Hi. We are looking to sell our caravan due to storage costs and going back to a tent. We have a budget of approx £1000 for a large family tent and have been looking at the Kampa Bergen at Winfields. First question, is this a good option or should we look at alternatives? Second question, do people have problems with pitches for tents of this size?
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How many people are you camping? For 4 of you you need a 6 man tent. We have a kampa studland 8 for 3 of us! - it's great.
All the "usual" brands represent pretty good value - ideally don't buy a tent unless you've seen it up in real life, always read the specs so you know how big and heavy it is, and watch an erection video on youtube (!!). Dont forget to protect your investment with a tarp or footprint as a groundsheet.
My own advice is be less concerned about whether its airbeam or poled - be more concerned about whether it suits your needs. Loads of people will argue either way like it's the most important subject in the world....ever!
Depending on your attitude on privacy you may prefer a dome/tipi type single pole tent. They can be really good but we haven't found one we like for the family, maybe when it's just the 2 of us.
We have a Coleman Weathermaster 6XL, its a great tent, and is really easy to put up. (15mins if you've got strong arms for the pump!)
My only advice would be the bag size, we have a Nissan Qashqai and it fills to entire boot virtually! I've seen other people setting up on sites, and they had the same issue!
So as long as you've got options for space it could be a good option. The black out bedrooms are amazing. The living space is great and the quality of the tent is great.
I appreciated that this ia an old post but I will reply to it for the sake of any new readers as this is going to be a perennial question I suspect.
I'd suggest looking to get a previous year model of something as the discounts can be massive despite often there being little in the way of a meaningful change to the current model . A few years back we bought a brand-new previous year (or 2) polycotton Kampa Studland at much less than half the price of the current model and certainly well under 1000 quid. It is absolutely huge, and yep it is heavy and bulky, but we have dragged it all over Europe in the boot for multiple-stop trips on three-week jaunts and it works well. I have never had an issue with the pitches sizes anywhere, and had no problems finding looking elsewhere in the rarity that a side has limited pitches sizes. I also make it plain a clear via email or whatever that I'll be bringing a monster and it is never an issue and folk are generally dismissive (correctly so) of it being a problem.
I would however stick to looking at tunnel tents as opposed to those pod-like one with bedroom at jaunty angles, as the footprint is more uniform and easier to accommodate.
In nice weather you don't need anything other than somewhere to sleep, but in inclement weather, a big tent comes into it's own allowing you to cook indoors-ish with ventilation and appropriate safety measures and dine undercover. Eating outside, even under a tarp is pretty horrible in the howling wind and rain, and that is even if you can manage to cook.
Keep an eye out for those bargains.
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