Message Forums

Hi Den,

it sounds from your total of ocupants there will be three of you plus the pooch.

On this to give you comfort and room, consider a 6 berth tent, think about cooking / chairs / table, where would you be if it was tipping down and strong winds.

Think about the comfort zone, and without knowing your budget . think about what you want, how many bedrooms , height , ease of pitching , size and overall your budget.

On average look at about 8 - 12 pounds per night, it may be a bit more if you choose to have electricity provided by a electrical hook up, dont forget the cost of lighting / heating / cooking / sleeping / sitting, I appreciate camping is bare essentials, but these are too ..!

Happy hunting..

It really depends on what you want to do.   Having your own space is nice, but surely you will want to spend time together and unfortunately it doesn't always stay dry.   Or maybe you will be out and about doing stuff the whole time?   

You need to think about your total budget and what other gear you need too.  

There are tonnes of people (woman mostly) who never really thought they would enjoy camping, but once they have tried it once, become totally addicted.  You never know, your wife might be one of those.  My best friend was one and now you can't get her out of a tent.   If you think there is a chance she may give it a try, why not go for a little bit of luxury?......

I guess it depends on the site; which is not very helpful for you! (sorry).

If I was packpacking, then I would probably go the way you are thinking, with thre small tents; however, if I was driving, I would still want a tent I could stand up in, even for a weekend.

We have fun at weekends even if it rains, but I would not want to be in a little tent, laid down, on my own, all the time. I.e. in the end, I think it would get to you being in such small tents, if you were not having to back pack them.

With a 12 and 14 year old, I guess they would want some privacy, so you would be looking at a 3 bedroom tent. it would cost a bit more than 2x £25, but I think in the end you would have better weekends away.

Some sites charge 'per person', but others charge 'per unit'. You may get away with pitching the three tents on one pitch, but then you'd have no more privacy than you would in a 3 bedroom larger tent.

It sounds like there will be three capable tent pitchers (take 3 mallets!), so a larger tent shouldn't take too long to pitch. Also, although you'll be walking during the day, you'll all probably enjoy a couple of hours relaxing with a cuppa before going to bed, so a 'living area' would be welcome. Another thing to consider is somewhere to cook & eat breakfast if it's pouring down outside.

hi think you would love mine, for three people, giving own space for each,. Ok i know its bigger than you wanted, but i love it so much, i cant help telling people.

Everyone please feel free to tell me to shut up about it .

I have a 15 yr old son and 12 yr old daughter (plus a couple of younger ones) and from my experience it is best to give them seperate rooms within a larger tent.  At that age, and being boy/girl the squabbles over every little thing drives me insane. (I have 2 boys + 2 girls so we have girls room and boys room - still arguements but not half as bad as mixing them!).  I have also realised - especially with my 12 yr old girl that she likes somewhere to stand up in private so that she can adjust herself before leaving the tent (just in case Westlife are camping next door???).  I would go for a 5/6 berth option with a good living space - again kids don't want you messing up their "stuff" just so that you have somewhere to sit, and a 12 year old girl can pack for Britain - I need a tent with a walk in wardrobe just for her and thats for a weekend! 

If you will be doing some walking, after pitching the tent, then again a larger one would be best as you will have nowhere to dry off any damp clothes/shoes and nowhere to boil a kettle if the weather's miserable.  If it's a case of carrying the tent then you could always split  up the components (i.e. one carry the tent, one the poles, one the groundsheet - you could even strap the tent pegs to the dog LOL), with smaller tents, even for one night I would recomend you have some living space as others have said a utility tent or gazebo.  You never know after a few weekends of the children raving about what a good time they had your wife might decide she's missing out and opt to try it, you'll be glad you had more space then.

Good luck

There are relatively quick and easy pitching family tents, which you could stand up in and have your own (x3) sleeping spaces.

I am always impressed by how quick people put up the Robens tents - have a look at something like a Robens Triple Dreamer, which would give you some usuable space and relatively small to transport.

http://www.robens.de/Tent.aspx?b=Robens&bid=1&lid=1&l=en-GB&ID=104&pid=1