Tent

Tyler_Durden_UK

A 3 or 4 person tent will really only be comfortable for 2 people with camping gear, table, etc.
A tunnel style tent will give you room to stand up in, I'd check Facebook marketplace, I've just got a 6 person tent with porch, groundsheet and carpet for £140. Not new of course but the saving against new price is worthwhile.

Tyler_Durden_UK

pogofish wrote: »

Personally, I'm not fond of tunnel tents - This was only a moderately windy morning last summer in the Western Isles - My little low to the ground frame tent stood the night without problems.

And yes, those lumps in the nearest tent are the occupants!

And to counter that, I had a tunnel tent survive what felt like near gale winds last year near Brean beach, certainly the strongest winds I've camped in.

pogofish

West of Scotland, Western Isles, West of Ireland and the Cairngorm Mountains - I've camped in quite a few full-on gales over the years and only had one tent shredded by the weather so far. That was quite a night!

jrtfan

I still have a Blacks Paklite 2 person tent I bought in 1980, and it was used for motorcycling holidays in Europe for at least 10 years. It would be no good for the OP's purposes, of course (much too low for a start!), but the tent is still in fantastic condition even now. I'm done with having to crawl in and out on hands and knees these days and will be passing the tent on to my son to use in a few years' time. Think I paid around £150 for it back then, so it was quite expensive for a tent of its size.

I think you often do get what you pay for when it comes to tents, but it depends on what you plan to use the tent for. Nowadays I just want a tent I can stand up in, to take to festivals in the summer. My tunnel tent is perfect for this.

pogofish

Old Blacks tents were indeed excellent - I had one of similar vintage for a great many years. IT did me well through many bike trips.

Moogles44

Canvas tents are great . Ebay has loads and good time to buy

SleepySara

Moogles44 wrote: »

Canvas tents are great . Ebay has loads and good time to buy

Indeed. A friend of mine suggested me these https://www.cabelas.com/category/Outfitter-Tents/104481180.uts and I was very satisfied. Also this one is great and worth considering too https://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/tents/p/Vango-Casa/4168. If you're traveling with kids or with first-timers you should also consider getting a tent conditioner like this. Fancy little thing, some of them a quite expensive but are especially handy in June, August and September. The only con here is that my kids won't go camping without this thing again.

Paula_Smith

We had one of these which you can currently get new for about £125:
https://www.coleman.eu/uk/c-649-instant-tent-tourers.aspx

You can also get an awning but they don't make them any more so you would have to look for a second hand one.

DigForVictory

Pay_me wrote: »

Easy enough for one person to erect and take down

I think this is where you may come unstuck.

Even with no breeze, it helps to have someone else (no serious intelligence required but looping a guy line to a car bumper to get a tent up is actually a lot harder work than it sounds).

Also for felling the tent so it will go back into the the car without occupying too much space, another pair of hands helps. A brick in a bath towel can be of use, but tidying the guy lines, felling, getting the poles & pegs out then folding everything neatly?

Many hands, following one set of instructions, make light work.

(If you were thinking of seizing an opportunity before Christmas, do please check you are looking at three season tents which are built to cope with higher wind speeds. We've packed up the summer tent for the year as once the wind began to gust over 40mph, things got a bit ticklish.)

Best of luck & Happy camping.