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hi newbie here looking for some advice.

I have been looking to retire my gelert krakatoa hotel 8 for something a lot bigger. I have seen 2 tents - granted on ebay - that have really taken me.

The Skandika Nimbus xxxl and the Outwell Nebraska xxl £100+ more - I saw a nebraska xl at Go Outdoors - very nice - but have reservations with stories of leakage. cant find too much on the Nimbus apart from company website.

Anyone had any dealings with either - your opinions would be much appreciated

Many thanks

Youelley

Hi Youelley

Welcome,enjoy this site,i have gained so much from people here. I cant help with the Nimbus,but we have just got the Nebraska XXL. there's been alot of good and bad reports. Granted we hav'nt been away yet in ours,got it after our hols in our old tent.But we have put it up a few times,and gave it the hose pipe test which it passed with flying colours.We choose the Nebraska due to the large living space,also the bedrooms are not a bad size either,2 ok ones and 1 large one,(for mummy and daddy),the two girls can have the other bedrooms which are still double and ample for most people.There is also a decent size porch which is ideal for us,shoes,buggie,mother in law!,no she wont be coming!

But it suited our needs.The thing we found about looking at tents are there are so many of them,its a personal choice. If we didnt get the Nebraska we had the Monty 12 as 2nd choice,but no real porch for young kids stuff etc. Its a bit like buying a car,we all want different things.

whatever you buy,enjoy it.Having not camped for years,we decided to have a go this year,bought a cheap tent to see if we liked,we did then started to invest in better bits and better tent which i hope last's. We also plumped for the oakahoma day tent which we will use as a dining and cooking tent,plus it matched the Nebraska,sad i know but the wife liked it!.

wont bore you anymore,fellow campers on here will always give their best and honest opinion.

good luck with looking

craig  

we love our nabraska xxl, used it on last trip, but it did'nt rain so not sure about leaks, personal choice again, but i'm fussy and liked this one.

Eileen

As said above, we have had a few people post on Skandika tents, all of which were favourable. But the only outlet for them seems to be one or two Ebay sellers, who are probably just buying them pirvately and selling them on (and  may be not authorised dealers) - hence, I would be concerned over support, compared to a standard retailer and makes, like Outwell, commonly availble in the UK.

Outwell, as you have probably read, have had their fair share of quality issues this year - but form what I can see the retailers have been responsive and dealt with the problems.

I also expect that you are comparing two very diferently priced tents, with the Nebraska being far more expensive. So in the end, you pay your money and take the risk.... however, I am not sure why you would need to take a risk with the Scandia? I am sure for roughly the same budget you could get similar UK model tents, with retailer back up?

Well I finally took the plunge and bought the Skandika Nimbus from Ebay - France. Got a much better price than UK - i bought for £205=£26p+p

got the chance to put it up yesterday - well impressed. The "thing" is HUGE - ate the garden. But SO easy to put up - even in the wind - just me and the good lady!. I liked the mix of flexi and metal poles. (Even dropped it on my own.)

spent the next hour tying on the many guys. As you do!  And checking over seams and joints etc!

Tent very well made - in China - as are most - probably the same factory as more well known brands.

My advice - if buying new off Ebay - look for a seller with a v good history and search for reviews and comments to support your search. Then if you are ready, buy. Most of these companies have stock and there is a regular sale - so you don`t have to rush in! 

Cant wait now to get to Newquay next Whitsun -  to lord it up in so much space. 

I bought a Skandika Canyon during the summer, and always enjoy camping in it, it's one of my favourites out of all the tents that i have seem to have collected in the last 3 years

I bought a Skandika Caravan Tunnel tent off e-bay, for £140 + p&p. Arrived within few days and is so easy to put up, even on my own and has loads of room. Only criticsm I have of it, it doesn't have a side door, just one on the end but other than that can't fault it.

I'm quite surprised that they haven't found a retail outlet for them in this country as they seem to sell loads via e-bay.

To check out their models go to http://shop.maxtrader.de/default.aspx?TY=item&ST=3&CT=4

 The middle one in my photo gallery is my Skandika Canyon that i mentioned in my post