013 - Kingsbridge, Devon
April 2014 - Ladram Bay,Devon
May 2014 - Whitehill Country Park, Paignton
July 2014 - Rivendale, Derbyshire
I unzip the ZIG, unhook the inner tent, and the front panel of my Hypercamp Escala 4, mainly to reduce the bulk and weight I have to lift.
DK
------------- * Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest And Play! *
- 2025 - inc. FR & DE
- 2024 - 10/56 inc. FR & NL
- 2023 - 48 inc. FR
- 2022 - 49
- 2021 - 34
* Ex-tenter & solo female camper *
* Treat life events like a dog: If you can't eat it, play with it, or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away! *
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It arrived this morning (ordered late Monday evening) and is sitting in a relative's front room at the moment, so I haven't seen it yet... and I might not have a chance to do anything with it until next weekend
If it is made of heavy PVC, then the ZIP can add considerable weight that requires to be lifted.
DK
------------- * Apple The Campervan - A Van For Work, Rest And Play! *
- 2025 - inc. FR & DE
- 2024 - 10/56 inc. FR & NL
- 2023 - 48 inc. FR
- 2022 - 49
- 2021 - 34
* Ex-tenter & solo female camper *
* Treat life events like a dog: If you can't eat it, play with it, or hump it, p1$$ on it and walk away! *
Hi, if the tent and bottom of the ZIG is dry, then it stays attached to the tent and rolled up together. If it is wet, or I know I will have to set it up later at home to dry, then I separate the two.
For some reason I always take the inner out, but thinking about it, I can't see the advantage.
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The zig on the Familia 6 is quite heavy on its own. I really don't think you would be able to comfortably lift both tent and zig together.
------------- August 2013 - Kingsbridge, Devon
April 2014 - Ladram Bay,Devon
May 2014 - Whitehill Country Park, Paignton
July 2014 - Rivendale, Derbyshire
We always used to unzip our Bear Lake 6 ZIG, partly for weight but also as when the tent was packed up it could breath through the rolls of polycotton. Always thought it was less likely to get mildew than if we rolled it up with the ZIG attached into a sort of PVC Swiss roll! New tent has a SIG so will see if it makes any difference...
Jim
Jim - that breathability swiss roll thing is an excellent point!
Having just lost a 6(ish) yr old SIG tent to mildew (my own fault for being to busy / too lazy to fully air it out after I lent it to somebody), I can confirm that it IS possible to keep a SIG tent happy and mould free (I did it for years) BUT you need to air it out properly!
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thanks Dave, that's reassuring to know. Am a bit paranoid about mildew, trying to decide how much airing is enough and whether the guys and straps are dry enough is my "Freakret". You quickly get attached to tents with all the happy memories they provide with the kids, so sometimes in the winter I find myself wondering if the tents okay packed away for 8 months - clearly I am very sad!! Is it best to remove the inner tent for storage? There's a whole other debate :)
We leave ours attached although have been lucky so far with dry pack ups. We find it is quicker to pitch & pack up if not having to zip/unzip the ZIG although we did have to buy another bag to keep it in (Vango Maritsa 700 bag £22.99 from ebay)
Yep, separate bag for our ZiG 100lt Gelert Cargo Bag for that, the main Tent c/w Bedroom Pod and Sun-Canopy canvas goes into a Isabella Awning Bag Medium size.
The reason for the bags we use, is that the bags that come with Cabanon Tents are hideous.
Even our Cabanon PN20 Kitchen Tent goes into a Geler 60lt Cargo Bag.