Johnny E

Lookin for a new tent and Halfords have one for sale £99 which is half price and throw in loads of bit's.

Has anyone got one of these???

springbok

Not got one myself, but we helped a couple of ladies a few years ago set one of these up, after laughing at them from a distance for 1/2 an hour.

It went up OK, but my main concern with these is the waterproof rating which is 1500mm hydrostatic head. Basically anything below 3000mm will leak in anything less than a light shower. They are 99 quid for a reason.
If you go camping once a year and it's a nice sunny week then these are ok, if it rains, you and your gear will get wet, i.e camping in the UK for more than 2 days, one of those days will rain.

Halfords always drop the price of these every year and they probably sell well. They start at 199 and then go to 99, they are never at the RRP.

Johnny E

I hear what your saying

springbok

This is from one of the reviews on the halfords site.

"Luckily we only planned to go away for 48 hours - however the tent didnt even last that long! We cut our holiday short because one short downpour caused water to leak through the top of the tent - causing water to puddle in the middle of the living area which is totally exposed to the elements as the ground sheet cannot be attached to the main body fo the tent. If you like water and ice station zebra this is the product for you!

springbok

Now I know the normal SN way is to say "don't spend 99 quid on a tent, you need to spend at least 1000 quid"
As an alternative to the Halfords one which you'd chuck in the bin, how about this one
Khyam Ontario 8 Tent from Taunton Leisure
It's on sale for 209 quid. Yes twice the price of the Halfords one, without the extras halfords throw in, but they throw that stuff in for a reason.
Khyam is a very good brand for the price, and that one has a HH of 5000mm.
A good quality tent and good waterproof properties.

davyboy

Camping is always fun until it rains.

A good quality tent with somewhere to take you wet/muddy clothes off before you get in the tent is a good idea.

Something like a Outwell Harford.

Cheap sleeping bags and airbeds or OK, if you only plan to camp during the cummer months. We bought a cheap set from Sainsburys a few years ago, and have only recently upgraded the sleeping bags.

zs_phil

iTrader: (1)

great question from the op .
we were also looking into one of these for 3-4 days camping in the lakes but think we will take a rain check so to speak

Johnny E

Nice one just having a look at there site now

skid11

iTrader: (1)

Khyam good quality tents as above.
Check out Decathlons range.Very good quality and nice and cheap.Used their three man for last 4 years in all sorts of weather .Never leaked once and cost £60.
My Khyam needed a good soaking before it was waterproof though.Sounds strange but apparently it activates the waterproofing!
Cheap sleeping bags are ok providing its good weather

Clarebabes

Blacks have a tent sale at the moment, have you got one of those near you? They'll sell better quality I bet.

The Halfords tent will probably break after a couple of erections (ahem!) so pay a bit more and you'll use it again and again. Vango and Outwell are good brands.

worley

I bought a Gerlert 4 from Halfrauds, great bit of kit.

Don't know what they sell nowadays, but it resisted to a fair bit of bad weather and is as still good as new.


Nik

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

We have one of these

Yes, we paid £99 & it is well worth what we paid for it.

Opinions:

Sleeping bags are "ok", nothing special but keep you warm.
Air beds are absolutely fine.
Torches suprisingly good and useful.
The tent is obvious "made to a budget" but last year was put up in an absolute downpour and it only stopped raining bout midnight. However, we were all quite dry inside. I think preparation and attention to detail were a help here - ie don't take wet clothes inside the sleeping area, boots outside the tent etc. The only thing that has shown up is that the stitching isn't the best and has come loose in a couple of places for things like toggles/zips but only on the interior compartments.

Our daughter often has m8s over for sleepovers & we find that we are often using the beds and sleeping bags.

Yes, as others have said, if you're a serious camper then buy something else but if you only want a couple of nights a year, then it is cheap/cheerful so why spend more if it will do?

yoza

This is mine/ours, and will be our 5star hotel for 7-10 days whilst in Newquay.

http://www.aztecoutdoor.co.uk/tents/.../cantera12.pdf

I have had one errection, just as a test to see if we could do it without killing each other.

It goes up quite easily...and there is loads of room for the 4 of us.

A question to people in the know....Will this one be OK in the rain ?, because its going to rain, FACT.

yoza

Ive just noticed they give you a games pack with this tent, they must know its going to rain..


Where is the "waterproofness" mark on this tent, and how do you guage what is good and what is no good ?

Cheers.

stoneface

iTrader: (6)

You need to look at the hydrostatic head measurement in the spec 3000mm + is recommended, especially for Cornwall

worley

Link to your tent on another site near the bottom of the page (It's huge!):

9-16 berth

The flysheet has a hydrostatic head of 4000 mm, the ground sheet 3000 mm. For the worst British weather, anything equal to or greater than 3000 mm will be fine.


Nik

Guinness

iTrader: (1)

Vango make good quality tents for sensible money....Alan

yoza

Thanks for responses, and reassurance......I think the way its going I will need a pair of paddles...Cheers.

Johnny E

Vango for me i think.........

scooby-tc

iTrader: (2)

I got a Sunncamp vario 600+ and it is fantastic quality and quite easy to put up but its a lot more than the Halfords one (for a reason )

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

I bought the halfords kit at the beginning of the year for a little over £100, if you're a seasoned well equipped tenter it'll probably diappoint as you wouldn't need the bits. If you're starting from scratch it's a great deal, I've just returned from a Dads and kids camping trip which it was all perfect for.

D

richieh

The halfords tent repels water a lot better if you set it up at home then give it a good dose of spray waterproof dressing first-a tenners worth should do it twice over.
HTH
cheers richie

The Zohan

I was looking at the tent deal in Halfords whilst buying hand grips for my daughters scooter thingie. It looks alright for the odd camping trip with the kids or sleepovers for them but not for serious stuff of extreme conditions. However, it is still good value considering whats included - IMHO and i think we'll get one next week.

davyboy

Paul, before you buy, go and check out Yeomans selection.

Back of the garden centre at Wooton.

The Zohan

Thanks Dave, will do

dave247

If you can wait till the back end of August I will be leaving one in a field in Staffordshire after the V festival :P