Dometic / Kampa Studland 8 Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Dometic / Kampa Studland 8

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

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Discontinued
8 (more 8 berth tents)
48.00 KG
Ł1,080.00
4
Fully Sewn-in
Fly first

Average User Rating:

9.36/10 from 11 reviews

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11 Reviews of the Studland 8 Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2

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

This is a huge but wonderful tent. It oozes quality both inside and out. The pack size is large and heavy but manageable with two reasonably fit people. On this subject Kampa supply an oversize bag which is great and easy to fit the tent in when breaking camp.

Setting up the tent is fairly easy for such a large tent, we use the 'Gary Cross' method made easier in that the poles which are aluminium are all the same. They are long so you need to be aware of what or who is around you when inserting. Once the tent has been erected pegging out can take some time as there are quite a lot of pegging points and guy ropes to deal with. The handy front porch area has a separate groundsheet which you can leave out if you wish, in fact the porch can be rolled back completely if required. One slight oversight with respect to the footprint (this is not supplied with the tent being an extra) being oblong it does not fit under the small side extension which we use for our loo. Also a small toggle up blind on the inside of this annex would be nice.

Moving into the main living area two things strike you it is huge but very light and airy. The windows are large and clear, zipping out completely to aid ventilation if required. There is a roof lining supplied which we do not use preferring to have the brilliant roof light panel open. It has a heavy duty sown in groundsheet which covers the whole of the living and sleeping area including the small annex. There are 4 bedroom pods supplied, three at the rear of the tent and one towards the front left as you look out towards the front, for two of the three times we have used this tent we left this pod in as a storage area but removed it on our last trip, that is when we noticed a small amount of damage to the mesh above one window, not sure how this happened may have been caused by one of the pins when rolling the tent up.

The bedroom pods use Kampa's sleeptite system which works very well at keeping the early morning light at bay. We have a large queen size bed which fits easily into the pod once we remove the divider between two of the rear pods.

This tent is very tall, we take a small pair of steps with us so that we can fit our main light unit and clip the wire in the provided cable tidies. We also purchased the optional carpet which because of the third bedroom pod is in two pieces, we are not too happy about this because it soon becomes a tripping hazard.

There are eyebrows above the windows which are a bit difficult to fit but once fitted they work well in keeping the elements away from the ventilation panels. Ventilation is excellent in this tent, plus the side door can be used as a canopy as Kampa provide a set of poles and guys for this use. The front panel is also very flexible allowing you to fully open or close off the front panel as required.

In all a wonderful tent, we love it.

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By: Ruby2002 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 10 from 10

We have been campers for over 11 years and have had tents made by Kos, Gelert Satelite 6 and Vango Vail 700, this tent out shines them all it is a superb tent. Easy to put up with just 2 of us, we can have it pitched in about 30 mins, (but then takes another 2 hours to fill it!) The sleeptight system works a treat on those early sunny morning, keeping the bedroom areas just a little darker, (its a shame that they can't come up with sound proofing to block out the dawn chorus!) The living area for the Studland is huge and the fitted carpet makes it cosy. We don't use the fourth inner tent (near the front of the tent) so our living space is huge. I like the fact the one of the three bedrooms has a zip out middle section so we made our bedroom a big double and we had plenty of room for our queensize bed, wardrobe and laundry basket, and still had plenty of room!

We bought the vestibule and use this for our kitchen area, we do all electric camping, (no gas) and there was plenty of room for microwave, 3 electric fridges, kettle, skillet and much more. The en-suite to the side is ideal for our loo, and we put stacking shelves in here so we can keep towels etc. A definite for a family of 4-6, (just me the hubby and dog) so we have plenty of room.

We took it our for the first time 2 weeks ago, and campers kept stopping looking and asking questions about it! This tent lets in loads of light, and the window zip out which is an added bonus for letting fresh air flow through. The roof lining is super too and does keep the tent cool. My fav part of this tent is the shoe locker, ideal for dirty shoes when you've been out hiking, or indeed just to keep shoes neat and tidy and hidden away. So go and buy one you won't be disappointed.

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

This is the first tent we have owned and indeed the first time camping. We have an autistic son and needed as much space as possible - two adults and three sons plus the dog all in. The Studland did us proud. Huge tent that managed to fit us all in perfectly.

I love my home comforts so insisted on taking the microwave and fridge plus kettle, toaster, laptop.You name it and I took it and it still fitted in! We even had a blow up sofa and the tent took it all in it's stride.

The second time we used the tent we were on the top of the cliffs in the Isle of Wight. The tent was fantastic and stood sound in 40m/h gales which was brilliant. My only moans are firstly pegging the front. Even without the winds, three pegging points on the front of the tent is no where near enough and unfortunately, all of them ripped off in the wind and now needs to be repaired. However, the rest of the tent was great. My second moan are the windows - the Studland has huge windows to see out but at the top of the window is the mesh vent. There is no way to shut the vent when it's cold without totally closing the internal blinds which is a real shame. I'm going to design my own vent cover I think as I love looking out onto the countryside without being freezing cold.

Also, I'm going to get the vestibule this year as I think that will be the icing on the cake. We all love this tent, even the luminous zips. The space is great for our son to jump around in and the outlook from the windows means we always know where he is. GREAT ;)

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

We love this tent. We pitched it last year for the first time in Henley and were pleasantly surprised (with hindsight) to have fitted on the standard pitch. We then took it to France and had the wonderful privilege of being on a 200m2 pitch - awesome. Having to book a supertent pitch is a little annoying but it is worth it for the space.

The pitching of the tent is lengthy but the more we have put it up the easier it has got. The height is a little testing at 5ft2 but I took a two step ladder (!) when my 6ft3 husband wasn't there to help and I was ok. So far we have been really lucky to have had excellent weather and so have not tested it out in bad weather. 2 weeks in the Loire valley this summer and the windows were very useful to let the air in as it was so hot. We get lots of looks when it is up from other campers - jealous looks! The kids can lie in there and do colouring. We also opted for the footprint and carpets and do not regret this.

WE have not been disappointed at all with this tent - it is quite frankly the best!

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

We love this tent. Too big to erect in our garden so the first real outing was to Canterbury over Easter. Took a while to fully peg out, mainly because we had to contend with help from the dog and kids.

We originally opted to use the front bedroom area for the adults and the back for the kids (3) after a very cold night however everyone moved into the 4 berth bedroom area - yes 5 of us and the dog. Amazing amount of space but snug enough to keep us warm.

Taking the tent down did prove to be fun for the kids, we failed to leave enough openings for the air to escape from, with use of 4 kids sitting on top we did finally manage to get all the air out. Folded easily and managed to get back into the back with no problems.

Next outing was to Cornwall for two weeks. The site was slightly sloping and this did cause a few minor issues with bedroom areas pulling too tightly even when adjusted to their full length. Husband had a few issues with the main door catching on the zip cover and again as experienced in Canterbury had trouble with front groundsheet pegs when door is closed - therefore when windy it does tend to lift. Could very well have been due to the slope on the pitch though.

Was a little tight on the pitch (possible due to the site though) as we had no trouble at the C&CC site in Canterbury.

Plenty of space in the living area for a table and bench set, airing rack, 4 camping chairs and all the other junk that the kids insisted upon bringing with them.

Learning from our previous attempt a number of windows were left open when we dismantled. Took longer to remove all pegs and retie guys than actually getting the tent down.

Weather was mixed, hot days when being able to open all windows as great, to wet - no leaks and lots of space for the kids to play. The tent was put down in the rain so did store a little water upon folding. Erected upon our return home and dried pretty quickly, except for the guys.

As an average height female there is no way I can fully attach the bedroom areas, even with a step stall. Certainly will be leaving these in for future trips.

Certainly big enough for the family of 5/6. We would struggle for living space if the front bedroom area is used. We did consider using this for storage but opted to leave out on second trip and it did make a difference to the feel of space.

Fantastic tent, a little to large for weekend trips though. We could certainly stay for longer than 2 weeks as it felt very comfortable.

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

We've taken a step backwards in comfort from having a caravan to having a tent, so naturally I was keen to go camping under canvas in luxury. This meant I was planning to take an electric fridge, heater, elec lights, Remoska for cooking, camping kitchens, nice air beds, toilet, table & chairs plus plenty of other bags of clothes etc. Clearly we'd need a fairly big tent!

I did lots of research on-line and at various camping shops in the South. We'd narrowed it down to an Outwell or Vango tent until I started reading the tent reviews on here (which were really helpful). We visited our local Kampa dealer at Frensham & were impressed by the Kampa Studland 8 tent.

It's big & spacious, but if you tuck the side toilet area in, it still fits on Camping & caravanning Club sites standard pitches, without having to pay the premium price for a Jumbo pitch.

We felt the fabric quality was good, it was well thought out and had enough compartments for my husband & I to sleep, also for our two children (a boy & girl) to be able to sleep alone & a big baggage area in the extra room.

We used it for a week in Devon, and once it was up it was lovely. We were able to use the toilet compartment with a porta potti at night.

The lighter daylight panel was effective at keeping the tent bright even when all zipped up in the rain, and the SleepTite system worked very well at keeping the bedrooms dark and cool.

We used the footprint under the sewn in groundsheet and the carpet on top, which made it very comfortable and warm under foot.

The tent is enormous when packed in it's bags, so we've had to get a trailer to put it all in. The system for erecting it is simple and straightforward, but unfortunately we were extremely slow at setting everything up (it took almost 3 hours to be all unpacked and ready to relax - probably my fault for insisting on bringing so much equipment with us!).

So my only criticisms are it's pack size and the time it took for us to set it all up. I'd prefer plastic windows on the front windows instead of the mesh. We may try leaving the sleeping compartments attached for next time to see if that makes it quicker to set up.

We've now bought a smaller tent for overnight stops & weekend breaks but will enjoy using the Studland for longer holidays.

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

I'm a seasoned camper, loving most things outdoors, particularly walking. This year was to be the first foray with the whole family, so we would need a new larger tent. Our local stockist Camperite at Marks Tey, Colchester comes highly recommended.

We'd both researched tents since I first saw the Outwell tunnel type one on a walking weekend in North Yorkshire last May. They seemed to offer the best in terms of space and bedroom accommodation, so it was just a matter of turning up at Camperite and choosing which particular model would suit us best. That is until we arrived and spoke to the owners. They encouraged us to look at the Kampa range and guided us through a step-by-step comparison of the two makes. Kampa is a new name in tents for me, so I was naturally sceptical.

Nevertheless, overall, the quality of the Kampa is superior to the Outwell in my opinion, we felt the thickness of the two manufacturers fabrics, the quality of the groundsheets and for inclement weather the Kampa has what thy call a vestibule, to enclose the open front of the tent.

We chose the Studland 8 over its smaller brother the Holkham 6 purely because of the additional bedroom and additional living space, which will come in handy on wet holidays in particular. Both Kampa tents offer high levels of flexibility in that the windows can be fully enclosed with integral zip-up blinds - these can be opened at the top to provide ventilation through the mesh panels (ideal for letting in air during hot days) or completely unzipped to the open air. The front door of the tent also has two large meshed ventilation panels, again with zip-up blinds and the door can be fully opened right across the width of the tent. Each window has a large canopy over it, so with their mesh panels at the top, there is no worry about rain driving in on the wettest camping trips. With all the windows and curtains closed, the tent is brightly lit through what the manufacturers call the daylight panel - a section of light-coloured fabric in the centre of the roof, which allows a lot of light through.

There's no doubt, this is a large tent, offering ample living space - that's why we bought it. But do bear in mind that the integral groundsheet would be difficult to clean and dry back at home, due to its size. That's why we bought the footprint groundsheet with the tent. It allows the tent to be erected and taken down without touching the ground. On dry days, the tent can be packed away and forgotten about until the next trip. (Note the foot print groundsheet doesn't extend under the side extension / toilet, so you might want to include a small sheet for this.) Erecting the tent couldn't be simpler, with 6 poles all the same, feeding through identical sleeves in the tent, there's little scope to go wrong. Once the poles are in, it takes only a couple of minutes to get the tent upright. We start by gathering all the poles together, and from the front of the tent, setting out the centre guy rope to hold the first pole upright, we then walk backwards, one person carrying each side of the tent, releasing the poles as the tent sections become taught until finally pegging out the back of the tent. Pegging out the rest of the tent is - simples! The other good thing about the footprint groundsheet is that it enables you to position the large tent within your pitch without having to walk around with a large, heavy tent.

The final tip is development of one I picked up from an earlier reviewer. Fall Guy recommended leaving the sleeping pods installed, once clipped inside the tent. I would agree with him, as once erected, the centre of the tent is tall - so difficult to reach for the vertically challenged. Do make sure to leave the ventilation panels in the rear of the tent open to allow the air to escape, otherwise you'll find yourselves looking at a large bouncy castle for a while.

In summary, an excellent tent. I'm aware of a number of quality issues as commented above, so if you are thinking of buying one, I'd recommend fully checking your new tent before taking it away camping. Nevertheless, I'm sure the problems are in the minority as ours was perfectly finished and I know Kampa are working hard to iron things out as quickly as possible - and do offer an excellent service when things go wrong.

Would I recommend my best camping friend to go out and buy one? Absolutely yes!

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

Well I do not know really where to start. I spent a great deal of time researching all makes and models of tents to find 'the ultimate'. We first bought a cheap and cheerful tent from tentastic (Rage Bergen 8) and this as an introductory tent was bob on, it did exactly what it said on the tin and resulted in us being bitten by the camping bug.

I knew what I wanted from a tent it was just a case of finding it. Now I thought I had found it and was just about to buy a Vango Amazon 900 as I believed this to be the best, that is until I stumbled across the Kampa website.

I found that the nearest stockist to me is Casey's Camping in Otley. So over I went and saw the Filey 6 on show which it's baby brother. The tent was awesome and all the staff could do was praise it and say that Kampa were the best brand currently out in the market, now it was not that I didn't believe them but I checked out the other stockests and rang 5 of them to get a different point of view, but I found they all said the same.

So that was that I ordered the Studland 8 complete with carpet and footprint for Ł680.

The quality of this tent is second to none, it is full of really good ideas and you notice new ones each time you put it up.

I love the open air feeling it gives you with the flexibility of the windows which can be clear see through, solid tent material or completely zipped down to let the air through on hot days, and you get the chance to sit inside in your tent and be able to see out through the big windows.

The porch is a really good feature as you can have it out or zipped back, we always have it out as its a really nice place to sit in the shelter. All other manufacturers charge extra for this and is additional to the tent.

The poles are really strong and well engineered as they only go together one way. And they are all the same so there is no confusion which pole goes where!

Despite its size, which to be honest is massive! it goes up really easy, we have got it down to about 30 mins and then a further 15 do put all the guy's out and the windows.

My advice would be to lay it out first and then start from the front with the poles and then lay them down forward until all poles are in place then pick them all up in one go and peg the back guy, then just walk it forward pegging as you go, then you can go round and straighten it all up. Getting it down is the fun part as you can do it in about 15mins and it easily goes back into its oversized back everytime, so you can sit back and watch everyone else struggle getting there Vango's back in their posh bags!

The only advice would be to hang the pods you will use the first time you put it up and leave them in place when you strike it as I am 6ft 1 and could only just reach the top!

The tent has stood up through strong wind and rain even to the point were we got flooded last week and the tent was actually floating, but inside was bone dry, I real test to the quality of this tent, you certainly do get what you pay for. I would strongly recommend this tent to anyone, and if it is too big opt for the Filey 6

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

I have now used this tent three times this year - Easter (3 nights) at the Dartmouth C&CC site (Totally unchallenged by weather), Spring Bank (1 week) at the Forest Holiday Site at Spiers House (A bit of wind but no other problems other than the midges), and Summer (18 Nights) at Veryan C&CC site.

Wow, what a brilliant tent. We took some serious weather at Veryan and remained warm and dry. The aluminium poles barely creaked in intense wind when guyed out. Our previous Khyam Ultimate (no SIG) whilst claiming 3 season resilience would not have been so dry and strong.

I would recommend one of these to anyone for whom the layout suits.

The front porch awning enabled us to eat AlFresco for almost every night. We had a great time inspite of the Met Office lies, mainly due to the huge and strong shelter built in to the front of our tent. Certainly we had better options than our Khyam front door on poles awning would have afforded us.

We felt so vindicated in our choice of tent as so many people came to have a look from their Outwell Floridas, Montanas and Vermonts because we were so windproof thanks to our Alu poles.

People, the only problem with this tent is the design fault that there is only a cable zip on one side. Kampa, sort that out and you, for my money, will have the best tent on the market.

Bloody well done!

I've really tested this thing now and I am seriously impressed.

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By: Jordan-caws Reason: I've used one Made in: 2009 Rating: 7 from 10

This is a brilliant and amazing tent and I am so disappointed that I didn't get lucky with our two tents.

The first one had a manufacturer fault that the sewing of the stripe wasn't even. We also experienced some leaks. One leak was through the windows and one of the other leak was through the side extension as it ripped a bit at the bottom where it flapped.

The second tent didn't leak and had minor faults, like missing clips, guy ropes, missing stitching in one of the ring and pin. There was a tear next to the zip in the side extension where it flapped. It would have been best to secure this, so that this didn't flap.

I decided to not to take a third replacement as I believe that the batch sent to my retailer wasn't up to the quality that it should be. I have given it a 7 as Kampa was quick to respond to my problems and to arrange a replacement/refund.

Pros

Lots of space, I could fit in two picnic tables and still have room to get around!

Lots of light

Windows can unzip

Lots of ventilation

The front can be rolled back fully and tied up at the end.

The ground sheet flips down, so there is less chance of tripping into the tent!

Lovely colours

Cons

Quality problems (I think I must have been unlucky)

Height was a problem for me as I'm only 5ft 2 so couldn't zip the tent entrance without the help of my 5ft 11 husband!

Huge and heavy, so space in the car could be an issue.

Needs two people to put it up as the steel poles are heavy.

The bedrooms at the back are separate, I would prefer one large bedroom with zipped sections for all of the bedrooms at the back.

On the whole, I am happy to recommend this tent and I am still trying to decide whether to go for this again (from a different retailer) or to get the Filey (lighter).

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11 User Reviews of the Studland 8 - Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2

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Manufacturer's Description

Flexible accommodation in an exceptionally large tent is what the Studland 8 is all about. It has no less than three bedrooms that can be used in any configuration to suit your needs – the small front inner tent is ideal for a teenager. Outside the Studland 8 looks particularly striking. No other tent packs more features into its specification but the Studland 8 is not just about features; it is based on an exceptionally strong design using the finest materials that provides secure accommodation and a fine base for your holiday. A large canopy protects the front of the tent allowing easy access in all weathers and protection from the sun on those glorious summer days. A vestibule is available, as an optional extra, which fits the front of the canopy and converts into an enclosed space. Three zip out Airflow windows can provide even more ventilation as can the side door with full fly screen. Despite its size, the Studland 8 is simple to erect – all the poles are the same length, so no putting the wrong pole in the wrong place and like our other tents, the inner tents have colour coded suspension points to make fitting child’s play.

Key Features
• ‘Feel the difference’ high quality 100D Weathershield® flysheet
• SleepTite System – for a good night’s sleep
• Large built-in front canopy (can be stowed if not required)
• 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
• Cable entry point
• Organiser pockets in front of inner tents
• 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: 26.7 kg Tent 43.3 kg
Pack Size: Poles

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