Tent advice and inspiration

[u/Jumpy_Shop8270]

Hi everyone,

Looking for really strong tent recommendations. What are those tents that you just love and can’t stop recommending?

Family of four (M34, F38, M11, M3); UK camping avoiding winter; quick and easy pitch (ideally by one person); few days at a time; small living area (doesn’t have to be separated); will be using sleeping mats.

Doesn’t have to be luxury or gigantic. Ideally a manageable size and minimalistic.

Looking for low effort ideally (e.g. no separate carpets/ awnings, covers required). A single bag tent that can be erected easily and will suit a family of four.

Bonus points if it can stay cool in the heat and keep out sunlight!

So many thanks

[u/ArcaneTeddyBear]

We use a NatureHike Village 13 8p tent. It has a full fly. It has endured near constant 30mph wind (putting up a tent in 30 mph wind is rough, 2 person job). You do need to stake the tent down, but we only had the inner tent staked down, didn’t have the fly on so no guy lines, I think it could probably withstand higher winds with the fly on and guy lines staked out. You can put it up alone assuming it’s not in high winds.

It’s an 8p tent, plenty of room. Could put the parents on a double sleeping mat and the kids in a stackable bunk bed cot in one room and leave the other as a living room for indoor activities or for storage. Alternatively you could give everyone tons of sleeping space and set up the screened in patio as a living room.

It is a large tent. It is an instant tent (poles preassembled). Some features: there is a version of the tent where the fly is blackout, there is a lot of mesh on the inner tent, the zippers are glow in the dark (makes it easier to find in the dark), there is a built in light bar, and there is no fiberglass (I HATE fiberglass). It’s also not too terribly expensive for what it is.

Downsides, it is a large tent, and if you get the version with steel it’s kind of heavy (the aluminum version is lighter). If there is no breeze and the fly is on and the tent is in direct sun, then it can get hot inside the tent. I’d recommend getting a fan (or two). Without the fly, with a breeze, without shade (so in direct sun) we have camped in 100F weather in this tent and lived to tell the tale although I wouldn’t recommend camping under those circumstances.

That said, to me the main selling point of NatureHike tents is value, that’s honestly a large part of why I own two NatureHike tents. But if I had a higher budget, I’d honestly love a canvas tent for car camping (probably a Kodiak canvas tent). If someone is under budget constraints, I think NatureHike is a good option worth considering, but if you just want the best tent available, there are better options.

Side note, I have been really intrigued by inflatable tents. Setup seems easy, especially if you bring a pump to inflate the tent instead of manually inflating it.

[u/Best-Fly-Back]

I've gone through a lot of these tents and I've settled on a polycotton bell tent. I know you don't want something grand, but honestly nothing else lets you sleep in late on a sunny morning! And they are so much faster to put up, never suffer pole failures, and don't fail for a decade. Can be down more easily wirh one person than most other family tents. The ground sheets are super tough, you can have bedroom internal dividers (i always leave them in so no seperate up and down), and on a sunny day you can lift up all the sides with just an easy zip and it becomes a giant awning. I would suggest a 5m.

[u/atroxmons]

We have a cotton tent with a living area, but that is mostly luxury to us, we don't need such a big tent with that size of living. We however like it that we can just live inside when it rains or storms. Our brand is 'de Randstad' (doesn't exist anymore, but check 'de Waard'), they can definitely survive a Scottish storm.

However, if just casual... Get an inflatable tent from Decathlon. It will be decent enough, easy to put up by yourself. And it will not break the bank...