The Camping Forum

[barrington]

never been camping before but have just had a call from a national paper to say i have won a £1000 voucher to spend in yeomans !!!!! me and the missus are now all excited and planning our first camping trip with our two children (5 and 10 months) and just wondered if anyone had any advice on which tent would be best. Been advised that to go for about a 6 man for space and any help would be appreciated. obviously what else would you advise i will need apart from a tent

[dicky cox]

the icarus 500/600 always seems a popular choice

[livsnana]

Wow congratualtions on your win. I've just bought an Outwell Carolina M for myself and hubby. The Outwell is very popular make and has some great reviews. Quite a few people here have larger Outwells.

Sarah

[Rob-merlin1973]

Hi
Welcome to the forum
Well done ...nice prize

I am biased but the outwell tents are really good quality.
The tent for me that ticks all the boxes is the Outwell Arkansas 5 Tent


This is a good strong tent with loads of room. Get yourself the footprint and the carpet but you do not need a canopy as it already has one built on. This will last for years But there are many more tents out there

You then need to think about chairs, tables, sleeping bags and beds, lighting and power, coolbox etc
If you go to the downloads section (in the blue bar above) you can download a list i did for packing. This will give you some ideas on what you need.
There are also loads of posts on here to browse but any questions just ask

[Gillsy]

Congratulations With that amount to spend,i would spend the majority on a decent tent, definitley an Outwell or Cabanon.

[Admin]

Nice one congrats.

What sort of camping do you intend to do. plenty of short weekend breaks or long weekly stays?

Best bet at this stage is get down to yeomans and just have a look around some tents. be carefull not to rush in.. come away think about it.. tell us about it and get some other opinions

Welcome to the forum

[BrandNewDay]

Wow! I am really jealous.

You can get just about any tent on the market right now, what with the sales going on.

Do you have any particular issues with mobility? That may affect the choices regarding erecting a tent.

Do lots of reading of forums, this one and others, to see what people say about tents. From what I have gleaned in my research: steel poles and canvas are the strongest options, but they're heavier and canvas tents need to be dried before storing due to mildew. That would be a real problem for us, as we live in Scotland and have a tiny house and garden.

You want a tent built to last that will accommodate your family now and in the future (the kids will grow and you may have more.) I'd say look into at least a 6-man option. From what I've seen, you have to subtract one from the official berth count advertised. A 4-man tent would likely be cramped for a family of four.

Most people want more than one bedroom for privacy. At this point, I assume you'd want the baby to sleep with you, and the 10yo would want their own space.

Being able to stand up in the tent is a huge boon for a family camping trip.

Having a porch area in which you can cook and hang out is another big plus. Many top brands of big tents have extra awning options that give flexibility in that regard.

If I were in your very lucky shoes, after the tent, I would plump for a really nice cook stove arrangement. You can get some really sweet dual-burner gas hobs with grills and stands for under £100.

There are big sales going on now, and Yeomans is no exception.

That Montana 6 has steel poles, claims to be easy to pitch, and has plenty of room for only £399. That leaves plenty of dosh for all the little extras you could desire. For £599, the Outwell Arkansas 7 has plenty of room for your family to grow AND has that porch that I think is so darned neat. I admit to preferring a tunnel tent due to the footprint (easier to fit onto pitches), but there are Y-shaped tents that allow for a little extra space between bedrooms.

Honestly, you can have just about anything your heart desires and I am so jealous!

[OutdoorWorldDirect]

hi,

congrats and welcome to the forum!

with 1000 pounds i would go for either outwell or vango premium family tents

may aswell get your money's worth - they offer the best lifetimes. There has been some good suggestions already - i'd go for the montana if it was me. Best seller year in year out

Cheers

[barrington]

thanks for all your advice, going to have a llok around at weekend but swaying towards a montana 6, probably for weekend stays is this a good choice please?

[Gillsy]

Yep, i think that's a good choice, barrington, alot of families seem to go for that one.
I'm so jealous, fancy having all that money to spend in a camp shop....heaven

[in-a-tent]

my sister-in-law and family have a montana 6 it's great, get the extension if you can as it gives a good space to cook in.

[Dave & Angela]

thanks for all your advice, going to have a llok around at weekend but swaying towards a montana 6, probably for weekend stays is this a good choice please?

Congratulations on your prize Wow

We have a Montana 6 , love it , very stable easy to pitch and loads of room .
Any questions about the montana , I'll try my best to answer them for you .

A very popular tent , if you found camping was'nt for you ( which I doubt , you'll love it ) , you'd be able to sell a montana easily I'd have thought .

One thing I would say , I don't know if car boot space is an issue , but the montana comes in a fair sized wheeled bag , like this


Then there's a second bag also , for the steel poles .
They do eat up a fair amount of boot space .

Take a look at the tents packed down in thier bags also when your at Yeomans , if boot space is an issue . Consider the other gear you'd need room for .


Good advice from Andy , do'nt rush in , come away and think about it and post your thoughts / questions on here .



Happy shopping

[Wayne]

Hello and a warm welcome to the forum.

What a fantastic prize, well done,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,now go blow it all on the Outwell Wolf Lake 7 ........no not really.

I have to agree with the advice already given, especially concerning coming away and thinking about it. Really discuss it and then go back and get in the tent and discuss what you discussed . We did when we brought the Vermont XL, that's why we ended up buying the Vermont-L instead, it was better for our needs.