What tent for camping?

[commsbiff]

I'm going to buy a tent tomorrow so I can take the family away camping over certain weekends. After looking at a few I have spotted the Coleman Modulus X7 for a mere £179.95 plus postage. My thinking is that we'll have a large enough tent so that we're not cramped when forced inside by the weather, so that I can stand up straight (187cm tall), so that we can have seperate rooms for the kids and that more peeps can stay with us if we need to. This is reduced from £399 and so it seems a very good deal on the face of it.

My question is to any other campers on whether they think I should go for this or an alternative? Also, any top tips for equipment before our first trip? Thank you...

 

[dandan]

In my experiance of Colemans they are not easy to put up, the build quality isn't the best and the plastic poles are easily broken! I have one of their two man wedge tents and woudn't recomend, I think im going to change mine to Terra Nova/Vango soon!

My parents have a large 8 man coleman tent and its poles snapped, it took over a 40min to put up, now they have a Vango Tigris and its great, has good space, designed well and takes two 20min to put up!

 

[Wez]

I make a one man tent every morning.... :grin:

(i'm sorry.....i'll get my coat......)

 

[Smod]

I'd heard it was a small Bivouac :lol: :lol:

Not quite a full tent!!! :shock:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bivouac

 

[Wez]

:lol:

Right, sorry back on topic...

 

[jamesb]

Don't touch Tesco tents. They're not waterproof as I found out to my detriment last week. I should know better.

I've always been impressed by the more expensive Lichfield tents though.

 

[Dunfie]

We have a Coleman Columus 6 and its great. Really easy to put up and take back down. Infact we used it last weekend up near Perth and it did the job fine. Even when we woke up to a torrent of biblical proportions on Sunday morning it wasn't too much of a problem as we had it taken down and packed in abput 10 minutes.

The modulus x7 looks ideal. If it is like mine they even colour code the poles so that you are not messing around trying to work out which pole goes where. :thumb:

Two quick tips. Take a few spare blankets incase it gets a bit nippy and also remember a bucket for the overnight widdles. Other than that a few bottles of your favourite homebrew I think you will be sorted.

 

[jamesb]

Two quick tips. Take a few spare blankets incase it gets a bit nippy and also remember a bucket for the overnight widdles. Other than that a few bottles of your favourite homebrew I think you will be sorted.

Amateurs!

You should have seen me last weekend trying to manhandle a firkin of the finest beer over the railway bridge at Hereford station.

 

[commsbiff]

Lol - that's great guys and thanks for your input (inc Wez :rofl: ). I think I'll go with the X7 for my first as it seems such a great deal, and the reviews on amazon are good (minus the points about the rubbish instructions - thanks for your point dandan). I'm going to take sleeping bags AND duvets in case of a chill, we'll be sleeping on airbeds. So a bucket for widdles and a bucket of beer - I hope I don't mix them up in the night! :

 

[prolix]

I have a wynnster mercury 9. it has survived floods, storms, more storms, hail, storms, more floods.... well the last four English summers. The fibre glass pole sections split occasionally but the caravans near us had awnings ripped off and tents were blown down and mangled so I suppose an od section of pole is nothing.

It is big inside I can stand up (6'4") which is why we bought it and not just in the very centre

 

[delboy]

we'll be sleeping on airbeds

You should take a look at thermarests, much more comfortable than sleeping on a leaky airbed. They are more expensive but they are quality items and built to last. For me they are the difference between waking up knackered and stiff and waking up refreshed and ready to go.

 

[Vossy1]

I've got a Vango Redwood for longer camping stays. I'm 6' and get a bad back from crouching all the time, so it was essential to get a high tent.
As for beds...no slumming it here :lol: .. I use something similar to this...can pick em up for as little as £50 new

 

[Nic_P]

As for beds...no slumming it here :lol: .. I use something similar to this...can pick em up for as little as £50 new

Looks very comfy Vossy, however I send my people ahead with this

 

[Vossy1]

:lol: ....one drawback though, the wife would fit on it :rofl:

 

[Nic_P]

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[commsbiff]

Cheers for the input guys. I have used thermarests before and I know they are comfy - Vossy, your campbed/chair thing looks good too (can you use it as a chair? or just as a lounger?). We're keeping the budget down at the mo. First camping weekend this weekend at Birchwood Farm, and so we'll see how things go. I'm always willing to make additions to our gear as and when we decide we need to. The X7 is up in my garden at the moment and there's loads of headroom there. I just gotta get the setup time down from 1h30!!

Oh and Delboy, I always wake up stiff :party:

 

[commsbiff]

Gah - just taken the tent down in the rain to pack it away for tomorrow. I got soaked through Tent won't fit back in it's bag (cause I left the annex attached - which normally goes in a seperate bag) so it's sitting on the kids picnic table under their little gazebo in the garden. Might just throw it in the boot tomorrow and sod the (sodden) sodding bag!

 

[delboy]

Had a gander at the prices at that campsite, not to bad. Makes the 25 euro a night :shock: that we had to pay for camping down in County Kerry seem even more of a rip-off.
The republic is so damn expensive (especially food and drink) its amazing that they manage to attract any tourists.