What (big) tent?

[tenohfive]

I've had a Gelert Horizon 6 for about 4 years and was quite happy with it - it's survived it's share of rain and even the odd seaside gale. Until this year when the fibre glass poles started breaking in strong winds in the Langdale Valley, and water started coming through the groundsheet - prompting a late night retreat (along with half the camp site.)

I've got a budget of £4-500 and am looking for something in the 6-8 man region - a sleeping room for 4 with a 4x2 metre living area is what we're used to and I don't want to down size. Extra storage room for clothes etc is a bonus. Weight/bulk isn't an issue.

My biggest requirement is stability - I want something that will take a gale in an wind-tunnel valley without failing. But I don't really know what to look for so would appreciate some pointers. So far as I can tell there are two options: tunnel style with steel/alloy poles and lots of guy points, or fully geodesic. The latter seems uncommon so that leaves the metal pole design. Is there anything else I should consider when looking for stability?

So far the two that have caught my eye are the Outwell Montana 6P:
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/outwell-montana-6p-family-tent-p261526

And the Kampa Croyde 8:
http://www.kampa.co.uk/products/tents/8-berth/croyde-8/

Any thoughts on what I should go for - or what to look for in a stable tent?

[WalkingDutchman]

If weight and bulk are no issues, see if you can find a secondhand De Waard Zilvermeeuw or Albatros (Dutch brand of tents). They weigh a ton, and are quite big, but they will withstand gales. I've seen campsites where everything was blown away (caravans, tents, trees, even a campervan had blown over) and the only thing left standing was a De Waard. And they will last a long time too: secondhand they're just as good as new (my folks have one that's 15 years old now, is used twice ayear for a couple of weeks at a time and they still go camping with it - never needed any maintenance). They're rather expensive new, but secondhand you can find them for 500-750 Euro (that's 420 - 650 Pounds).

[mrssanta]

have you looked at the Alpkit offerings? They have a big six person geodesic tent which looks very interesting. I haven't seen one in real life, but would certainly like to!

[tenohfive]

have you looked at the Alpkit offerings? They have a big six person geodesic tent which looks very interesting. I haven't seen one in real life, but would certainly like to!

It's £650 and doesn't look to be tall enough to stand up in unfortunately. Was the second place I looked.

[tenohfive]

I've just had another look at the website and it does look to be tall enough to stand in, but not across all of it's area. And as I say - a little out of budget.

[luckyd]

I've had a North Face Trailhead 8 for about 6 years, which cost about £400, has been used about 20 days a year, still as good as new and has performed well in wind and rain. I'd have no hesitation in recommending it except they don't make them any more. You may be able to pick one up on ebay or you may want to look at its replacement, the Mountain Manor 8
http://www.thenorthface.com/catalog/sc-gear/mountain-manor-8.html

[stevesey]

This just popped up in my mailbox.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/vango-palena-dlx-600-bundle-p286440

Fits the size requirements and steel poled.

We have a Vango Tigris 800 (similar to the Horizon - but 1 section longer) - like you we like a large living area even for 3 + dog (we have the Kitchen extension as well!) - and even though it's fibre poled it has performed well in the wind, moves around a fair bit but the Vango tension straps do seem to help. But that said I would get a steel poled tent next time - something like the Palena or the Outwell Montana in fact.

[tenohfive]

I was looking on another forum and a seller came on raving about that Vango (and saying the GO offer was excellent, beyond anything he could manage) which has me sorely tempted.

Versus the Montana 6P it looks like it's on a par - which with a carpet and footprint makes it very good value. My only slight niggle is that it doesn't have an outside cooking area/canopy built in, and they cost another £170. Total £520.

That's still not half bad, to get the Kampa Croyde 8 (which has the extension built in) and a carpet would be £520-550 depending on where's got stock.

Hmmmm...decisions decisions.

[tenohfive]

Thought I'd pop a closing post on this in case it pops up in future searches.

I went for the latest model of the Kampa Croyde 8 - I managed to pick it up on a deal for £360 delivered (which is about £90 less than everywhere else.) I've just put it up and it seems solid. It's got clips on the 4 corners for a storm tie down kit (standard buckle and strap arrangement) which I'll be investing in, along with some delta pegs for the guy lines. As I mentioned above - I don't want a recurrence of the demise of my previous tent.

Whilst no tent of that size is easy and quick to put up, it's all fairly logical and the solid metal poles have springs (rather than elastic) inside which helps the poles almost ping themselves into position. It has buckets of room and a flexible bedroom arrangements and it all feels like it's good quality. The main door also zips completely open (rather than needing rolling up) which is good for making it feel spacious, as is the windows that are on every panel of the living area. And (most importantly) the bag is slightly oversized - so it's not an utter pain trying to fit it all in afterwards.

Happy so far, bring on the spring time so I can test it out in anger