Cheap Tent for 1st time Camper

ambersmita

Aldi have a 6 man dome tent for £30 I am sure it will be in the shop now if you go (it looked great, but I have already grabbed myself a great lightweight hiking tent at a carbooty for £3, so theres only so many you can live in at once! ). If the camping stuff is still in there you should be able to bag yourself a "mummy style" sleeping bag for under a tenner and a sleeping mat for £3.99.


Aldi also had some excellent Mountain bikes (I think they have 21 gears) with suspension, etc. I loved them so much I bought two!

For any horsey people they will be having a small selection of riding stuff - not as big a selecton as Lidl a few weeks ago but their Jodpurs are cheaper £16.99. Riding hats are going to be £9.99.

Respect

mojolisa

I have to agree with the people who said that it doesn't work going for a cheap tent, you will just end up cold, wet and miserable. If possible, have a look at a specialized local camping shop that has the space to display the tents properly.
We used a Cabanon Frame Tent for many years, they are very good quality and you can see the products on their web-site at https://www.cabanon.com (I was hoping to see a list of retailers as well, but it didn't work for me, perhaps you can phone them if you are interested). If nothing else, they do have a lot of good advice on choosing a tent. (http://www.cabanon.com/gb/conseils/frame_conseils.htm)
I would also agree with the idea that two tents is usually better than one, however be careful. Some sites charge per tent, which can mean that you pay twice as much for your two little tents as the enormous family tent next door - make sure they charge per site.

Ted_Hutchinson

frizz_head wrote:

Thanks so much everyone for all your tips and advice. I will certainly show all responses to Mr Frizz and see what he thinks. The one in Argos we have seen is this one, although it does not give that much info re some of your above points to consider. Does it look ok?

No comment on whether it is suitable or good value for money. I've only been caravanning and like to be able to sit down or cook in comfort.

While I agree a top quality tent will be a good long-term investment I am aware of others who have tented once and decided never again so paying the kind of money out at this scale wouldn't be the end of the world if you did decide "never again".

But the reason for posting was to point out that your current ARGOS selection seems to me absolutely identical to the INDEX reduced price one so saving £28.

alivass

we bought a tent last year and after being advised by the camp shops not to go for a real cheap one we bought a Vis-A-Vis style 4 man tent a Wynnster Buzzard it's a good style to have as you have two bedrooms either side of a central room the bedroom sizes are big enough for two double size mattress with room to spare at the sides and the middle area is big enough for one of those pop up picnic tables with the chairs attached and you are able to stand up in the middle room there are two doors and the front one can be opened up and made into a porch which gives you a bit extra room, on the last camping trip it rained everyday and no rain came through the tent at all just ran down the hill that we were at the bottom of where the site had kindly put us, but we slept in it with a bit of a pond in the middle but we were nice and dry in the bedrooms . it's very easy to put up , we were camping virgins and managed it first time in about 3/4 hr, It's great fun and the only reason we are selling is were given a caravan, so go for a reasonable priced on as you may get the bug and want to go again and again !!
Ali

alivass

p.s we bought one of those £10 tents from Asda and it's great to store all your stuff in gives you all the room in the centre section for sitting in etc if it's raining !!!

geniusmum

Please try these people:
hikebikeandrideltd.
I bought a 4 man tent from them, via ebay,last year. It is superb & only cost £40. They also have other sizes.
I found out that the young couple who had just started their own business, making & selling these tents, live about 4 miles from me so I even saved on the postage!!

chinagirl

Well Frizz-head. All I can add is you will love it. I too was a camping virgin 3 years ago, but was persuaded to go on a Scout 'Family Camp' (who better to go camping with for the first time, eh). We loved it, and have been 3 more times since then. The tent you have your eye on looks great, and should be plenty big enough for you and all your gear.
Don't forget to bring at least 2 torches or camping lanterns, one for each bedroom, and a spare to take with you if you need the loo in the middle of the night. Oh, and take spare batteries too.

Have a great time, and let us all know how it went.

jane130

we used to camp but the made fatal misake of trading out huge tent in for a trailer tent and never went again.
I'll second all the other tips youve been given and for your first time pick a good time of year to go . Our first trip was at easter and we hd gail force winds ... very entertaining but we wern't totally sure we wouldn't wake up in the next feild that said we went again and loved it.

Good luck and most pf all remeber to laugh if it all goes pear shaped the first time its a steap learning curve but so much fun

Anya

Have a look here:
http://www.wildday.co.uk/productslist.aspx?DepartmentId=5&selection=0&categoryID=22&productGroupID=169
6 Man tents at a similar price to the one you are looking at. Vango is a really good make too.

BNU_2

I don't know whether this will help you but Viking Direct are currently 'giving away' a set including a 2 Man Tent with accessories (2 Sleeping Mats & 2 Sleeping Bags) when you order 20 or more reams (4 or more boxes) of Premium Laser Paper at £3.99 + VAT per ream. Viking No: P24-VKLZ

Obviously this will only be a free tent etc. if you have a need for that paper in the first place, but I thought I would post it in case you or one of your friends is in charge of ordering the stationary for your own business or a business you work for. Hope it helps someone!