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Hi all, new to site and hope you can help.

Stuck between the Aztec Contera 9 and the Outwell Hartford XL. Never seen them in real life, just reading up. I am after a tent that is cool in summer and obviously dry in wet weather. Had a Kyham 2 years ago and was not that immpresed and not face sown in groundsheet.......yes or no...pro`s and con`s....

Help desperate to make the purchace after 3 weeks researching.

Cheers

Hi Wilson

I would say definitely don't make a decision on a tent unless you have seen it in real life.  People on here could tell you how wonderful the Aztec is or how they love their Outwell and you could buy one on the strength of that, only to find you hate the colour, find the inside depressingly dark and don't have enough room for your family.

If you tell us what part of the country you live in someone will be able to tell you where there is a local camp show or shop with a large display of tents.

Really, a tent from any of the big names such as Outwell, Vango, Aztec, Coleman, Gelert etc will be much of a muchness in quality, the main difference is the layout of the tent and how it looks and feels.  What one person hates another loves therefore it is vital that you look around some real life tents before making your decision.

Hi Wilson280,

We have the Aztec asilo 9. It's a great tent, very big but, because it does not have a built in ground sheet, it is cooler in the summer. Although I must say that if the weather is warm, then the tent is warm if you have a sown in ground sheet of not. Having camped in a tent with a sown in ground sheet in the past, it is warmer in the mornings.

We had a weekend away a few weeks ago and it really did pour down. We all stayed dry...thank god!  We have had some good fun with our tent but, we are actually thinking about buying a Kyham XL Classic. Only because it's smaller and we need something that does not take so long to put up. We are still keeping our Aztec though.

I hope this helps you make up your mind. Happy camping and welcome to the site.

Angie and John

Hi Wilson,

I've seen both the Outwell and Aztec at a local dealer....both very good quality tents...the Aztec seemed more airy...probably because of the 3 doors !

We originally went down the dome route until we saw how little headroom there was in the sleeping pods....that and having fallen over taking my trousers off in our current cheapy tent ! We decided that one of our requirements was sufficient headroom in the sleeping pod to be able to change standing up.

Don't buy any tents until you've seen them. We decided on a Outwell Sun Valley 8 in the end....after much tooing and throwing. Waiting for delivery now.

Good Luck in your search,

Pete.

If I had to choose between Aztec and Outwell I would choose Outwell.  Our last tent was an Outwell Colorado and our current one is an Outwell Sun Valley, both of which are excellent tents.  This season's Outwells also have 5000mm hydrostatic head which makes them a lot more water proof than most other tents on the market which is a big plus for camping the UK. 

The one thing that put us off the Outwell Hartford/Vango Diablo type of tent was the sloping bedrooms.  I like to be able to stand up right throughout the tent.