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We are thinking of buying a new tent to replace our 4 berth Raclet which we have loved but grew out of. 

On the tents-direct.co.uk there are two similar 6 berth tents, one by Marechal and one by Relum.

Does anybody have experience of either, and which would YOU go for?

Advice welcome!  Thanks

Hi

Friends have a Marachel tent and sister-in-law had a Relum.  Does the Marachel have a moveable front panel - this is excellent if it does.

Check out which tent has the best bedroom layout for you.

Personally I would choose Marachel as I prefer their colours.

Hope this helps

Jackie H

We have the Marechal Vario 5 with moveable front panel and it is excellent.

AllanD

I believe that Conway used the Marechal canvas on their trailer tents for the years when they fell out with Cabanon and they refused to supply them. Pretty sure that Conway would not have used anything but top notch canvas, so it would be the Marechal for me.

We have a Marechal tent which is around 25 years old.  It belonged to my parents and is still going strong.  We've been in torrential weather and it's been fab.  We just bought a Montana 6 this year because the canvas tent is a bit small for us now and a new canvas one would be too expensive and too big/heavy for our car.

Good luck!

Hi Angela. We started with the same tent as you, a Sunncamp Vario 6, but after one 5 day holiday hubby decided that he couldn't stand the flapping and the feeling of insecurity (fibreglass poles in windy weather), so we sold that soon after the holiday & bought a 6 berth frame tent. He loves it

It's quicker & easier to erect than the Vario, in fact I've erected it myself in the garden twice. There's no flapping, you feel secure (even in a 2 hour thunder storm last August), no problems with condensation because canvas breathes, cooler in hot weather than synthetic, yet thick & warm enough in cool weather.

Also, unlike the Vario, you don't have to go outside in pouring rain to open or close the window blinds (except the kitchen vent), you just draw the curtains. In hot but rainy weather you can have the top of the door open for ventilation cos most frame tents have a stub canopy as standard. You can roll up the front wall (and a side panel too on some) on those very hot days.

The pack size is the only downside to a frame tent. We use the trailer when we take the 6 berth. Although I must admit that due to the large living area we take a lotta stuff to fill it (including the kitchen sink!), so it's not just the tent itself that takes up a lot of space   We recently bought a small 5 berth frame tent for weekends & just take the basic equipment, and this all fits in the car perfectly, without the need for the trailer.

Go on, take OH to have a look at some frame tents - I'm sure you'll convince him

Angela,

As I said earlier, I have replaced my Relum Super7K with the Palermo 6. Due to the c**p weather we've had this year, the trial run had to be done in a warehouse in order to check everything was OK. Obviously no pegging was involved but from putting up the frame and draping it with the canvas, it took the two of us 25 mins. Reckon it would be around the 45 min mark with the pegs. I found it was actually easier than erecting The Super7.

Well, we've done the deed!  Our Marechal compact 6 arrived at 4.30 this afternoon.  Incidentally, the service from Tents Direct was excellent - I would recommend them to anybody

and we certainly couldn't get one cheaper anywhere, but I bet someone will tell me otherwise!!! 

Well, we've used our new Marechal tent for one night and then two nights and it is OK to put up, more time consuming than our 4 berth, but OK.  I would only use it for long family holidays due to the set up and dismantling time, but it was good.

On the down side, my five year old autistic son tried to tie up the sleeping comparment doors and ALL the tapes came off.  Now, I know he is ham fisted, but wasn't very impressed with that.  They had used woven cord, which frays when cut.  They sewed it into the seams without putting fray check or something on it first, which of course meant that they pulled straight out.  I plan to take a needle and thread, and the fray check, with us when we go to Dorset in a couple of weeks' time.

The living area inside is fab, especially as the evenings draw in!  The kids love it.  Thanks for everybody's advice.