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 Topic: Coleman, or something else?
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31/8/2024 at 5:40am
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Outfit: None Entered
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Joined: 31/8/2024 Standard Member
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Hey there.
Let me get this straight out of the way: my wife and me haven't camped once. We just decided that we'd like to give it a shot, because it would enable us to do things like the North Coast 500 (we're from south wales), see the country basically.
We don't know anything about tents, but here's a few things we figured out in the last few days. First: we'd very much prefer some kind of Coleman tent, because at least from what i can tell in comparison (i think we compared it to a Vango Nightfall tent, as well as a Berghaus Nightfall), they have by far the darkest "inner tent sleepy.. thing". As in, they're actually dark, whereas every other tent we walked into just basically coloured that inner tent black and called it "nightfall".
We have no idea what makes a quality tent, i did read into hydrostatic head etc, but as far as companies go, no idea. Vango, Coleman and Outwells seem to be popular, same with Hi Gear and Berghaus, maybe?
Don't know which of these makes the "most reasonable" quality.
By that i mean, it's going to be our first tent, we don't know how much we'll be camping (or if we're even enjoying it), so a £800 4 people tent is probably nice, but also probably not particularly great for a first choice in our case.
From what i've seen, Coleman tents are basically decent all around, not too badly priced, and not too bad in quality. Is that assumption correct?
I fell into a hole where i initially "decided" on a tent, based on, well.. not really much, i am having trouble seeing the difference between things like the Meadowood 4 and Castle Pines 4, for example (other than colour and a few different guy line positions?). The prices also seem to vastly differ (i've seen the Meadowood 4 anywhere between £350 and £710?).
I basically would like to ask for recommendations, for someone who wants a "bedroom" as dark as possible, price below £400, reasonable quality, sized like a 500 sized Vango, or a Coleman Meadowood 4 etc. Is Coleman our only option there, and it's just a case of hunting down a decently priced one and cross fingers that it does what we need it to? We've seen the "L" variants of Coleman tents, but these are too much for us - we're just two people, and the tent for the majority is only going to be pitched one night, with the occasional weekend - don't need a palace in a bag for that. We can't even figure out which ones are recent releases, their webpage really isn't that helpful in that regard.
Any help, pointers or advice is appreciated.
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11/9/2024 at 8:27pm
Location: Dartford Kent
Outfit: VW T6 conversion
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You seem to be on the right lines. Every purchase involves compromise, as you can see from the advice here. If you’re doing single nighters, then a pop-up is the thing. If you’re staying longer, and using it as a base, then something bigger. I saw some advice, to do with motorhomes, but it works here - buy the smallest you think you can get by in. Less to load, less to erect, less to put away.
As first timers, I’d advise you to invest more on bedding: keep off the ground, and avoid airbeds that are bags of cold air. Foil backed picnic blanket; self-inflating mat, maybe on camp bed; good quality sleeping bag. And a beany hat. Being toasty in bed gives you a better night sleep; just the racket of the dawn chorus to wake you!
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via mobile 31/8/2024 at 12:31pm
