The Camping Forum

[in-a-tent]

The forum gets a lot posts asking for reccomendations for good family tents

I thought it might be useful to see what you all look for in a family tent.

We camp in trailer tent at present having moved on from a 8 man tunnel tent. There are 5 of us the kids go from 4 to 14.

We looked for:

Ample sleeping space with more berths than we needed and room for clothes bags and so on

Somewhere to sit when it rains

Not too hard to put up

The TT has extra benefits of being ready packed and sleeping off the ground (which is why we got it) but it's not that easy to erect especially the awning so it's not ideal.

So what do you look for in a family tent and what compromises did you make?

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[Curlyminx]

We are only a small family, but wanted a tent that was good in rain and well as sun, that you didn't feel trapped in - so big windows and a cover of some sort over the door so it could be open and we didn't get wet was a must.

I also wanted mesh on all the windows and doors as I have a serious wasp sting allergy, and the little swines seem to seek me out (I'm also not too keen in spiders following a nasty experience with a tarantula - I know I sound girly but hey - I am a girl!)

Stitched in ground sheet was important so the dogs can't escape.

Not too big and heavy a pack size as we have a stupidly small car and not too expensive either.

I'm a craftaholic so I needed a bit of room to bring things to do.

So we needed a 6 man tent, with a front canopy available, mesh and groundsheet.

We looked at a good few and plumped for the Montana 6 as it was a. All of the above and b. Cheap on eBay at the time.

I love it, but I do lust after the polycotton version that will never fit in my car.

[rexgrant]

Hi all
There are many things that control your choice of a Family tent, and has I have only ever owned one lightweight polyester tent we bought for the odd weekend, but was only used once we did not like the condensation and the cold damp feeling we don't experience with Cotton tents and polycotton tents.
If you have a big family and no trailer the my choice would be restricted to a polyester dome tent were the inner is erected First, and the tent must have an internal mudflap in the living area with a SIG with the bed pods and a large vent in the top .
I am not a fan of SIG they restrict you safely heating a tent with and LPG heater in the evening for a few hours and also if you cook in a tent with LPG you may also endanger the family.if an LPG/Gas appliance should spring a leak as they do now and again and you have a full SIG you will not smell it been heavier than air it will run to the lowest area of you SIG and rapidly build up until a reaches a flame or a spark will ignite it.
For my choice of a family tent from for a normal fit family from 2 berth to 8 berth I would choose a Cabanon frame tent. I have camped in these for over 30 years and never in all the tents we have used have been let down and never heard of anyone that has. But because of all the equipment we camper use today I would use a trailer of at least 4' x 3' with a A bar and 13" tires that would be my choice.
Regards
Rex.

[Nunfa1]

I can perhaps offer a different point of view here as I'm new to camping, having only started this year.
We are 2 adults and 2 children, 4 & 6. I started out as a reluctant camper so the choice of tent was crucial to me. I wanted the children sleeping next to us, for their peace of mind as much as ours, so that ruled out vis-a-vis tents and led us to a tunnel design.
I wanted a sig as I don't like bugs. Heating is fine, we use EHU and a fan heater, works a treat.
the next issue was steel or carbon fibre poles. I did my research, including asking questions on here, and decided on steel poles for strength.
At this point we had probably started looking at campsites and seen 1 or 2 charge for awnings. A lot of advice had been given regarding awnings as a good thing so we then saw tunnel tents with built in canopies.
Budget was next and I didn't want to spend loads as although I had committed to a full year camping there was no guarantee it would go beyond that.
A trip to our local camping shop and we found the Kampa Croyde 6 for £250 and decided this fitted in with our requirements. 3 trips later and its been a great tent, absolutely perfect for our needs and we don't envisage having to change it for many years.

So that was our thought process and how we ended up with the tent we did. I would happily recommend it to anyone with the same criteria as us.

[Wayne]

I can perhaps offer a different point of view here as I'm new to camping, having only started this year.
We are 2 adults and 2 children, 4 & 6. I started out as a reluctant camper so the choice of tent was crucial to me. I wanted the children sleeping next to us, for their peace of mind as much as ours, so that ruled out vis-a-vis tents and led us to a tunnel design.
I wanted a sig as I don't like bugs. Heating is fine, we use EHU and a fan heater, works a treat.
the next issue was steel or carbon fibre poles. I did my research, including asking questions on here, and decided on steel poles for strength.
At this point we had probably started looking at campsites and seen 1 or 2 charge for awnings. A lot of advice had been given regarding awnings as a good thing so we then saw tunnel tents with built in canopies.
Budget was next and I didn't want to spend loads as although I had committed to a full year camping there was no guarantee it would go beyond that.
A trip to our local camping shop and we found the Kampa Croyde 6 for £250 and decided this fitted in with our requirements. 3 trips later and its been a great tent, absolutely perfect for our needs and we don't envisage having to change it for many years.

So that was our thought process and how we ended up with the tent we did. I would happily recommend it to anyone with the same criteria as us.

Very good post and I like how you worked your way down to the tent you finally settled on

I have to agree with quite a few comments that have passed by already, but some basic points I look for:

Minimum HH of 300mm (just my opinion, its my money I'm spending after all)
SIG (sewn in groundsheet)
Available optional extras, Carpet, footprint, porch or awning.
Steel poles
Ample sleep pods, with a minimum of 3 (as of recent, we do have tents with less pods)
Quality, I have to feel for the tent, hard one to explain really. I like the look of some tents in magazines, only to stand in one set up and feel its just not finished off to a good standard.
Budget, I don't mind paying a tents worth, but it has to be what I consider its worth, not what the RRP thinks it should be sold for.

[craftynclothy]

We originally bought a v cheap 4 man Eurohike tent. It came as a set with double sleeping bag, 2 singles, double air bed & 2 roll mats. It was an absolute bargain because as well as being reduced to begin with, my sister worked at Millets so we got her staff family discount thingy. When we did our camping trip this year we got serious tent envy and it was really useful to see other tents up and how people use them iykwim.

We decided on the following requirements:
Tunnel style
Front canopy
At least 2 bedrooms (we have a 2yo and a 4yo), preferably some storage too.
Space to store some kitchen stuff (food, pans, etc.) with room to sit if it's raining
Needs to fit in our car

After some research we also decided we wanted steel poles.

We did quite a lot of wandering round shops with tent displays and took a liking to the Vango Maritsa 500. We particularly liked that there was the front porch bit that can be used like a canopy but also like a second room. There are two bedrooms but one has a bit in you can zip up to divide it so we can use that bit for storage. We found a deal for £229 at Yeomans (and also ordered a carpet in their sale) but they've messed us about with it and still don't seem to know if they've any stock so we're cancelling and Go Outdoors are doing their price guarantee from another offer so we're getting it for £242. I found a bargain carpet from somewhere closing down so it's ended up the same price as Yeomans. I also go Go Outdoors to price match somewhere on the footprint so we've ended up with tent, carpet & footprint for under £300 (GO have the tent alone at £380 )