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Hello,

Another newbie here looking for some tent advice!

We're looking for a tent for 2 adults and 3 children (ages 6yrs, 3yrs and 10months old). We're going to be UK camping, mostly weekends but probably the odd week here and there too during the summer.

We need a tent that is easy to put up (went camping with dp a few years ago and had a nightmare time trying to put the tent up - his fault of course!), because I imagine it's not going to be fun trying to put a tent up with 3 young kids!

We're also looking for 2 bedrooms, or a room that can be divided into 2 - I don't like separate sleeping "pods" at opposite ends of the tent - I'd like them together, as 3 yr old sometimes wakens during night and it would be better if she was next to us.

As we're camping in UK, I'm guessing that it will rain quite a bit (!) and we're going to be stuck inside quite a lot, so we also need a biggish living area and also be able to stand inside the tent.

I'm not sure about SIG - can someone advise on pros/cons please?

Finally - budget! Probably £200 max, but ideally less than this! Can it be done?!

Thanks in advance!

Mikki

we have a royal avignon 6 which has all the sleeping pods at one end. (3 pods though.)  We also have 3 kids, twins aged 9 and a 5 year old.  Sunncamp do a vario range which is very similar to ours but has 2 sleeping pods. They have large living areas and if you get the 2005 model and shop around you might get it for under £200

see here. This is just the first site i looked at so other places may be cheaper.

We don't have sig in ours so can't comment on that.

 i'm sure someone else will be along to help soon.

Jacquie

Sorry forgot to say welcome, just spotted it's your first post

Jacquie

loved this tent, it was a great bargain for the size of it.

It had a good size living area, I had a table with the seats attached , cooker stand , preparation table, large fridge, stacking boxes for bits & bobs and 4 extra chairs and still room to move around.

 the bedroom was enormous. It was one huge bedroom with a dividing curtain you could put up in the middle. There were flyscreens on the two bedroom doors. You can put four double airbeds in and still have a bit of room around them. It was very high too, no bending your head anywhere. At the rear of the tent there was a handy storage area, behind the bedrooms accessed through the rear door. There was a front and side door too that you could have pegged out as a canopy.

get a blue builders tarpaulin from B&Q for about £6, 5mx4m to lay under the groundsheetand this will cover almost the whole floor of the tent, keeping your groundsheets and inner tent clean, and to fold the tent up on afterwards.

It was very easy to put up, and stable and cosy in some very bad weather conditions.

You won't be dissapointed, great tent for starting out. I know there are better quality versions of this tent but the prices can be two or three times as much. It was the first synthetic tent I had, we'd had a canvas frame tent before, and I couldn't fault it.

have a look at the Wynnster Anglesey Excel , for sale at Allweathers for £200. I'm toying with the idea of one for myself.

                    D

Hi,

Thanks for your replies!

I am thinking of one ofe the Wynnster ones but not sure - looking at Mallard 6, Anglesey 5 and Excel.

Do these all have a SIG? How are the bedrooms separated - can the divider be zipped down to make one big room if need be?

How easy are these to put up?

Thanks again!

Quote: Originally posted by beefysmum on 20/5/2006

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This s one I had a couple of years ago, I paid £150 in argos sale. It's very easy for a first timer to put up. loads of room, and you can stand up in the bedroom too.

loved this tent, it was a great bargain for the size of it.

It had a good size living area, I had a table with the seats attached , cooker stand , preparation table, large fridge, stacking boxes for bits & bobs and 4 extra chairs and still room to move around.

 the bedroom was enormous. It was one huge bedroom with a dividing curtain you could put up in the middle. There were flyscreens on the two bedroom doors. You can put four double airbeds in and still have a bit of room around them. It was very high too, no bending your head anywhere. At the rear of the tent there was a handy storage area, behind the bedrooms accessed through the rear door. There was a front and side door too that you could have pegged out as a canopy.

get a blue builders tarpaulin from B&Q for about £6, 5mx4m to lay under the groundsheetand this will cover almost the whole floor of the tent, keeping your groundsheets and inner tent clean, and to fold the tent up on afterwards.

It was very easy to put up, and stable and cosy in some very bad weather conditions.

You won't be dissapointed, great tent for starting out. I know there are better quality versions of this tent but the prices can be two or three times as much. It was the first synthetic tent I had, we'd had a canvas frame tent before, and I couldn't fault it.

 

Hi Debbie you recommended this to me in another post and we have had a look at it and it looks ideal. Cani i just check does the bedrooms have sig? And do you get the poles so you can have the exit doors up like a canopy or do i need to buy them seperate?

Thanks for the advice debbie and i think we will def be buying this as our first tent,

cheers

vicky

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Another vote for the Anglesey Excel from me. 

Remember to get a bigger tent than you think you need, with 2 adults and 3 kids you will need bigger than a 5 berth, manufacturers can be a bit mean with sleeping space in the bedrooms. 

I have 2 wynnster tents and a utility tent and can't fault the quality of any of them.  They can usually be picked up for reasonable prices too and that one from Allweathers looks a bargain to me!

Have fun

kate

Thanks for all your suggestions!

I'm getting myself more and more confused now!

I'm leaning towards the Mallard, but have also seen this:

http://www.norwich-camping.co.uk/product_details/3685.html

Any comments? Seems similar to the Mallard. Again, how easy are these models to put up? And does it have a SIG?

What is hydrostatic head - is that how waterproof it is? What figure should we be looking for?

Thanks again!

Mikki

If you click on your link you can then click on a specifications tab  on the page and it tells you hydrostatic head etc.  The thing I would think of is how are you going to sleep in it?  It has 2 bedrooms, one is 140cm wide this will just fit in a double airbed, the other is 180cm wide and won't fit a double and a single as it isn't wide enough, this should be OK if you are only using roll mats but will you all be comfy on these?  I really would go with a bigger berth tent than you need!

The mallard ?6 i imagine again doesn't have much in the way of bed space each bedroom being 155cm wide.

Kate

Hi there,

Thanks very much for your help! I hadn't actually thought about how big the sleeping spaces were - I just assumed we would fit!

Our 2 kids will be in ReadyBeds which are about 67wide each, and we will be in a double inflatable which I think is about 130cm wide. Baby will probably be in beside us!

Yes, it will be a squeeze, especially as we are used to a SuperKing size bed at home!

I really don't want a pod style tent - I'd like to keep the kids next to us if possible!

Thanks again,

Mikki

I know what you mean about having the kids next to you I have the same reservations myself and my children are 10 and 7.  you have to remember though that even with pods (which we have in our satellite 12) you're still only a few feet away and believe me can hear everything!  In my small buzzard tent Thomas sleeps in the opposite side to me and Lucy when we go camping without Charlie and I did worry the first night about him being on his own but I can still hear him snoring!

Kate

Whilst I wouldn't recommend the proaction tents at Argos there is one where the layout might be what you are looking for.  it is on page 109 number 340/8616 Proaction Arizona.  If you can find a better quality tent with this layout you should have what you need

Kate