So you are thinking about becoming a camper. This is a guide to what you might need to get you started.
TENTS
If you are not sure camping is for you, before you lay out £££s on something you might not use again why not hire a tent before you buy?
Many tents are available on a hire basis and it might be worthwhile spending money hiring a tent before you commit to buying one.
The most important thing to consider is the tent. Your tent’s ability to keep you comfortable, warm and dry is of paramount importance and can make or break a holiday. Care should be taken when choosing your tent and the points below are designed to help you in that choice.
There are several designs of tents:
TENTS
If you are not sure camping is for you, before you lay out £££s on something you might not use again why not hire a tent before you buy?
Many tents are available on a hire basis and it might be worthwhile spending money hiring a tent before you commit to buying one.
The most important thing to consider is the tent. Your tent’s ability to keep you comfortable, warm and dry is of paramount importance and can make or break a holiday. Care should be taken when choosing your tent and the points below are designed to help you in that choice.
There are several designs of tents:
A frame tent:
where a frame is first put up and then a canvas
placed over the frame.
placed over the frame.
Geodesic family of tents: (Dome Tents)
Tunnel (No nodes).
Semi-Geodesic (Three nodes). (A node is the point where poles Geodesic (Five nodes). cross and are tied together).
Where the ‘frame’ consists of poles fed through sleeves attached to
the tent and then arced to make the frame of the tent.
(Some Geodesic tents have an outer fly sheet).
Remember, the simplicity of a tent usually reflects its strength; the simpler designs are weaker than the more complex designs.
Tunnel tents that have no nodes are weaker than a Geodesic tent
that has five nodes.
Visit a camping exhibition to see a large array of tent designs on display.
When choosing a tent, consider the following points.
Ground sheet.
Check the ground sheet is constructed from tough, tear resistant, waterproof material. If the groundsheet appears thin, you might consider buying a tarpaulin for the groundsheet to lie on. Tents that have a flat groundsheet can let moisture in as well as insects.
Personally, I would go for a tent that has a sewn in groundsheet; (SIG), also known as a bathtub groundsheet with vertical sidewalls of at least 10 cm in height. The bathtub design prevents water entering your tent, even in waterlogged conditions.
Tent Erection
Do you want to stand up in your tent? The taller the tent the more difficult to erect; check how easy it is to pitch and collapse.
Most retailers are happy to assist you in pitching a tent to check the ease of erection. (You will then have the opportunity of checking for missing bits). If they are not willing to help you, then walk away and take your custom elsewhere.
Look also for colour coded poles that correspond with colour coded sleeves.
Inner or outer pitching first.
Tents pitch either inner tent first or outer tent (fly sheet) first. (Some manufacturers are now designing ‘either or’ tents).
Geodesic tents that have a fly sheet are also known as double skinned. Basically, you will get an inner tent with a SIG and then a fly sheet covering the whole ensemble.
