Advice on family tent for long duration camping

[jamalex]

Next year the wife, two small children and I are going to be travelling around the UK for six months in our LWB transit van, not a camper, and camping in our 4m bell tent with a small wood burning stove. On shorter camps we have used a tarp set up as a ridge cooking shelter but are thinking of something more substantial to increase living space during poor weather. We currently all sleep together in a sleeping compartment which takes up half the bell tent.

We have thought about a Sunncamp dayroom as it is compact and looks to have good guy fixings.

We have also considered buying a bigger tent so we have one for sleeping and clean stuff and another for cooking and messy stuff.

We are also thinking about a bigger stove, possibly from a 7 Kg gas bottle, as our current one cannot hold much wood and goes out in less than an hour if not fed.

Would anyone recommend a family tent/tipi and heating solution, or a shelter.

Also any ideas, however daft would be appreciated.

Thanks
Alex

 

[drewdunnrespect]

a big tarp might be useful or why not buy a patrol tent i know they are huge and can be a pain to put up but if you are used to the bell tent and its canvas well a patrol tent should be nothing

http://www.canvastentshop.co.uk/canvas-tents/new-patrol-tent-white-14-x-8/prod_36.html

the reason i say a patrol tent is you could then have a living space and a sleeping space and still have a tarp connecting the two and secondly would not take much to put a heater in it at all


drew

 

[sapper1]

Have a look at the outwell range,top quality.

 

[bluesurfman123]

this is what we use we have 3/4 bedrooms awning for cooking and about a 10 ft square living area in centre ideal for family nights in ...

 

[locum76]

bluesurfman - why would you ever want to move out?

Jamalex - ever thought about using a yurt?

 

[Front Room Woodlander]

Watching this thread with interest. We have four children and want to take them camping. However we are dithering over which tent combination to go with. Any suggestions?

 

[sapper1]

We bought an Outwell Indiana 8 and an outwell Oklahoma gazebo for cooking.The reasoningg behind a big tent was that if it rained all the time then we had enough room in the tent so the kids had room to play indoors

 

[andythecelt]

I have an Outwell for family camping too. I have the Hartford XL I think, massive thing with 4 double bedroom pods that can be removed and a lounge that's bigger than the one we have at home. I love it, fantastic build quality and I'll be using it until the kids are all old enough for their own tents. Last year it stood up to some pretty serious weather, we had day after day of severe weather warnings while camped in a cliff top overlooking the Irish Sea. The tent took it all in its stride and having a decent sized porch to cook in without having the kids underfoot made it a lot more civilised in serious weather. Granted after being stuck inside by storms for 3 consecutive days my nerved were a little frayed but with my kids that would have been the case even if I'd had a mansion sized tent. By the end of the week we had the whole site to ourselves because of the weather, high winds and torrential rain had forced everyone else home but we stayed relatively comfortable and at no point was I worried about the integrity of the tent. It packs up pretty small for a monster sized tent too. One potential problem is that apparently some full on commercial sites won't let people use them without charging for 2 pitches because it's so big, not really a problem where I camp though. Ideally I'd have a canvas tent that I can put a stove in but while I still need multiple bedrooms and a small packing size because of the kids it's ideal.

 

[jamalex]

bluesurfman - why would you ever want to move out?

Jamalex - ever thought about using a yurt?

We were looking at a yurt before we bought the bell tent! The really good thing about the bell tent is you can erect it in 20 mins on your own, but it is big and heavy, and takes a long time to dry out after camping. Not a big problem for our travelling next year, though.

The Outwell tents are amazing, but what do they feel like inside? I was a scout using canvas tents for years and it is really nice under canvas. Still, I do get a little green with envy when I see an Outwell Also, I've seen people struggling with the big nylon tents. How easy are they when you are well practiced?

A friend with 5 kids, big age range, wanted canvas but decided it just wasn't a sensible option. By the sounds of it, it makes sense.

Having said that, my wife is now talking about buying a bigger bell tent and a drive away awning for the van.

Thanks for all your input guys, greatly appreciated.

Alex

 

[sapper1]

Our outwell has two bedrooms on one end and an extra bedroom that can be fitted in the front of the tent if needed,we never use this.The indiana is a tunnel tent and has full head height right through.We have a fitted carpet and all the bells and whistles.It takes us about 30 mins to put up but does definitely need two people.The worst weather we experienced was 70 mph winds hitting us side on,the tent did sway a bit but stayed up with no damage.I'd recommend them for quality.
Have you seen the outwell tepee with porch?

 

[jonajuna]

we have a sunncamp olympic 12xps which is huge 3 x 3 person bedrooms, an hexagonal 4m diameter fully inner tented living room (sleeps the other 3 hence the name... id say you could fit 6 in there easy) and a wet porch/kitchen area

its even got a sun roof, windows and "curtains"

its for sale now if interested, goodness knows what courier would charge, its 30 odd kg!

pm if interested

 

[hiraeth]

I bought a vango diablo 900, for much the same reason that sapper mentioned (seems to always rain when i decide to camp with the family ), it has three good size bedrooms and a huge living area . This was my first large tent, and I have not had a regret about buying it .

 

[Trunks]

What about a Touareg tent. Sort of Bell tent-ish, but being more square, a better use of space.

http://www.belltent.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=62

If you want to borrow our double hob cooker for a try out, let me know. I thought you had one of these?

TTFN

 

[Chopper]

Well, you could always look at the Cabelas Outfitter Tents. Ours is the Big Horn 2, it has been updated to the 3, but its essentially the same thing. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...50002&parentType=index&indexId=cat550002&rid=

Or, if its rooms you want this baby is Litchfield Delux. Three rooms that will sleep 9 with ease and a living area that will take me Landy. This is also top quality and is now for sale.

 

[jamalex]

Or, if its rooms you want this baby is Litchfield Delux. Three rooms that will sleep 9 with ease and a living area that will take me Landy. This is also top quality and is now for sale.

Now that is tempting! Want to get a series ii in a year or so. I miss having a landy, trying to persuade my brother to buy one so i can have a play again

 

[Front Room Woodlander]

How much £?

 

[jamalex]

So the questions I have to answer for myself are;
is one person setup a must
does it have to be canvas
is space the biggest factor

The yurt is good for being able to repair it easily, using bushcraft skills as well. But it is bulky and slow to setup £2k irate: and more! but can DIY (!!) http://www.woodlandyurts.co.uk
A 5m bell tent can be setup by one person but isn't enormous and is difficult to dry after being used in the rain. http://www.belltent.co.uk from £350
patrol tents are nice canvas but not much headroom, and drying canvas again http://www.canvastentshop.co.uk/canvas-tents/new-patrol-tent-white-14-x-8/prod_36.html thanks drew, £375
Outwell type tents take two people to setup but are massive inside and pack up relatively small. but they have no soul http://www.outwell.co.uk/ second hand from £150

I think we will probably go for the silly option and get a bigger bell and a wood burning stove and flue going through the roof, with a vent for letting steam out as well.

Though now I'm thinking about getting a landy inside!!!!

Thanks for your advice everyone.

Alex

 

[Bonzo Frog]

We've just bought a Vango Diablo 600 (model now changed to something similar) from evil bay and hope to have it on it's first outing next month. A useful website with tent reviews is this one http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/ as well as being full of useful information for camping.
hope this helps,

Dave

 

[Ogri the trog]

A few years ago we (family of 5) were camping in something not dissimilar to Choppers last photo, three "bedrooms with a central living area". After seeing and experiencing the Laavu's in use at the Moot, that one was ditched and a Tundra 8 took its place. The overall footprint is smaller but with only one space it is massively more family friendly - you just have to rethink your aims. Bedding is rolled away to the outsides of the circular area and becomes the daytime cushions and loungers. The wood burning stove keeps things toasty warm even during the foulest of weather - helps to dry damp clothing too. A tarp is a great asset for extra cover and can be erected in a myriad of different ways.
Something that does make a difference to longer term use is to have something to walk on as you enter the tent where you can remove muddy boots or work on things if its raining outside.
Another would be to have an awning around the doors of your van so that it can become part of your living space - work surface, cooking area, storage etc without the need to run around to it during rain and slam doors all the time.

Sounds like a great adventure.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[widu13]

I reckon this should fit the bill. Not sure about the wallet though!

They have some beautiful canvas on there!