The Camping Forum

[Admin]

So after our recent trip having had much rain we have decided that the Trout Lake is not the right tent for us.

Although the polly is great in the heat. its pack size is also an option.

So im putting this out for everyones idea's and thoughts.

Just to get the ball rolling.

We want more living space.. but would prefer to keep pack size lower so polly's are probably going to out on this.

We have thought about an old caravan. and also looked at the Camp-lets trailer tent. simply because of the setup speed and Ease.. if were mult stopping this would be ideal..(same as caravan) but its the cost factor!

So come on lets have some thoughts and suggestions please!

[MrsPitStop]

I saw a trout lake last weekend that looked like it had the extension of a bear lake on it? they where opposite each other and for a breath moment I though they where the same tent as they where the same size. Just wondered if there was something you could add to yours to make it bigger/better for your needs. Wish I had taken a pic of it now

[Wayne]

Well you know some of my Idea's, but to detail it.

Option-1
Vermont-L with side porch (possibly not fit the bathtub sheet into the attached awning area and if its raining you can still have the door open and let air in like a porch, also the side porch will allow for the door also to be open here.

However the Vermont is not an option to set up for a one night stay over, well it could be set up, but it seems an awful lot of work for one night.

So as well as the Vermont it would mean carrying the "Base seconds 4.2 from Decathlon.


Vermont-L


Side Extension


Base Seconds 4.2

I'm not sure how much room the Trout lake with the Extension takes up, but this is still a lot of tent in my opinion when you factor in the footprint and carpet for the Vermont. Don't think I would bother with carpet and footprint for 4.2 (don't think you can get them, not sure), and it would be defeating the object of this tent to bother with them.


Option 2
Florida 5, no extensions, just the tent. The integral porch that comes as standard with the Florida will allow an area for cooking and still allow for somewhere to sit / have the door open if the weather is bad. However if its cold, there is no option to cook inside like there is with the Vermont.

Again the Florida is not an option to set up for a one night stay over, well it could be set up, but it seems an awful lot of work for one night.

So again it would mean carrying "Base seconds 4.2 from Decathlon.


Outwell Florida 5


Base Seconds 4.2

Again its still a lot of tent to carry, possibly slightly smaller pack size with the Florida 5 over the Vermont-L and of course there is no additional side porch to carry, but you still have footprint, carpet and 4.2. How ever I'm not sure if the same level of ventilation can be achieved, this would need checking out (Campout).

Option-3 I'm trying to keep light weight as a priority on this option
Montana 6 with front extension and possibly the Quechua 4.1. I have gone for the 4.1 this time, bit smaller than the 4.2 and saving some room.


Monty 6


Front Extension


Quechua 4.1

Option-3A
Montana 6 with front extension, The Monty without the extension acts as the overnight tent.


Monty 6


Front Extension
Again, you don't get as much tent as the Vermont or Florida, but it is a happy medium. With the porch there is the chance that you will be cooking in the cold and wind but there is always the option of having the awning instead of the porch.


Option to have front awning rather than porch If you don't fit the groundsheet and roll the front up it can be treated like a porch.


Which option do I think is best,,,,,,,,, , its quite a hard choice. I think I am leaning towards Option 3 and Option 3A. I figure that going to a Monty with a porch after having a Trout is quite a bit more tent anyway. But I think I would be tempted to carry the 4.1 if I know I will be stopping at a 1night only stop, any more than 1 night and I would put the Monty up. So I would buy the 4.1 and only take it if any single night stop overs.

[Admin]

We have one of these already as a travel overnighter.. i.e late arrive-early depart.

http://www.in-a-tent.co.uk/products/107

To be honest we never took us with us this year as we one stopped out in hotel and one stopped home hotel.. but we wish we had as would have packed tent up the night before

Im really liking the florida.. review of the 5 in this months camping mag. gets good review and pitch time of 30 mins. so looking into that.. to be honest.. I'm really leaning towards the 6. its a tunnel for one thing. but unlike most its size is pretty even.. i.e. its almost square. so size is not all in the length.. which I think i would prefer..

Good post though.. well worth spending some time going over it and giving some more thought.

[in-a-tent]

Obviously I'm going wit the camp-let ... but if that's off the cards you can't go wrong with a monty 6 loads of room if it's wet and the extension is ideal for cooking and sitting under.

My SIL and family (who have 2 little boys like you) love theirs it's an ideal size. You can sit inside with chairs AND a table no problem but it's not enormous or that bulky, it's not Outwell's most popular tent without reason.

[Admin]

Obviously I'm going wit the camp-let ... but if that's off the cards you can't go wrong with a monty 6 loads of room if it's wet and the extension is ideal for cooking and sitting under.

My SIL and family (who have 2 little boys like you) love theirs it's an ideal size. You can sit inside with chairs AND a table no problem but it's not enormous or that bulky, it's not Outwell's most popular tent without reason.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT




only watching with interest at the moment....

[in-a-tent]

That seems expensive to me.

Ours was £1500 (it's not a camp-let it's a trigano but they are similar quality) and it's got all the optional extras, 2 awnings, under bed sleeping pods, bike rack, front box, ALKO hitch everything. It was 4 years old but had only been used once a year.

A starting bid of £1800 is taking the ... well you know ... IMHO obviously.

[Admin]

That seems expensive to me.

Ours was £1500 (it's not a camp-let it's a trigano but they are similar quality) and it's got all the optional extras, 2 awnings, under bed sleeping pods, bike rack, front box, ALKO hitch everything. It was 4 years old but had only been used once a year.

A starting bid of £1800 is taking the ... well you know ... IMHO obviously.

The thing that has me with the camplet is that the entire tent is up really quick. rather than just the sleeping area.

How long in total to pitch yours including the living space?

[in-a-tent]

You are right the camp-let is fast up. Ours is not, about the same as pitching a tent. Trigano do a quick pitch version of ours now though so we might trade up at some point in the future.

Anyhow how much is the camp-let new? Just as a comparison to that ebay price. Are they all that sort of price? We never looked at them as they don't have enough space for the 5 of us so I've no idea what they cost.

Have you looked at the Combi-Camp they have a fast up sleeping bit with an awing. Sleep up to 4 iirc. They may be just as pricey though.

Have to say (sorry to all you tenters but) we love our trailer tent and I don't think we'd go back now.

[Admin]

Looking up the Combi-Camp .

Camplet is around 6k new

[Wayne]

Just going back to the Florida for a second.
I have to agree about the tent being better square, that's one of the features of the Wolf Lake I like.

[Rob-merlin1973]

Sixsigma (paul) has had his florida 6 for 2 seasons now and he loves it. There is only the 2 of them but they love there space.

[Wayne]

Sixsigma (paul) has had his florida 6 for 2 seasons now and he loves it. There is only the 2 of them but they love there space.

Two in a Florida,,,,,,that's glamping , Do they drive the car straight in and get out into the living area. Love it.

[dadsbeaniemad]

I like the idea of option 3 or 3A as well - the Monty is a good family tent and has plenty of room but does really benefit from the extension.

We toyed with a TT last year - bought it (very cheap) and then I undid it and tough no, I can't do this and it's going to take longer to pitch than the tent!! Just couldn't do the sleeping onthe wood supported by just two bits of metal.

I've had a look at the Combi-camp and the Camplets and if I had the cash then I would go for one of them but I have a frind who spent 3K on a camplet because of the easy up option but she really didn't like it and has gone back to tents (even though she gets to use the in-laws MH)

I have to say that much as i love my canvas, after spending a great 2 weeks in Cornwall over the summer hols when it came to having to pack up and come home I sooooooooo wished we had the caravan so i could just throw it all inside, hook up and come home. Probasbly to do with actually having to leave and come home after having such a good time.

Have you made a decision yet?

[Admin]

Have you made a decision yet?

Im really taken with the Florida 6 to be honesy.. looking at the pack size. the two bags are equal to the one bag of the troutlake and we have 3! so huge pack size difference.. ok so one of those is the extension and were not counting the awning of the Florida 6 which is the option i would most likely to look at.. but again the pack size of that is also going to be far smaller..

Further more the floor space of the living area is more than twice that of the Trout lake whilst being no real length longer than the Trout. the extra space comes from the width by 2 meters.. add the almost straight up wall rather than curved.

The problem is the Wife. she really struggled this year and found the whole unpack and packup very stressfull.. I tried to get her to take the boys for a walk let me do it.. but then she felt guilty about leaving it to me.. I do think many of the recent stresses we have been through the last few months prior to the trip all came out at this point.. so were on unsure ground at the moment.

That said we have the Florida 6 to look over at the campout this weekend and also a vermont (possibly) so we are looking at keeping options open.. we wont move on it till next season anyway.. although good deals i think i'd be more interested in seeing what not only outwell do next year but everyone else..



I will keep you all updated.. but this one will be a long one lol I think i shoulg blog it.. the whole decicsion process