TOPIC:

Hi, is there any tenting people here? Ive done a lot of camping over the years with family & friends in caravans/campers and loved it. Have access to a 6 man tent now but its just Me and 2 kids and I've never pitched a tent and I'm wondering how much work is involved and do you reckon I could manage it with the help of a 13 & 5 year old?

Suggestions on good sites suitable to tents would be appreciated too

Thank you in advance

Carr

Hi, Carr what make/type tent have you.I have an Outwell Vermont XL that we take to France every year. There are 5 of us ( me, the better half a 13,17, and 21 year old )but we have put up the tent with just 2 of us (the rest gone to the pool or shop).Its a big tent and we never have any probs erecting or dropping it but like all tents the hardest part is getting it back into the bag.

Try and put up the tent in your garden (if you have a garden) keep a cool head at all times remember they are only kids and its all part of it. Our first camping trip ever was to France and that was 11 years ago. we have camped in heatwaves thunder storms the lot and they all still come with us.

It should not matter if the 13 year old is a boy or girl tents are or should be easy to erect no matter what the sex. Make sure the 5 year old has something to do, holding the pegs and passing them as they are needed is a vital job. let me know what kind of tent you have and we can take it from there. On the plus side a 6 man tent is a good size for 3 people.

Horgan asks an important question! Some tents are easier to put up than others. Some 6 man tents can be a challenge, like our 6 man Outwell Hartford XL. It takes 2-3 people over an hour to set up and can be a bit of a puzzle with 9 poles and 3 pods (rooms) situated around a main room... Its a kind of star pattern -





...but having said that, when it is set up, its really home away from home and extremely comfortable... I'd consider it more of a base camp and more suitable for prolonged stays. My wife loves it...

I recon the tunnel type tents are far easier to manage. We also have a small regatta 3 man tent that we use when my wife has other ideas about going away camping... When its just the 2 kids and myself, we'll take the small tent. It takes 10-15 minutes to get fully set up and I much prefer this tent over the Hartford. Fit your 3 poles, peg it down, and you're done.



Here it is, photo taken in Curragh Chase Campsite Co Limerick, one of the best campsites in ireland as far as we were concerned, that is, until it closed its gates in 2012

that looks like a little village you have there


dont forget to tell us all about Curragh Chase in the Limerick section of the forum

aaron

Aaron wrote:

that looks like a little village you have there


dont forget to tell us all about Curragh h Chase in the Limerick section of the forum

aaron

Nothing would please me more Aaron, but unfortunately I believe it's still closed. We loved it due to it's proximity to the Curragh chase forest park. Mountain bike trails, lake, wildlife etc. And the best part as far as my kids were concerned, it was ok to have a small bon fires near to your tent. Proper camping.

The main building and facilities at the campsite really took a beating over the recent harsh winters and needed a lot of work to bring them back to spec. Money that coillte didn't have to spend I'll bet.

A real pity.

Hi Blag, our first tent was an Outwell Hartford XL, great tent had many the great holiday it. Cant ever remember it taking an hour to erect but mabey it did, as I remember it the poles were colour coded to match the colour on the location points on the tent and the last thing we did was peg the ground sheet down.But as I said that was a few years ago now so time may have dimed the memory, one of the zips went and could not get anyone to repair/replace it, the local scout troop have it now and as far as I know its still going strong.