Thread: Tents - some advice please

You could have even more privacy by having two centre pole tents about 2.7 metres square. You could dictate how far away you wanted the boys to pitch their tent.

That gives you the flexibility of a more convenient, lighter tent for those weekends away without the kids.

A good centre pole tent is so quick and easy to erect. On one occasion, I noticed that it took me less time than it took a neighboring camper to wind down the jacks to level his caravan.

We comfortable slept two adults and two children in our tent and on one trip with just the two of us, we set up and packed up every day for 100 days and didn't find it a burden.

Big tents can be huge even when packed up. I can't see the point of them unless you plan to stay put for a week or more.

Yeah I was toying with the idea of getting two smaller tents, and on the whole camping trips with the family will normally only be a couple of days at best, longer trips I would most likely be doing on my own/with mates, and be back in the swag.
Will look into the centre pole tent, cheers

Brett, you haven't said if you plan to do what Alan did and make and break camp each day or find a local and base camp. Going for one of those large multi-room tents you see in the likes of Rays Outdoors or any camping store for that matter will become tiresome to make and break down daily. The number of poles required to erect the tent requires an engineering degree, the patience of a saint and help from a second person. Nothing builds love in a relationship like a wrestle with a tent that won't comply. Remember the golden rule, if you can't erect it solo it's not the tent for you. If the loved one storms off you have to complete the task at hand (or convert the tent into a super sized swag). Or if you go away with the boys their contribution to the erecting task may be wanting.

I'd be inclined to put the boys in a simple 2 man tent and pick a suitable sized easy erect tent for the wifeeeee and youngens. I have a quick erect 2.4m x 2.4m canvas tent which has an external alloy frame and fly over the top. It's an Oz-trail but similar to the current Jet tent F-25 design. It appears Oz-trail no longer sell my design and the current doesn't look as good as my older model. It's marketed as a 6 person. It comfortably houses 3 with room to move around. A 4th will mean stepping on bedding. It's a lump of tent packed but any canvas tent of that size will be a lump of material.

If you look into the Jet Tent style design pay particular attention to the quality of the skeleton and canvas. Not wishing to speak ill of a brand but i found the Coleman trail-blazer (same design as mine) to be significantly inferior in both aspects.

I haven't owned a centre pole tent but have read posts from plenty of admirers. Southern Cross seems to be a well admired tent.

I picked my tent up at a bargain to RRP because it was used in a trade show. It came with some markings from admirers. Easily forgotten when you remember the savings and likely marks on the first camping expedition. Moral of the story, shop around see if you can get floor stock at a discount.

MLD

We used a single pole tent for touring with a family of 4.(although now have a Cub camper)

4 pegs in the corners, one pole in the centre, all done. Our one is entended length which takes another couple of poles.

The benefits are:

• you can stand up in the tent

• quick to setup & pack up

• good in rain (although a bit more shelter around the door wouldn't go astray)

Not so benefitial:

• privacy, you need to evict those not wanted from the tent

• folded, the tent is 1mx1m, so can be challenging to store (ours ended up on the roofrack under the roof bag)

• Need alternate shelter if the weather turns nasty, (really sleeping area only, as with most tents)

Anyway that's my 2c worth.

Happy Camping