Cheap huge tent

insx

Go outdoors have the Hi Gear Sahara 6 tent on special (they do this a lot) but there is currently an extra 20% off until Sunday. See the banner at the top of their web page. That's about £184 for a really good quality huge tent.

azza87

You might think it's good value for a big tent but come back after using it and you wont have the same opinion. Cheap tents like this don't last long and tend to develop problems pretty quickly. If you're after a tent that will last you more than one use I would advise you to go for a more well known brand that you can rely on ie outwell or vango etc.

As the saying goes, buy cheap buy twice! I work for an outdoor retailer and the amount of people we see coming in for new tents as they've bought cheap nasty ones is unreal. I know better branded tents tend to be more expensive but this is because they actually last and do the job and do actually save you money in the long run.

I bought an outwell nevada L with my staff discount 3 years ago and the tent is still going strong, my sister bought a cheaper tent from go outdoors around the same time and she replaced this around a year and a half ago as the zips went on two of the doors, it was leaking in a number of places and she had to replace some of the poles twice.

Just a warning!

crystal9

i was in asda today and noticed they had there tents on offer there was a 4 man tent half price at £40.00 and a 6 man tent which had 2 bedrooms and large living space this was now half price at £90.00 HTH

MyUserNamesTaken

azza87 wrote: »

You might think it's good value for a big tent but come back after using it and you wont have the same opinion. Cheap tents like this don't last long and tend to develop problems pretty quickly. If you're after a tent that will last you more than one use I would advise you to go for a more well known brand that you can rely on ie outwell or vango etc.

As the saying goes, buy cheap buy twice! I work for an outdoor retailer and the amount of people we see coming in for new tents as they've bought cheap nasty ones is unreal. I know better branded tents tend to be more expensive but this is because they actually last and do the job and do actually save you money in the long run.

I bought an outwell nevada L with my staff discount 3 years ago and the tent is still going strong, my sister bought a cheaper tent from go outdoors around the same time and she replaced this around a year and a half ago as the zips went on two of the doors, it was leaking in a number of places and she had to replace some of the poles twice.

Just a warning!

As someone who works for an outdoor retailer, you should know that Hi Gear is Gelert - a very well known brand that you can rely on. The Hi Gear Sahara is a rebranded Gelert Zenith.

azza87

MyUserNamesTaken wrote: »

As someone who works for an outdoor retailer, you should know that Hi Gear is Gelert - a very well known brand that you can rely on. The Hi Gear Sahara is a rebranded Gelert Zenith.

I did actually know that, and an outdoor retailer worker I actually get alot of gelart tents back with faults (we don't sell the hi gear brand).

This is one of the reasons why I advise people not to buy the hi gear tents!

crystal9 wrote: »

i was in asda today and noticed they had there tents on offer there was a 4 man tent half price at £40.00 and a 6 man tent which had 2 bedrooms and large living space this was now half price at £90.00 HTH

Don't do it! Even Argos tents are better quality than those sold by supermarkets, and that is saying something!

MyUserNamesTaken

azza87 wrote: »

I did actually know that, and an outdoor retailer worker I actually get alot of gelart tents back with faults (we don't sell the hi gear brand).

This is one of the reasons why I advise people not to buy the hi gear tents!



Don't do it! Even Argos tents are better quality than those sold by supermarkets, and that is saying something!

As an owner of a Gelert tent, which has served me proud for over 3 years in some of the worst weather we've had in a long time, I can say Gelert is just as reliable as Outwell. Hi Gear tents are rebadged Gelert tents (normally last season's or the season before), so there's nothing wrong with the quality of them. Like I said, the Hi Gear Sahara is a rebadged Gelert Zenith. In other words, it is a Gelert Zenith in all but name. Unless you work for GoOutdoors, you won't sell Hi Gear.

fusen

ukcampsite .co .uk/tents/preview.asp?id=251

it's got a lot of good reviews

that was the original Galert one,

Even as the rebrand it has a lot of good reviews;

ukcampsite .co .uk/tents/p/Hi-Gear-Sahara-6/1109


(remove spaces to get to that tent site)

Seems more than some people in the review comments said they paid tho.

Bev_B

crystal9 wrote: »

i was in asda today and noticed they had there tents on offer there was a 4 man tent half price at £40.00 and a 6 man tent which had 2 bedrooms and large living space this was now half price at £90.00 HTH

I noticed the tents in asda and also noticed they only had a HH (waterproofing) of 1200mm, I remember reading the minimum you want in the UK even for summer camping is 2000mm!

insx

As someone else said, the reviews are brilliant. Just about everyone gives it 9/10.

BTW, I forgot to mention that you need a discount card (£5).

finetune9

To balance up the reviews it might be worth bearing in mind the below exerpt from a review by an experiencd camper. I had a look at the 2010 version last weekend and didnt think it was that well constructed..... also bear in mind that it is huge and some campsites may charge you for a double pitch.

"...NB - The Sahara 6 was replaced in 2010 by a newer model. We have not used this model but have viewed it in Go Outdoors and we are HUGELY disappointed.

The newer model has a smaller fitted groundsheet, tatty looking fabric and a serious lack of vents.

This is not the same tent we bought or reviewed above. After a couple of long inspections it seriously appears that rather than improving the previous version they have actually gone backwards.

PLEASE be aware that our review was for the 2009 model only and that while a lot of it may still be true you can't take it for granted and you will need to inspect it in the shop yourself..."

BlueCow1975

I am all for buying good quality tents, but for those that might be wanting to try out camping to see how they like it this might well do the job for them. At the end of the day when you buy a cheaper tent you do so in the knowledge that there is a chance that it will only last you a few holidays. After all, you would pay a darn lot more for a hotel or to rent a caravan! No point in spending upwards of 500 on a tent to discover that the family hate it!!

Either way, it has better reviews than the Argos or supermarket branded tents.

Personally, I would rather go with a well known brand such as vango, outwell or kampa (kampa tents are considered to be better quality than outwell by some people and at a more reasonable price). However, budget does not always stretch to that!!