Outwell Michigan L Tent Reviews and Details

Tent Reviews: Outwell Michigan L

Tent and Awning Reviews Index > Outwell > Michigan L Reviews

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

Discontinued
6 (more 6 berth tents)
29.10 KG
Ł399.99
2
Fully Sewn-in
In one

Average User Rating:

8.93/10 from 15 reviews

Viewed: 48494 times

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15 Reviews of the Michigan L Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2

By: AD90 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2011 Rating: 9 from 10

Just back from our first trial outing in our new Michigan 6. What a fantastic tent! It does everything we asked for when we were choosing a tent. My Mrs has got bee in her bonnet about getting dressed standing up - no problem on that count! Central area is huge - we had our fold out table with built in chairs set up in there the whole time and there was still loads of room. If I was being picky, I would have preferred that the mesh sections on the sleeping room doors had a flap - it might have reduced circulation and helped with the heat. And it goes without saying - the plastic pegs are poo! (what do other people use?) We have the front extension on order and I think that'll make it even better for longer trips - can't wait!

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

We purchased this tent new this year and love it. We have just come back from a 2 week holiday where we stayed a 2 different sites. This tent is so easy to erect and ideal for 2 or 4 people, the living space is great ideal for tables and chairs to fit in when you can not sit outside. We had the added bonus of the extra porch which in my opinion is a must as when its raining outside its ideal for cooking under.

I notice some other owners felt that the front entrance door was a problem as you had to get to floor level to unzip, but as I owned a hartford xl as well and the same door system is on that, I did not have a problem with it. Great tent in my opinion bright and airy lots of windows and also at a reasonable price.

My only criticism is the plastic pegs not very good on hard dry ground, would recommend purchasing some storm pegs.

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By: Ryalls28 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 9 from 10

This tent is very good for disabled people, for my partner is part disabled and therefore she can't lift her legs high enough to get over the front edge of most tents but with this Outwell Michigan L she had very little problem. If she needed to she could wheel over the edge in her buddy motorized wheel chair.

Spent a weekend in the rain, no leakage form the tent but there was condensation if the air vents are closed, when the tent is or has been rained on, but this can be easily wiped once the rain has stopped.

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By: Mark1809 Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 10 from 10

I love this tent because its easy to pitch, isn't too heavy and I can put it up mainly by myself with a little bit of help for my twelve year old daughter (if she can be bothered!) with just three steel poles for the main tent.The footprint makes pitching so easy deciding the best position for the tent (a must).

I wanted a tent I could use for both a short weekend at my local campsite in Gower or for a long stay so needed central living room just off the bedrooms.I decided to purchase the extension for longer camping trips but it is so easy to pitch and gives a lovely sitting area in the evening we used it every time.

I'm a big fan of the fitted carpets and wouldn't consider not having one as they are lovely and cosy and the children do look after the tent always taking of their shoes off in the porch.

The porch door is sloping like the hartford so you do have to get on your knees to open the door (not great if raining outside)this is another great point for the front extension no wet porch door to roll up.

This tent is great for a family of four (2+2) however we often use the middle living area for extra guests.The living area is lovely and light with long narrow windows,the back door is great and we open this up on warm summer days giving a through draft.

I would recommend this tent to families with slightly older children (ages 5 plus) as the bedrooms are opposite each other, ideal for older children or guests.

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By: ScottLangham Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 7 from 10

I bought this to replace a worn out tent, I wanted to improve on my previous tent on the following 3 major items:

1. Quick assembly/disassembly

2. Plenty of headroom

3. Sewn in groundsheet to keep out water/insects/slugs etc

I've just returned from a four day trip to Scotland where I used this tent. It didn't stop raining for the entire trip.

The tent seemed to be excellently waterproof. However, we did get a bit of water inside due to condensation, especially from drying clothes. Also, because the porch door is angled, you have to get on hands and knees to reach the zip to get it open - this meant that we often used the back door instead because it is nearly vertical and a lot easier to use. The problem with the back door though is that you step straight into the main body of the tent with your wet footwear. You miss the porch which is the obvious place to take your shoes on and off. I think Outwell have messed up a bit with this. Extra poles for an additional arch over the porch to make the main door more vertical would make the tent far more practical in the wet.

I have seen there is a front extension. This would be good as it would make the porch better. However, I've seen it priced at Ł100. I paid Ł200 for the tent, so feel I've been a little cheated into spending a lot more money. I did trust the Outwell brand, and thought they would have field tested it and would not have left it with a sloping door if it was not practical. Also, if you get the extension, the extension has no door. This means you're still going to have to get on your knees if the weather is particularily bad to be able to seal the door up. Or. You'll have to get a tarp or something to fashion your own door at the end of the extension. Some other Outwell tent owners with a Hartford tent at the campsite had done this and used a tarp to make a bit of a door for their extension.

The windows in the tent were ok, but as it was raining it was actually a bit depressing to look out. I imagine in warmer weather they'd be good. As long as they don't act like a greenhouse to heat the tent up. Surely if it's warm and you're camping you'd sit outside your tent anyway. Also, the windows all have curtains which roll up. In my way of thinking this is extra material and toggles to deal with that you probably didn't want, I might scissor the curtains out. There aren't any pockets in the main room of the tent. I would have seriously preferred it if some of the space used for windows was used for some pockets instead.

Also, I think I will purchase a carpet for the tent. The tent hasn't shown any wear yet on the floor, but we had camping chairs inside the tent and I was worried that over time they may break apart the fibres in the ground-sheet. I don't know. It might last for ages, but I think I'd prefer to get the carpet to toughen it up. If the ground-sheet does go, the whole tent would be useless as the ground-sheet is sewn in.

Assembly of the tent was excellent. I thought it was a lot easier than a full dome tent. With a full dome you're messing about flexing long poles through sleeves, with this you didn't have to. The instructions recommend two people are needed to erect the tent, but now I've done it once, I think I could do it myself.

I did have a bit more trouble taking the tent down. Well, it was raining at the time which wasn't helping. But, I had trouble fitting the tent back into the bag. The bag does have some compression straps so you can increase the size, put the tent in and then pull the straps tight. Unfortunately though, you have to work quite hard to get the air out of the tent and to roll it carefully to get it small enough to fit it in the bag even when the straps are loose. I found myself fighting with it and trying to jam it in the bag a bit. I even ripped the instruction sheet that is sewn into the bag off the bag because I was pulling it to try and get the tent in. I'm just not that bothered about getting the tent to pack up small, I just wanted to get it in the bag quick so that I could get out of the rain.

I didn't have any trouble with the plastic pegs snapping as other reviewers mentioned, but the ground was rock free. I'm not sure if there'd be an issue with tricker ground.

The height of the tent was fine for us. It's really nice to be able to stand up straight when you're getting changed out of wet clothes.

I think the design of the tent can be summed up by the purpose built zip the tent has for your electric cable to come in through. In my opinion, if you need electricity in your tent, you're not a proper camper. The designers choose to make the tent appeal to people who like to see this tick list of comfort features, and in doing so they had to miss out some practical features that would have made this a really great tent.

My review has perhaps sound a bit negative in places. But, really when you consider the Ł200 price, I've got to say this tent is good value, and it does hold up to the weather. Four days of constant rain and all we suffered was a small puddle inside the back door that was very easily mopped up with a towel. I really can't complain and would probably recommend it to others.

My main word of advice is that you should consider whether you will want the extension, footprint or carpet. Factor these items into the total price when comparing this tent with others.

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

Just returned from our very first camping trip with 12 year old and 2 year old.

Bought this tent on offer from Go Outdoors and was not disappointed. Excellent value for money and had looked very closely before buying so had already noticed the sloping porch area and to be honest really was not a problem for us.

Pitched the tent in nightmare conditions - torrential wind and rain and was really easy to put up (Other half refused to put up before we went so this really was a baptism of fire!) Think we were in in 30 mins and the kettle on while other half pegged out guy lines.

Bedrooms probably are a little too small to sleep 6 but fit us in perfectly with room for clothes and four chairs.

No problems with rain entering the tent, pitched on a slope and very wet but even the porch area stayed dry, meaning we could leave wet clothes out there and stay snug and dry inside.

We have ordered the extension just to give us a little extra space for longer trips.

Really really pleased with out little tent and shame its coming to the end of the season as cant ait to get off again.

Would recommend to first time campers due to price and how easy it is to put up. However couldn't get back in bag with poles!

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

We have just been away for a long weekend to try our Michigan L out. What a great tent. It would have been annoying if we did not have the extension, which I would recommend to everyone to buy - it gave us more space and made getting in and out of the tent much easier - we only did up the sloping door at night. I love the amount of light in the tent and the fact that there are 2 doors which gives a lovely flow of air through the tent. Sleeps 4 on mattresses, more would have been a squeeze. Loads of lovely space in the centre. Nice to have the 2 sleeping pods on either side of the tent. Really loved how easy it was to put up and take down.

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By: Daz944uk Reason: I own(ed) one Made in: 2009 Rating: 9 from 10

We bought this tent a couple of weeks ago and as first time campers, took it out overnight at the weekend. I had already put it up in the back garden as soon as we got it home so I had a fair idea about how easy it is to erect (took me about 15-20 minutes to get the actual tent itself up and then about the same to peg out all the guylines). Taking it down and packing it up is more time consuming especially trying to get the air out of it enough to roll it up tightly enough (although there's probably a knack which I haven't mastered yet!)

Just to mirror the other reviews, the sloping doorway could be better designed and the plastic tent pegs are a bit of a let down for a tent this price although I have not had any problems with mine yet but have been lucky with the ground being relatively soft so far.

We also bought the extra footprint sheet and the upright porch support poles which were an extra but we're glad that we did. We're still deciding on the additional extension area but will probably decide once we have tried the tent out on a few more trips first.

As people have already highlighted, with airbeds, the tent is really on good for 2 x doubles although you would get 6 people in there with sleeping bags on mats and there is obviously loads of space in the central area as well.

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

Very good tent; we camped for a week and it rained most nights with several storms, but the main tent stayed perfectly dry. Several guy ropes came loose during strong winds but this was our fault for not banging the pegs right down, no further problem once we did that.

Plus points: roomy, strong, no problems erecting and dismantling. Lots of little hooks where you need them, eg for electric hookup.

Minus points: plastic pegs as noted by others, some rain tends to get into the porch which does not have a sewn-in groundsheet.

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

Overall very happy with this tent. No need to list it all as there's plenty of info in other reviews. The footprint is a godsend as even in the wet the tent can be taken down and folded on top of it keeping it clean.

Only bad point really is living with the slope of the front door and having to crawl into the wedge to do the zips. A vertical door would give so much more liveable area and also protect from the rain more. We have the extension also and find it makes a great bit of extra area. Because of the tent door shape we usually leave it rolled up and just use the mesh inner as the extension keeps it all lovely and dry. Other than the moan about the door, the plastic pegs are pants, our first trip saw 9 wrecked as the ground was pretty stony, second trip 3 more so unless you get lucky with the site you may as well buy some metal ones first as last, pity really with a tent of this price and otherwise good quality. All in all though we love it!

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15 User Reviews of the Michigan L - Showing 01 to 10 Page: 1 2

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Manufacturer's Description

The result of innovative Outwell design, the Michigan L integrates the unique structural advantages of both the Outwell Extended Frame System and the Outwell Space Frame System to offer accommodation for up to 6 persons in two side cabins, a large, standing-height living area, and a remarkably wider and more attractive porch. Maximum interior comfort is secured by the sewn-in groundsheet and the detachable groundsheet in the porch. Other strong features in the Michigan L include the skylight which ensures ample daytime light in the living area. The Michigan L is certain to meet the approval of camping families who want high-quality comfort in their home-away-from-home.

Specifications:
Flysheet: Outtex® 3000 with taped seams
Hydrostatic Head: 3000 mm
Floor: Double-coated polyethylene
Inner tent: Breathable polyester
Pack size: 38 x 80 cm
Weight: 27.1 kg
Poles: Steel poles 19 mm,
Duratec fibreglass 11/12.7 mm

Features:
• Detachable groundsheet for porch area
• Pre-attached inner tents
• Stow-away O-shaped inner tent doors
• Mesh pockets in the inner tents
• Rear door
• Fully seam-sealed flysheet for maximum protection
• Reinforcement patch on all stress points
• Lamp holder and light cable tidies
• Adjustable pegging points
• Pre-attached guy ropes
• Luminous guy ropes
• Heavy duty Outwell zips
• Outwell doormat included

Optional Extras:
• Carpet
• Footprint

... there may be more info on their website

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