Khyam Ridgi Dome XL Classic Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Khyam Ridgi Dome XL Classic

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Khyam > Ridgi Dome XL Classic Reviews

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

Discontinued
4 (more 4 berth tents)
20.00 KG
Ł340.00
1
Standard
Fly first

Average User Rating:

9.06/10 from 17 reviews

Viewed: 80232 times

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17 Reviews of the Ridgi Dome XL Classic Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2

By: Bikerphil Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2004 Rating: 8 from 10

WE had ten years use out of this tent and threw it away last year as it was on it's last legs. There were numerous repairs to it, and the seam tape had failed in many places. This was an easy to erect tent, but our biggest issue with it was trying to get the sleeping area right. After following the instruction book and CD to the letter, we still couldn't get the outer tight. The result was that the inner and outer always touched near the bottom and the outer sagged somewhat. So I don't know what the solution would be. The other issues was the packed size and weight. It took up a huge area of our boot. But it worked great and went on many trips away where it was erected for a week or more. As we chucked it after our last trip, we left it over the winter to replace it. We have just bought a Heliport Gimle family plus, and have as yet to erect it but went for this for the packed weight and size. (Less than a third of the size and 7 kilos as opposed to 23.5 kilos. When we have used it I will post a review.

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By: Bikerphil Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2005 Rating: 8 from 10

I have owned an XL classic since 2005. It has been fabulous and has been used every year. We have had tiny leaks to the roof in recent wet weather, but since seam sealing the top it seems ok. It has faded now, so may not last much longer. Looking at a Helsport next, half the size and a third of the weight.

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By: Sunseeker10 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2008 Rating: 9 from 10

This is our second Rigidome - now that the children are grown up we 'downsized' to the XL and find it more than roomy for a couple. The tent material is a different quality to our first one and this one really hasn't been tested in any bad weather unlike our old XXL. It has lots of new features like the vented window and second door which work well. Plenty of room in the living area if needed and a good height in the bedroom. It is still as quick to put up much to the amazement of our Dutch and German neighbours who had never seen anything like it!

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By: Paul christie Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2001 Rating: 9 from 10

I have owned my Ridgi Dome XL since the first model was launched, so it's somewhere in the region of 13 or 14 years old now.

It has just reached the end of it's life as 9 days in Cornwall saw it take some stick and a few of the seams have leaked and are beyond the help of seem sealer now. The material has also worn way too thin in places. We had gales with wind and rain and upto 70mph on a cliff side site! Some tents didn't make it!

That said, I notice you can still buy a replacement fly sheet for it. The poles are still fully working, so for about Ł60, it appears 'I can rebuild it!' which is great news. The only downside is the modern day fly sheet is half the thickness of the good old original, which had a 4 oz fly.

The tent has been fantastic. We have used it every year and several time each year. I have the annex which I add for longer stays, which doubles the living area space.

The tent is pretty bomb proof and I've been on weekend where other tents have been trashed by the weather, including expensive Outwells, and the Khyams never have any trouble with gales and storms.

If I had one thing that I had to say was an issue, it's the fact that the main front door slopes back, so when it rains and you want to go in and out, water goes inside as there's no overhanging protection. The more recent models have a side door so it's probably not quite as bad, but that too is at the same angle.

All in all a top quality tent, built to last and built to withstand British weather at it's worst. I was said it was at the end of it's time, but hopefully I can re-make her in a pretty new coat and keep her for a few more years.

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By: ZigiT Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2001 Rating: 10 from 10

We bought our Rigidome in 2000 and it is still going strong. We have just given it away to friends who need persuading to go camping and we know that they will enjoy the experience in it. We have only parted with it because we have bought an expedition trailer with a roof tent and the Rigidome was rendered redundant. What a great tent though. We too have been in some fairly inclement weather and it has never let us down. It flexes in wind and just pops back into the right shape. After 12 years use ours was a bit faded but water tight and all in one piece.

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By: Kentouken Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2005 Rating: 10 from 10

The Kyham Classic XL is an absolutely fantastic tent.

I've had the same tent now for 6 years or more and I average about 6 to 8 holidays a year. The Kyham has never let me down in any weather and once in a really strong gale (We actually left the tent for the night and booked in a nearby premier inn) was the last tent standing, others where peppered against high hedges or nowhere to be seen at all.

I believe that the Chatsworth is the most recent model in this tents style having the benefit of a sewn in ground sheet.

Tall steep sides make for good head height and usable storage room.

There is a small window vent which is ideal for when your cooking (you do have to go outside to open it though).

Erection time is approx 20 mins to get the body up then it takes us about another hour to sort everything else out.

To give you an idea of space, we take electric hook up, fridge and cooler bag, a large cooker table as well as 2 other tables and 2 chairs, we also have a shelf cupboardy thing. All of this and there is still room for the dog bed!

Ive had the annex extension for a couple of years now which we only seem to use when we are introducing friends to camping for the first time so that they can have an area inside that they can walk around in comfortably without disturbing the main tent. Its great to have that option though for longer holidays.

I think I could talk about this tent for a week and never have anything bad to say about it. Worth every penny we spent on it all them years ago, I cant imagine camping in anything else.

I love my Kyham Classic XL

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By: Kyta Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2007 Rating: 10 from 10

We wanted a tent which would be up and down fast. This one did not disappoint: it takes longer to peg it out than to erect. It is literally up and down in two mins. Also, the bag is much bigger than the tent so you don't spend hours trying to pack it. It takes Scottish gale force winds and torrential Lake District rain in its stride.

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By: Lozzybeanhead Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2006 Rating: 9 from 10

Superb tent which I would highly recommend. The tent came with a DVD to help with putting it up and also detailed instructions. However, my only negative point is that it states the tent can be put up in ten minutes by one person. I think this is very optimistic! The tent though is very sturdy and is very spacious.

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By: Skinflint Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2007 Rating: 9 from 10

Bought one of these recently on offer at a reduced price, as we needed more space than our Cabanon Gaudeloupe pyramid for longer outings, and it seemed to tick all the boxes for what we needed. Having been though lots of tents in the past few years (we now own 6!), we were pretty sure what we needed to fill the gap:-

1 Canvas

2. Quick to erect and take down

3. Room for 2 adults + dog + a week's paraphenalia, but small enough to be cosy on cold nights.

4. Not too hot/light under the sun but not too gloomy at other times

5. Plenty of windows giving all round daylight visiblity

6. Compact enough to fit in a car boot.

It was a risk that we went away without having an opportunity to test the tent first (something I usually never do). Erection was simple as we were used to the Quick Erect system having previously owned a Ridgi-Pod Excelsior. This was much easier than the Ridgi-Pod as the Classic only has 1 set of extra poles to attach over the bedroom (the Ridgi-Pod has 4 sets for each side + an extra set for each of the 3 bedrooms - 'quick' it is not!) . Pleased to say the tent had no obvious faults and the design turned out to be everything the original Classic XL should have been. The beige coloured canvas countered all the things I didn't like about the 'old style' red and blue polyester Khyams which I felt were just too dark and dingy. At night, or when the weather was inclement, the tent was nice cosy place to be with everything zipped down, and by day, the large windows to 3 sides gave good visiblity of the outside world whilst keeping draughts and rain out. The canvas gave that little bit of extra noise insulation that we had come to expect. The multivent window with canopy also proved an excellent method of regulating temperature, with a full width rain-proof vent available for when things got too warm. The front door too has a full size mesh door to keep insects out on hot evenings - although sadly we didn't have occasion to use it!

Performance wise, it stood up to several torrential downpours and strong winds for 10 days in Cornwall, and thoughout the holiday it kept us warm in the cold and cool in the sun, which is exactly what you expect a canvas tent to do (unlike polyester which I find are either too cold or make you are feel like you're being boiled in a bag - not to mention the shower of condensation in the mornings). The weather was very wet for the first 24 hours which meant that the canvas got full opportunity to swell and seal properly. Being new canvas, I had expected the odd minor drip or 'mist' at first before the material conditioned, but it the whole unit was watertight from the outset. The structure seemed just as stable as our Ridgi-Pod. And the layout proved to be perfect for us - decent living space with standing room throughout so room for the kitchen, a small table and two chairs. We don't need any more than that as we use a day tent if there are more of us. The sleeping accomodation was just right with room for a large double airbed with bags/personal effects at either side.

So all in all it looked like we had found just what we needed and I was pleased with what was, in reality, an impulse buy.

Now I get back and findthe sad news that Khyam have been sold / gone into liquidation. Typical! Talk about bursting my bubble.

On the up side, the UK 'summer' has allowed us to give the tent a good testing on the first outing, and so far, it's proved to be good quality and has exceeded our expectations. But my main concern now is one of longevity, mainly because that the poles are all aluminium unlike the steel ones used in other Quick-Erect Khyams, so not sure how they'll cope with the stress from the extra weight of canvas over polyester, and whether this will lead to early fatigue and failure. One of the big plusses with Khyams in the past was that poles were easily repaired and they promised that spares would continue to readily available even for obsolete models, but I guess that'll stop now and we'll have to be extra careful.

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By: Hoppity55 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2003 Rating: 9 from 10

Was given this tent to try as I am disabled. My wife managed to erect it in the garden twice before we went away and that made for a problem free trip. I was ok getting in and my disability scooter goes in as well. Only trouble we had was condensation. We are now looking for a new ridgidome that I can get into

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17 User Reviews of the Ridgi Dome XL Classic - Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2

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Manufacturer's Description

The Khyam Rigidome XL Classic features the innovative 'Rapidex' Quick erect system which reduces the time to erect the tent to a minimum. Poles remain in the main tent and through the use of the clever joints enable the tent to be easily assembled.

Features - for Khyam Rigidome XL Classic

* Flysheet Features:
Family / Group dome tent with generous living area.
Front canopy door with full window and privacy curtain, roll down secondary mesh door for ventialtion.
1 set of canopy poles provided for front canopy door.
'J' door with water proof zip cowl.
Half panel PVC window and privacy curtain.
Multi function window vent.
Comfortable bedroom section with rear guy out vent.
Internal roof hanging point for lightweight items (gas lights not recomended).
Tri Guy system on all main poles.
Adjustable main corner webbing pegging points.
Double looped shockcorded intermediate pegging points.
* Inner Tent(s):
1 x Poly Cotton inner tent with robust Polyethylene sewn in groundsheet.
Berth Capacity - 4 with central dividing wall (removable) and dual entrance doors for easy access.
4 Inner tent pockets for handy storage.
* Dimensions & Weights:
External Height - 205 cms.
Packed Size: 102 x 35 cms.
Strong Polyester fully zipped Carry bag.

... there may be more info on their website

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