Outwell Concorde M Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Outwell Concorde M

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Outwell > Concorde M Reviews

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Discontinued
5 (more 5 berth tents)
36.70 KG
Ł1,499.90
2
Fully Sewn-in
Inflatable

Average User Rating:

7.6/10 from 5 reviews

Viewed: 33919 times

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5 Reviews of the Concorde M

By: Robwil Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2014 Rating: 1 from 10

I bought the Outwell Concorde M in March 2015 and bought separately the 2014 Front Extension.Having had difficulties with the manual pump,not helped by having a bad back,I purchased a rechargeable electric pump.

We used the tent for the first time in June and had an excellent 2 weeks

In Spain. We felt that we had purchased a high quality tent that would give us pleasurable camping holidays. On our way back through France,we stopped at Camping Le Reve in the Dordogne. The tent was inflated to 0.65 bar well within the guidelines.We had regularly checked the air beams . The weather was hot again. The first morning after a shopping trip we returned to find that the tent had punctured.A nearby Dutch camper told us that he had heard a loud explosion and then he saw the state of our tent. The main beam had blown apart with a gaping hole in the roof of the tent. With tent poles,washing poles and fortunately dry weather we managed to finish off the last few days of our holiday. So amongst these immaculate Dutch pyramid tents was our ramshackle hovel.Later the Dutch campsite owner came past and confronted with the same sight ,told us that a similar experience had happened to a British family a few weeks earlier.We obtained the email address of the fellow British camper and contacted him.His experience was the same as ours and also his tent was a Concorde L.

So we had a Ł1300 tent which had lasted 2 weeks.

The Family Tent shop from whom we had purchased the main tent were very responsive and helpful and quickly provided a full refund for the main refund. Less helpful was the supplier of the Front Extension and also Outwell who did not reply to our email outlining our concerns with the tent. We have subsequently sold the Front Extension.

We now have a Bell tent as I would not purchase another inflatable tent.

2 from 2 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: TimCESmith Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2014 Rating: 9 from 10

This is a really good tent: solid, quiet and dry. Ours coped with some epic wind and rain over Easter. I double-guyed to windward using clingons & bungees and upped the air pressure a bit, and that was it (apart from delta pegs of course). We got eight hours' straight sleep through a proper hoolie of a storm.

Being inflatable it's a very easy and quick pitch. The supplied pump is hard on my back as you're bent over at an awkward angle so I've invested in an electric one. Sitting in the car watching the tent put itself up inspires mixed feelings of smugness and shame: it's such a doddle perhaps it's defeating the object of camping? That said, I got this tent so I could camp single-handed and with my young daughter, whatever the weather was doing. The Concorde comes down again just as easily as it goes up: open the taps and it settles onto its footprint, where it's straightforward to fold and roll back into its bag. Pack size is large for a tent of this size, although the weight is under 30kg

It's a very easy tent for 2-3 people to live in. Access is good, but you'll want to pitch with the 'rain safe' door downwind - or sling a tarp over the front. The side doors are not draughty, although they only have 3-point velcro fastenings at the bottom. Velcro tabs for the curtains are a disappointment and I gather these have been replaced with zips in the 2015 model. There is some poor stitching in a couple of places, but this doesn't appear to affect the tremendous strength of the tent. One of the benefits of the one-go inflation system is the connecting ridge beams which add fore-and-aft stability.

We use ours with the awning for longer camps. The kitchen & fridge and the dining table go into the awning, whilst the main tent is used as a sitting room and the smaller bedroom for storage and loo (bog-in-a-bag). If it's cold we combine the two bedrooms and put an oil-filled radiator in there, which. This works really well, being pleasantly warm and yet feeling spacious. The bedroom 'bulkhead' is the only vertical wall in the whole unit, so siting multiple cupboards and wardrobes can create a lot of dead space.

The awning needs a second pair of hands or a very calm day to pitch: you inflate it and then walk it into position before zipping it on. It's more forgiving when striking camp as you can leave the guys attached as it comes down. There are no cable tidies for the lantern hanging point in the awning, and like the main tent, the from door has no mesh screen. Ventilation throughout is surprisingly good and very effectively controlled using the simple cowls and props at the tops of the windows. I was able to cook a roast and steam the veg with the doors shut on a mildly breezy day without being lost to sight. (NB this was on electric cookers).

Other things I like are how you can stow small items, e.G. Keys, on s-biners over the interconnecting hoses at the ridge beam junctions, or hang a washing line. Everything (so far) fits into a Honda Jazz & a small roof box.

1 from 1 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Adam+Paula Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 10 from 10

We went to the Camping and caravaning show at the Birmingham NEC in February this year purely for one reason. To take a look at the inflatable tents. There were 3 companies showing theirs:- Outwell, Vango and another who I now can't even remember as I was unimpressed.

The Outwell was the standout design for me, my wife and I spent a long time chatting to the people who had been testing the tent. Watching the demonstrations of inflation and deflation. I was impressed and after a quick chat with an Outwell representative, bought one with the footprint and carpet.

This is the largest tent my wife and I have owned to date. Our previous tent also an Outwell Concorde M (earlier pole version) was a large 3 man tent - we like a bit of room.

Our new tent has been used 3 times so far this year, North Wales in May, Forest of Dean in June and Lake District in July. Considering it's size it is so easy to put up (and take down). We only use 1 bedroom compartment, the other we fold down and use the space as our kitchen area. The living area is kept very private by the 'smoked' windows and the rain porch really does work.

This is by far the best tent we have ever owned, the materials feel so natural and great to the touch, the build quality is very high, although expensive in my opinion worth every penny.

Considering the poor summers we've had over the last few years we wanted to buy a tent that will stand up in all weathers. We seriously believe we have.

8 from 9 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Brianjj Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2013 Rating: 9 from 10

Until recently our main tent was an Outwell Bear Lake 6 (an outstanding tent bought after lots of detailed research) but a few factors made us consider replacing it with an inflatable polycotton tent, the most important of which was moving to a new house with a smaller garden that would have made pitching the BL6 at home almost impossible (barely enough space for the tent to stand, let alone for the poles to be made up and threaded).

My wife had been keen on the idea of inflatable tents for some time but I was always sceptical: I worried about punctures and I worried that even though the tent could be erected in a few minutes there would still be all the time taken to peg and guy it out etc. However, we saw demonstrations of the new Outwell inflatable tents at Camping World and fell in love on the spot: the air tubes are clearly well protected but also easy to gain access to for repair (with a bicycle puncture kit) or replacement. They are also connected to each other by valves so that if one tube punctures the whole tent doesn't collapse.

The structure of the tubes is very much like a rigid inflatable boat (RIB): the butyl rubber air tube is zipped inside a thick, unyielding tube which is then zipped inside the tent material - highly confidence inspiring. Apparently this is also the reason that the Outwell Smart Air tents don't suffer from over expansion in hot weather and drooping in cold weather.

We ended up buying the Concorde M package (including footprint and carpet) and the matching awning. The tent pack is reasonably large but significantly smaller than just one of the BL6 packs and only weighs around 29Kg (half the weight of the BL6). The awning pack is smaller and lighter again.

As soon as I got the tent home I had to try putting it up. I unpacked it, unrolled it, pegged the four corners, attached the pump and started inflating it. Less than 5 minutes later it was fully upright and stable. The awning was just as easy and much nicer to work with than other awnings I have put up: just inflate it, walk the rigid structure up to the tent and zip it on. It is impossible to over inflate with the supplied pump so although a pressure gauage is fitted, you can just keep pumping until you are happy that the tent is rigid enough.

We did have one disconcerting hiss of air which turned out to be a leaking valve in the awning, but spares are provided and are trivial to fit. Having switched the valve there were no further losses of air.

We have now taken the tent away for its first trip (but didn't take the awning as the weather was forecast to be good) and it completely lived up to our expectations. The tent was upright and ready to be kitted out in minutes so my wife could immediately sort out beds, furniture etc. While I pegged and guyed rather than waiting the 30 minutes or so it would have taken for me to get the BL6 to the same state. Packing away was similarly stress free: just open the valves and then use the pump in reverse on the outlet valves to suck out the remaining air to make folding and packing easier. Packing, by the way, is very easy and it fits comfortably within the provided bag.

During our trip away we had a mixture of rain, blazing sunshine, cool nights and some blustery winds. The tent was just as comfortable in the heat as the BL6 and even quieter than the BL6 in the wind - the BL6 was incredibly quiet in windy conditions with just a gentle creaking of the pole joints, but with no poles the Concorde M was almost silent. The tent was pitched for four days but didn't require any top up of air and was just as rigid on the last day as on the first.

There are things we miss about the BL6:

The groundsheet in the BL6 felt bulletproof whereas in the Concorde it is thin polyester but you pay for a bulletproof grounsheet with pack size and weight. Since we always use a footprint and carpet it is probably not an issue.

We always loved the flat front on the pre-2013 BLs but that design seems to be on the way out so we might as well get used to sloping front doors. In fact, we mostly kept the front door closed and used the side door with the rain porch.

Also, the inner tent is now partially polyester whereas our BL6 was all cotton (however I think new BLs also have polyster inner tents now) but the bedroom was still comfortable plus we loved the mesh window across the back that lined up with a fully openable vent on the outside of the tent - lovely to gaze up at from bed and excellent for allowing lots of ventilation.

There aren't quite as many little pockets and finishing touches on the Concorde as on the BL6 but it is still a very comfortable and convenient tent.

Pros:

Very quick and stress free to pitch and take down.

Inflation technology inspires confidence and works very well - no over expansion or drooping.

Perfect for any weather: cool in the heat, warm in the cold, silent and sturdy in the wind, relaxing in the rain (rain drops make a lovely pitter patter sound on polycotton compared to the harsh sound on polyester)

We no longer fear taking down in the rain as it is so simple to just reinflate the tent back home to dry.

Comparatively small and light pack size.

Very quick and simple awning setup.

Rain porch is easy to set up and works well.

Cons:

Not cheap.

Groundsheet thinner than we are used to in the BL6 and not removable in case repair or replacement is needed.

Partially polyester inner tent.

Overall:

Every tent is a compromise but, for us, the Concorde M + awning seems to be the very best combination available on the market. We have an Outwell pop up tent that we will still use for overnight, pitching-in-the-dark stays (don't want to pitch four figures worth of tent on top of an unseen discarded tent peg.), but for everything else we will take the Concorde (tent only in good weather, awning as well when bad weather expected). We love it and it just makes us want to go camping even more.

10 from 10 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

By: Bungle Bear72 Reason: Other Made in: 2012 Rating: 9 from 10

Just saw this tent last week at the camping show. Looks fantastic, lovely design very similar in size to Virginia 5 will definitely be upgrading next year.

Build quality compared to the Vango airbeam far superior.

Love the window feature in the sleeping area and the fact that the light doesn't come through as bright because of the material used. Curtains are of a better quality almost a canvass material. The front entrance is more parallel to the ground so no more tripping over on way in with equipment(or on way back from the pub).

Doors on both sides allowing for added ventilation in the event of hot weather?

8 from 9 people found this review helpful, was it helpful to you?

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Manufacturer's Description

The Concorde M is a three room tunnel tent, sleeping five in two bedrooms, and making full use of Outtex® Airtech fabric and Smart Air One-Go Inflation Technology. Packed with innovation and design detail, the zip-off canopy offers extra shelter and shade. Awning and Extension options available.

Type of tent: Three room tunnel tent
Sleeps people: 5
Flysheet: Outtex® Airtech (65% cotton / 35% polyester)
Inner tent: Breathable 100% pongee polyester
Rooms: 2 bedrooms, 1 living room
Tubes: Integrated inflatable frame for best performance - 0.6 to 0.8 bar / 8.7 to 11.6 psi
Poles: Steel Pole 19 mm, Duratec fibreglass 8.5 mm, 2 upright steel poles
Floor: Oxford 100% polyester, 10,000 mm hydrostatic head
Groundsheet: Sealed Ground System
Pitching way: Inflate in one
Pack size: 42 x 97 cm
Weight: 36.7 kg

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