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Topic: Buying a tent you don`t love

amblingswan

31/3/2017 at 6:56pm
Location: Fife
Outfit: None Entered

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Can someone please talk me down from the ledge. I want to buy all the wrong things!

Heading to the just so festival this year, really don't want to take either of my current tents as I'm worried about bubbles (cabanon guadeloupe and de waard Zilvermeeuw).

What I need is:
* something easy to pitch solo whilst entertaining 2 small people.
* cheap!
* synthetic (due to probability of bubbles)
* standing room and space to sit inside.
* reasonable packsize
* reliable in poor weather
* simple enough to pop up and down for overnight stays on the journey there and back.

My shopping basket currently contains a zempire aero tm, although at times a zempire duxton replaces it as I swither between them. Neither of which fit my brief but I keep comming back to them.

Please save me from myself

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Graham

31/3/2017 at 8:18pm
Location: England.
Outfit: Tents (Lots of em)

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CHEAP!! I see no reason to be looking at the two mentioned tents then.

You would do a lot worse than just call at Go-Outdoors or similar, You should get a decent tent, footprint and maybe even a carpet for £350. You could do even better if you brought second hand from ebay.

What the heck are Bubbles by the way?

-------------
Snowmen fall to earth in kit form........

Every day is a gift..That's why it's called the present.

Nostalgia is not what it used to be.

Stressed is just 'Desserts' spelt backwards

DeborahTurner

31/3/2017 at 8:32pm
Location: London
Outfit: Vango Kalu Hypercamp Eldorado

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Vango Drummond
Hi Gear Aura
Outwell Rockwell 3

Etc.

And for a festival I wouldn't bother carting a carpet / footprint etc .

Hacksaw Bob

31/3/2017 at 8:56pm
Location: West Midlands
Outfit: Various tents

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Quote: Originally posted by Graham on 31/3/2017

What the heck are Bubbles by the way?

Bubbles

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Tricky Tree

31/3/2017 at 8:57pm
Location: Berkshire
Outfit: De Waard Lepelaar & Outwell Alamosa

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Definitely not worth taking anything nice to a festival - especially not the De Waard.

What about something like this from Decathlon?

Quote: Originally posted by Graham on 31/3/2017
What the heck are Bubbles by the way?

Bubbles that the kids blow.
The soap in them ruins the waterproof coating on tents - especially bad on canvas tents.

Graham

31/3/2017 at 9:31pm
Location: England.
Outfit: Tents (Lots of em)

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Blimey every day we get a little wiser....Never knew that. Bubbles are defo off the grandkids play list..lol

Thanks Hacksaw Bob.

-------------
Snowmen fall to earth in kit form........

Every day is a gift..That's why it's called the present.

Nostalgia is not what it used to be.

Stressed is just 'Desserts' spelt backwards

mitzionline

31/3/2017 at 9:52pm
Location: Devizes Wiltshire
Outfit: Cabanon Barbados & Cabanon Guadeloupe

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This is our first year with a cotton tent wasn't aware bubbles were a problem - so glad I read this thread - something to watch out for!

-------------
Aug 2017 St Martins Campsite, Scilly
Jul 2017 Trewan Hall, Cornwall
Jun 2017 Higher Kestle Farm, Cornwall
Mar 2017 Pitch Perfect camping Bath
Aug 2016 Brittany/Normandy:-
La Ferme Croas Men (near Morlaix)
Le Ranolien (Ploumanac'h)
Le Bois Courdrais (Cugen)
Chateau de Montfreville (Montfreville)

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HighSlayer

31/3/2017 at 11:38pm
Location: Durham
Outfit: Caravan and tents

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Would it not be cheaper and better just to buy some re-proofer and if you get 'bubbled' then re-proof the tent. If you dont then no problem!

-------------
A slightly younger Victor Meldrew

Ewen c

01/4/2017 at 12:04am
Location: County Kildare Ireland EU.
Outfit: Tents

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The jury is out on reproofing highslayer. Supposedly you would have to totally get rid of the detergent first...
I wouldn't take any expensive tent to a festival regardless of bubbles.

-------------
Hypercamp Alaska
Vango Force 10 mk3
Vango F10 Helium 1
Coleman Cobra Pro 3
Coleman Cobra 2
Naturehike Star River 2
Eureka! Solitaire
Dutch army goretex bivvy bag

TimCESmith

01/4/2017 at 12:14am
Location: London
Outfit: Karsten 350 + SE CA EA RA FW & ZIG

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Sounds like an ad for a Vango Galaxy 300

Quote:

* something easy to pitch solo whilst entertaining 2 small people.
* cheap!
* synthetic (due to probability of bubbles)
* standing room and space to sit inside.
* reasonable packsize
* reliable in poor weather
* simple enough to pop up and down for overnight stays on the journey there and back.

My shopping basket currently contains a zempire aero tm, although at times a zempire duxton replaces it as I swither between them. Neither of which fit my brief but I keep comming back to them.

Please save me from myself

foggers

01/4/2017 at 2:35am
Location: Sheffield
Outfit: Cabanon Guadeloupe Zephyros3

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I just bought a Vango Talos for £105 from Go. It's exclusive to them, a simple 4 berth tunnel tent and at that price I would not be heartbroken if it only did one or two festies !

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foggers

01/4/2017 at 2:36am
Location: Sheffield
Outfit: Cabanon Guadeloupe Zephyros3

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I just bought a Vango Talos for £105 from Go. It's exclusive to them, a simple 4 berth tunnel tent and at that price I would not be heartbroken if it only did one or two festies ! This is instead of taking our Cabanon Guadeloupe or bell tent.

Tricky Tree

01/4/2017 at 6:24am
Location: Berkshire
Outfit: De Waard Lepelaar & Outwell Alamosa

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Quote: Originally posted by HighSlayer on 31/3/2017
Would it not be cheaper and better just to buy some re-proofer and if you get 'bubbled' then re-proof the tent. If you dont then no problem!

The problem is that most festivals are not like camp sites, i.e. its a bit of a free for all, no (enforced) rules so not ideal with a nice tent. Bubbles may end up being the least of the worries.
Plus, most festivals make you park in the car park and then carry your gear to a separate camp field - the op has two big heavy tents and children so needs something that can be carried reasonably easy.

amblingswan

01/4/2017 at 11:39am
Location: Fife
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Thank you so much everyone, I'm still lusting after the zempire tents but haven't bought one (yet lol). The suggested tents are all excellent. I quite like the rockwell 3 but think an air tent will be easier for my 4 year old to 'help' with (I have experience of her assisting with a poled tent...and it wasn't pretty. She'd probably be better now but her wee sister will likely want to assemble the blessed things too).

Have spotted a vango pulse on gumtree and am waiting to hear from the seller. Does anyone know how many weeks camping you can expect to get from a 70 Denier tent? Worries me slightly that they have used a generic photo rather than a picture of the actual tent.

The just so festival is for kids, more of a magical fairyland than proper music festival so I'm hopeful it may be a little more civilised (although I guess a neigbourhood of preschoolers could wreak way more havoc than a group of drunken adults). Still not prepared to risk my lovely tents though, which is a shame as the guadeloupe is such a doddle to pitch and a joy to camp in.

Kind of wishing I'd just bought day tickets and camped elsewhere. Didn't realise how hard I'd find it buying a tent suitable, purely because a tent fit for a festival is not what I really want in a tent. Should probably just give someone else the cash and tell them to bring me something back.

Jim1977

01/4/2017 at 12:39pm
Location: Leicestershire
Outfit: Karsten 380 Veranda

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Amblingswan - we were in your situation last year. We go to Carfest every year but didn't want to take our canvas Karsten tent. I spent a few weeks looking at sub £300 polyester tents to be our festival tent.

The solution we went for was to buy a second hand Outwell Trout Lake 4 off ebay. They crop up regularly and are similar in price used, but you have a nice Polycotton tent with solid build. Strong poles and thick PVC groundsheet.

The great thing is, not only is this a much nicer tent to spend time in, because we bought it used it will be worth more or less what we paid for it when we sell it on in the future.

The Trout Lake 4 is perfect for us and 2 kids for a weekend, it's small enough that I leave the ZIG and inner tent all attached and pitch it as one solo.

Jim

DeborahTurner

01/4/2017 at 1:08pm
Location: London
Outfit: Vango Kalu Hypercamp Eldorado

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The big question is, if you can't take your car to the pitch, as you can't at most festivals, can you cope with the bulk and weight of an inflatable and / or canvas? And inflating it without the car battery pump?

If I was camping solo with 2 little ones at a festival I would go for a cheap, light, 3 fibre-poled tunnel that I could put up quickly, solo. Tell the older one her job was to play with the younger, or count pegs and put them in a neat row all ready.

You won't even spend all that much time awake in the tent, will you? I view festival camping as accommodation for the festival, rather than actual camping.

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