Cheap Tents

[powerfish]

Hi All

My daughter who is 5 says she is keen to go camping. I don't want to invest a lot of $$ as the reality may be a lot different to her ideas. I was looking online and came across a 3 person tent from around $40 - $50 (Oztrail) but not sure how good they would be. Initially we would be tagging along with a mate and his family who has a camper trailer and has plenty of other gear so not much other investment required as we would pitch the tent beside them.

Would also need an air mattress or similar as sleeping on the floor is not appealing to me even for 1 night.

It would just be the two of us sharing a tent as my wife thinks 4 stars is roughing it.

Any thoughts on quality of these cheap tents?

Thanks

Chris

[Malcolm]

I have a 2 man Oztrail dome tent and it's a ripper.Been in some serious rain and stayed dry.

I can't stand blow up beds. A thin bit of rubber mattress is way better and you can still roll it up.Go as thick as you can with the space you have.

[Luc53]

For the odd overnighter, I use a 2man Oztrail as it's quick to set up and take down.

For longer stays I use 10x10 (feet) canvas tent.

For a try and see, the 3man tent you mention is all that required.

Rather than an inflatable mattress, I'd opt out for a camping matt.

[Bri The Pom]

I have a 3 man oztrail tent when i camp at wavebreak and its pretty good,waterproof as well

[max pwr]

4 man oztrail $69 at bcf......... Plenty room to stand up in and takes 3 minutes to put up and weighs practically nothing.

[Binder]

A Lot of the cheaper ones are not full tents, but two piece units, where the main "room" is just a couple of sheets of fly screen built in under a fly.

Definitely fair weather units only. Cold, wind or rain they would be unsuitable.

[MoparKevUk]

And a "3 man" tent usually refers to 3 gentlemen of a stature common to the country of manufacture.......

[dave45]

Which is why I got a 6 man tent thinking it would be comfortable for 2

This one here actually, snipped it for $60 a few months back
/>http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/BRAND-NEW-6-man-person-3-room-Gecko-camping-hoop-tent-/170908133913?pt=AU_Tents&hash=item27caeb2a19#ht_1659wt_1162

[powerfish]

Thanks for all the input. I will have a bit of a look around this weekend.

Cheers

Chris

[DeckHead]

best "cheap" tent i can think of is the range of eazy ups that coleman offers...so much easier to set up ...not so much to pack down but the whole thing can be set up in less then 2 mins xD

[powerfish]

I went with the Oztrail 3 person tent and we are just back from our first night camping at Noosa North Shore. A little bit of wind and rain last night/this morning and we were snug and dry inside, so it passed the test. Enough room for me and the 5 year old although we did store our esky and dry food in my mates annexe to his cámper trailer.

The final word from the 5 year old -"Next time can we go for 100 nights".

Cheers

Chris

[robin]

I have one of those 6 Man ET tents,costed me about $89 from big w, and I have been camping in it for the last 3 years but only for a week at a time, and its great, has been in good rain, so I can say its water proof.

I do advise against the really cheap 2 man tents from bigw or kmart, A mate of mine got one of those, and I Think his legs were sticking out.

Fyi don't get one of those lpg lamps, they are great for light, but sounds like a rocket taking off, unless its just mine that sounds like that.

[Luc53]

Glad she enjoyed her first camp out.

Re lighting, I'd go straight for LED lamps. Much safer than gas.

The only gas I use is for cooking.