The Camping Forum

[KLCG]

Hi all
Just joined this forum because i really want to get loads of advice before spending the huge wad of money on our first tent. My experiences of camping have been festivals many moons ago when i was very young and very recently stayed in a tipi tent in cornwall with our 3 year old in August 2008 in the pouring rain! We did that to see if our then 3 year old would like it and if we would like camping with our kids. We now have 2 children. Rose is now 5 and Tobey is 11months. I am itching to buy my first family tent, and have been looking at Outwell Montana 6 because i like the idea of the kids being next to us in the sleeping area. We have a Ford Galaxy 7 seater, and hope this will big enough to hold everything we need, without the need for a trailer (we have nowhere to put a trailer) . Also dont want to buy all the unnecessary stuff but DO want to buy all the usefull stuff so need advice as to what those are! So please anyone who already has a Outwell Montana 6 and 2 kids advice would be very welcome.

Thanks Kelly

[livsnana]

Hi Kelly, welcome to the forum

You will get plenty of advice here, we have lots of campers with children and I am sure we have one or two with the Outwell Montana 6. I am a new camper and gained so much brilliant advice here before buying my new tent (Outwell Carolina M).

How much stuff you buy is down to personal prefernce I guess, but it is a bit addictive to be honest. Your probably buying at a good time with the season ending and sales etc.

Sarah

[Rob-merlin1973]

Hi
Welcome to the forum

The monty 6 is a really good tent andyou wont go far wrong with it.

The ain thing is to be warm and dry and the rest is a bonus. If you check the downloads section above there is a packing list on there which will give you an idea of what you may need.
Any questions just ask away

[Wayne]

Hello and a warm welcome to the forum.

Dave & Angie have the Monty 6 and speak highly of it. The Monty 6 seems to have been a popular tent this year.


With the front extension or


the front awning it makes a big family tent.

Outdoorworlddirect have it at a good price, plus you get discount being a forum member.

[in-a-tent]

my wife's sister and family have the montana 6 with an awning they love it.

[KLCG]

Hi whats the difference between an awning and the extension for a Montana 6? or rather whats better to buy? Looks very similar .....

[Admin]

Hi whats the difference between an awning and the extension for a Montana 6? or rather whats better to buy? Looks very similar .....

Hi welcome to the forum, an awning will be closed off at the front. although usually this can be removed/rolled up

Cheers

Andy

[in-a-tent]

The awning has a groundsheet and a front, the extension is just the roof and sides.

TBH having an area without a groundsheet is quite handy, gives you somewhere to stand out of the rain without having to take your wet wellies off. Also doesn't matter if you spill your cup of tea.

[KLCG]

Thank you so is it better to have both? Remembering there are 2 adults and 2 small children? And is the carpet a must...

AND! Ive just seen the Outwell Imagine in the fantasy collection it looks like the montana 6 but in blue!
Confused.com sorry im asking loads!

[in-a-tent]

I'd get just the extension if it were me. The tent has a large living area already and the awning just increases that whereas the extension gives you a big covered area you can cook under and also somewhere to sit under and watch the rain from

Carpets make the living area more comfortable and warmer, def. a good idea.

[KLCG]

thank you, im so excited, the hubby wont let me spend any money until we know exactly how much its going to cost and what we actually need. He's a planner im a spender! :S

[Rob-merlin1973]

The monty 6 is £389 and the canopy is £129 which with your outdoor world discount would mean a combined price of
£440.30


Another option is the florida 6 at £599 which would not need a canopy (although you can get one) which with discount would be £509 but a really nice airy tent which is wider and actually has a larger full height living area.

[KLCG]

Hi Merlin
Thank you so much for suggesting the Florida, im wondering though the gap between the sleeping areas can that come down? so the sleeping area was all one? As i have 2 small children would be good to have them close rather than having to get out to go next door iykwim. Goodness im all excited now about the Florida!!

[Wayne]

Its a long time since I have seen the Florida up, but it looks like a corridor to a rear door, but it also shows dotted lines down each side of the corridor that would suggest it can be made into a giant pod.


Pause

OK, I justed checked this out on You tube and the corridor goes through to the pods and then both pods lead on to the corridor.
I think you get best of both worlds, you can seal the corridor door and have both pod doors open, check the video out around 5min 20seconds and it will become clear.

Oh and another tent to look at if you like the Florida:

Vermont-L


There are elements about the Florida-6 I like over the Vermont-L, but what I do like about the Vermont is the porch is enclosed as standard and its a bit narrower than the Florida, whilst still having the 19mm steel arch poles, so its slightly stronger in the winds.
£549 from Outdoorworlddirect, before forum discount (so take 15% off the price)

The Florida is 5.25M wide, however the Vermont-L is 4.15M wide. (although the Vermont is a bit longer at 7.70M, Florida is 6.40M), oh and the Vermont-L is a 5 birth and the pods can be made into one large pod or easily zipped a part to look into the other pod. Check the Gallery out, I have put a lot of pics up of the Vermont in use.
You might want to take a closer look at them though. there both big tents to put up, and they both take a lot of boot room up, as well as being swine's to dry out when taken down wet. I have the Vermont-L and whilst its a luxury tent, it sometimes feels like a lot of hard work.
If I had to choose between the three I think with 2 children that I would be tempted to go for the Monty-6 + porch.
The advantage with the Monty-6+Porch is you get a small weekend tent without the porch and a big holiday tent with the porch.

[KLCG]

Hi Wayne
just had a major convo the husband and agree, the Monty is the way to go with the extension. Right what to buy next lol


Actually when is the best time to buy a tent?