Dometic / Kampa Polzeath 8 Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Dometic / Kampa Polzeath 8

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Dometic / Kampa > Polzeath 8 Reviews

Current Model?
Berths:
Weight:
RRP on date added:
Bedroom inners:
Living area groundsheet:
Pitching Style:

Discontinued
8 (more 8 berth tents)
70.00 KG
Ł999.99
3
Fully Sewn-in
Fly first

Average User Rating:

9.3/10 from 10 reviews

Viewed: 40970 times

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10 Reviews of the Polzeath 8

By: Mclugash Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2010 Rating: 9 from 10

Well in 2024 we are still using our kampa polzeath and think it’s fantastic!

I would agree with pretty much all of the previous reviewer comments and only have a few more extra points to add with years down the line.

We’ve been using this tent approx 3x per year for the past 6 years, and with a family of 5, it’s ideal. We’ve had 6 folks (2 adults, 4 kids) before without a problem but agree that 8 would be tight and not as comfortable.

We tent to camp on ‘field’ campsites but need to bear in mind the sheer size of it, should we pitch at a more ordered camping/caravaning site (it’s a ‘jumb’ pitch or paying for 2 I’m afraid).

Beyond that, it’s exactly what we need for long holidays (weeks or fortnights) and the odd long weekend. I’ve now waterproofed a few times since purchasing second hand due to one or two small leaks. A top tip would not to install the ridge poll unless worried about strong breezes, otherwise when raining it is likely to cause condensation and water ingress if touching the canvas roof.

Hopefully a few more years out of this tent, but I would struggle to think of a suitable replacement. The poles are substantial, and would consider a similar option from kampa with inflatable beams, but would happily buy the same tent over should it be time to replace … if only we could.

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By: Fattyballaty Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 10 from 10

We took our Polzeath 8 to Newquay in 2016 and it was brilliant! My other half did try to step out through one of the open windows and tripped and made a small tear but I fixed that with a needle and thread when we got home and it didn't give us any trouble when in Cornwall. My other half wasn't hurt, thankfully.

The only negative I can come up with, is the sheer size and weight of the tent when it's packed - it's huge and weighs a ton but that's polycotton for you.

We may do Cornwall or Wales this year. :)

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By: Fattyballaty Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 10 from 10

I've just bought one off Ebay and I haven't camped in it yet but it's been up in the garden for three days and it's been raining for most of that time and I've also turned the hosepipe on it (concentrating on seams!) about half a dozen times and it seems very promising. We had a terribly leaky Outwell Montana 6 last year (Ebay) and my son stood in this one whilst it was raining and commented that it makes you feel distanced from the rain.

I aim to update this review, once the tent has been used in anger (actually, hopefully in fun!).

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By: Betematty Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2010 Rating: 9 from 10

We purchased our Polzeath last year after having numerous other tents and have no regrets. The tent is extremely large and accommodates my family of five extremely well. The poly cotton is a must as it is much harder wearing than other tents and as my husband is a bit heavy handed it is brill. We also purchased the vestibule which is brilliant in the bad weather as we were able to accommodate our kitchen in it. Upon our return to the uk we had a little issue with one of the zips which kampa happily mended at no extra cost. The putting up was relatively easy although I had to stand on chairs in order to reach certain parts of the tent. I will agree with the other reviews though the inner configuration needs to be looked at due to the narrowness but I suppose you can't have everything. I have since been in touch with Kampa and this tent has now been discontinued and renamed as the Studland classic.

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By: Madscot66 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2010 Rating: 10 from 10

Having owned two or three tents I find this to be the best. Everything about this tent say class.

For: the size of rooms
Zip off groundsheet
Windows open alfresco
Extra bedroom
Front entrance wall that zips away
Vestibule
Plenty peg points
Front canopy can be stored away

Against : colour

I think this says it all. Everything about this tent is well made. The idea of the Vestibule is spot on,you can close the tent up including kitchen area is brill. The only problem I had was the pitching,was a little difficult. Tried to pitch it a different way than have done with other tunnel tents . Will go back to old method . To take down was very easy. The colour is the only down side , a bit naff . But will learn to live with it. This just be pound for pound the best family tent on the market.

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By: Moaffy Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 9 from 10

Well what can I say. This tent is absolutely awesome.

My wife, our three young children (two, six and seven)and I have just spent seven days at Redshoot in the New Forest. This is the first time that we have used the Polzeath 8 and we are incredibly impressed.

Our first obstacle was to get the tent up, bearing in mind that on our one and only dry run before leaving we didn't even get the tent off the ground. Following advise given by Camping and Leisure World in Horsham, we had the footprint pegged and tent up within forty five minutes and was very easy. The instructions are:

Peg all four corners of the tent. Open the front door and shake air into the tent otherwise a vacuum may hinder the raising of the poles. Make sure all the doors are shut prior to pegging to ensure the doors can be opened and shut easily. Starting from the back, thread the first pole and insert the pins - Peg the guide rope to hold. Repeat the procedure for the next pole which will automatically hold upright with the weight of the tent on the ground. Do this with with the last four poles and once again peg the guide line for the front pole which will hold the tent in place. Insert the central pole inside the tent, which may require steps. I am 6' 3'' and could just reach to do this. The bedroom compartments are easily installed as the locators are colour coded. Needless to say pegging the guide lines as you go may be advisable, although we erected the tent with only the front and back guide lines pegged.

For the size of this tent I was amazed at how easy it was to erect. The only down side is that there is a lot of pegging and this is likely to be the longest job.

The tent is huge without the bedroom and could probably be used for a small wedding reception if held outside.

Our kids are extremely lively and the space inside the tent when fully erected is amazing. We had a Coleman outfitters kitchen, five camping chairs and a Coleman table and two benches set up within the tent at one point and there was still loads of room.

There is a zip up electric hook up entry point to the tent with Velcro fastenings up the pole for what I assume is for an internal light. We passed our cable round the sides of the tent to the opposite side where our kitchen was set up and used battery LED lights.

The blinds can be folded down to show a clear plastic window with a fly screen ventilation mesh at the top. This fly screen is also on the front and side door. If the need arises, the windows can be opened fully (as well as the side door), giving maximum ventilation.

The toilet compartment is ideal, although my wife used it for storage and did it's job very well.

We have the carpet which I must admit made it much nicer under foot. The kids spent most of their time laying on the floor and I would recommend this as a must for young children.

My over all rating of this tent is that it's a must have for families with more than two children. Once used, you may never want to use any other tent ever again. Unfortunately there are always downsides and this tent is no exception. Being made from poly cotton, this tent is very heavy to carry. Erecting could be done by one person although two would be recommended. Although stated that this tent can sleep a maximum of eight, I would say that this would over crowd the bedrooms and you'd struggle to get a double air bed into at least two of them. There were five of us, the two older kids in the two separate bedrooms and us plus the youngest in the one bedroom with a zip down dividing panel. This was very comfortable, but with any more you may struggle. The one and only main problem that we have had is that we brought the tent home wet. This is a very large tent and due to the material that it's made of, must be dried out. Unless you have a very large garden or the use of a church hall, you may struggle as we have to air it. Other than this, I would have given this tent 10/10.

I've loaded forty photo's into Kodak Gallery showing all of the above. If you wish to view them, please forward me an email address to moaffycamper@gmail.Com. This is an email address raised specially for this and I will send you the email link. Unfortunately, this is the only way that Kodak Gallery will allow me to forward the photo's.

I hope you all find this review helpful.

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By: Skoobee Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2010 Rating: 9 from 10

We bought one Yesterday. We spent a couple of days to-ing and fro-ing between a number of tents, and the Polzeath won for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the quality of the material. It is seriously heavyweight stuff - the tent pack (less poles) weighs in at a hefty 48.5kg (100lbs or so) with the poles adding a further 16kg (seriously, ignore the manufacturers bumf, we weighed it dry!).

Indoor space (with 3 teenagers) is a premium, and the Polzeath is seriously spacious. As others have mentioned elsewhere, I'm 5'11' and I need steps to reach the centre bar and inner hooks near the centre point of the tent. The amount of windows and fly-screens was also a major plus, as was the breathable nature of the material - it was so much cooler than the Fully Synthetic Tents we viewed, on a hot and sunny (as always) South Devon day.

Erecting it for the first time was a fairly energetic experience. We reckon it's a 2-person job at the minimum, as although once the poles are upright, they're reasonably easy to keep upright, getting them up with the weight of the tent is not a solo job!

From scratch, with little planning, and plenty of enthusiasm, we had it erected, and ready to rock in around 1 hour and 20 minutes. We expect to reduce this with experience, but make no mistake, this is a large and serious piece of equipment!

We were informed (unlike Doodlesdad who reviewed before) that there is now a vestibule available for the front porch, although we haven't bought it (supplier out of stock).

As fair weather campers we don't expect to have to erect this in wind and rain too often. Now that would be a challenge I'm sure! We intend to use it abroad for our major holiday, and in Blighty during the rest of the year.

So far, we're pleased with the quality of the tent, and everything to do with the Polzeath 8.

I can recommend Outdoor Experience, near Ashburton. A good selection of Tents and Caravans at their 2 sites, and friendly and helpful staff.

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By: Splattsville Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2010 Rating: 9 from 10

We had this tent very kindly given to us, and have thoroughly enjoyed it so far. It's very heavy though, the tent bag needs two people to carry, and the poles are in a separate bag. It takes us an hour and a half to put up, and that also definitely needs two people. Once up it's very spacious - we don't use the 4th bedroom, and have room inside for a kitchen area, table and chairs, and could probably fit an inflatable sofa if we felt the need! We also have the extra groundsheet, which is very useful for protecting the base of the tent - and the carpet.

You do need to mention the size when booking pitches - we've not had any problems yet but do have to pay a couple of pounds extra per night.

The tent is very well designed, there are access zips for electric hook-up at both sides, and the side compartment is very handy for a portable loo.

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By: Craftymummy Reason: I've used one Made in: 2009 Rating: 9 from 10

This is by far the best tent I have owned, its only downside would be that the front door is quite high but hubby sorts that out anyway!

I am very happy with it, the quality and layout is just fab and suits our family down to the ground. Four bedrooms and a side extension which will come in very useful.

We bought our tent from Caseys, Chester. They have quite a few Kampa tents pitched there!

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By: Doodlesdad Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 9 from 10

I have a Kampa Polzeath tent and I am extremely happy with the quality and all round design, my only disappointment was that they have not yet produced a front awning which I was keen to protect cooking equipment etc, and it also provides an extra barrier to protect you from the fantastic British weather we get every summer, so I asked a friend of mine to design and make me a front canopy which is the same colour and as you can see from my pictures, it fits and looks fantastic.

I bought my tent from Camperite who are based near Colchester and they also have a Kampa Polzeath pitched to look at.

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Manufacturer's Description

All our experience wrapped up in, quite possibly, the best tent on the market today. The Polzeath has flexible accommodation for up to eight people with extravagant interior living space to match. The 4 + 2 + 2 inner tent configuration allows you to set up only those bedrooms you need for that particular trip – you can even take them down during the day to expand the already huge living space. The interior feels spacious due to the generous headroom and the natural light entering through the Daylight Panel. The large toilet/storage area is a really useful space and has its own privacy door. The front panel can either be rolled partly to one side to create a doorway or the whole panel can be completely rolled away. This, along with the zip out windows and side door, can create a real ‘alfresco’ atmosphere on those hot summer days and there’s no problem opening this front panel because it’s protected by the large built in canopy. New for this season is an optional vestibule that converts the canopy into a large enclosed area. The Polzeath is manufactured using our Airflow poly-cotton material that keeps the tent snug and warm during inclement weather but allows the tent to breathe and keeps it cool in hot weather. The ultimate Kampa tent.

Key Features
• ‘Feel the difference’ Weathershield® Aiflow Classic Poly/Cotton flysheet
• Zip in/out groundsheet
• Large built-in front canopy
• Front zip out ventilation panel
• 4 + 2 + 2 inner tent configuration
• Zip through four berth inner tent
• Airflow window system - four zip out windows
• Side door with mesh screen
• Daylight panel
• Wardrobe/toilet area with door
• Lamp hanger with cable ties
• Upright canopy pole set
• Groundsheet for canopy area

Optional Extras
• Vestibule
• Living area carpet
• Footprint
• Matching windbreak

Interior Height: 230 cm
Inner Tent Height: 210 cm
Weight: Poles: 16 kg Tent: 34 kg Accessories: 8 kg
Pack Size

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