Family tent suggestions

[Little_Flatty]

Hi Raiders,

We, like many, have been thinking about doing some camping in the near future.

We have been looking into tents and are at a bit of a loss as to what to get. Are there any intrepid raiders that have some suggestions?

We’d need something that accommodates a growing family of four. Kids are still too young to sleep on their own...our youngest is two. We’re only looking to do car based camping at this stage...no hiking or anything like that.

What features would you consider crucial for our purposes? What is a reasonable budget? Apart from tents and the obvious lights, sleeping bags etc, anything else we should consider? I do have a bit of equipment from my younger days but camping with a family is completely new to me.

We’re not in a huge rush. Waiting for the weather to cool down a little and also researching places to go.

Any suggestions anyone can offer would be most appreciated.

Mike

[big Neil]

Hi Mike. It really depends on how long you're going camping for, whether you stay in one place or move after a few days. Probably you will just go for a few nights and stay in the one place, having family considerations. Ideal places to go to are caravan and camping parks where you are still able to access food, amenities, etc. These present a cheaper option to say motels etc and you don't have to take all the cooking gear with you. Most places offer showers, toilets and bbq's. You can live quite cheaply this way and still go sightseeing in the vicinity with your family.

Eventually you may want to be a bit more independent and stay in more remote areas. However, this will involve taking cooking facilities with you...toilets and showers are another consideration.

A good tent option is the Coleman 3 room. Plenty big for you and your wife in one section, the kids and your equipment in the other 2 rooms. These tents are really easy to erect with their flexible poles and they have a fly sheet (waterproof). I think they run about $450 new. You will probably need to consider air mattresses too.

Good luck with your decisions mate. bn

[kingie chaser]

Tents are hard to suggest as we all have different views of that is an ideal way of camp living, some people are happy with tents just for the sleeping area only & have additional attachments for relaxing & cooking while others like to have larger multiple room tent so they can sprawl out.

I use a Coleman poly 4 man tent just for myself, I use a double self inflation mattress & also allows enough room for my bags etc, will it fit 4 people, sure, 4 people with single mattresses & no room to swing a cat in.

All I will say is from my experience is look at the size tent you need for 4 people then double the size, they are never big enough.

 

Its really good if you can get to a show like the Rosehill caravan & camping show as you can see the tents up & get in them, feel the material etc, hopefully it will go ahead this year in April-

https://www.supershow.com.au/

 

I am a fan of Coleman & Oztrail tents & like the idea of being able to attach an annex or additional rooms to.

The Poly tents are good for mild to hot weather while the canvas more for cool to cold weather so its hard to just have one tent, I also have a canvas awning tent as well I use in cooler weather.

 

Budget, well I'd say $500 to $1000

[Little_Flatty]

Thanks Neil and Adrian,

We will look into Coleman and oztrail tents. We are looking for more economical family adventures as you suspected.

@kingie chaser I hear what you say about the person rating for tents. I had  a two person tent for years which served me comfortably for myself. You’d want to be really good friends with anyone who stayed in it with you!

Thanks again, maybe we will have some fishing reports to come of our ventures.

Mike

[Welster]

Even just for sleeping I think you need one with a minimum 6 person tent.   We usually like room around us so we stay away from caravan parks.  We go as a group and only sleep in the tent.  The cooking and socialising area is usually well separated from the tent.

Usually a key consideration is how much room it takes to store whilst travelling because we run out of room very fast.

[Little_Flatty]

Thanks @Welster, I hear you on the storage space. For at least another year we will need to fit a (small) pram as well!

[dazamcstaga]

15 minutes ago, motiondave said:

maybe look at cabins at places instead, self contained, nothing to set up, saves extra stuff to take in the car, especially as you have young kids, camping is good, but the amount of crap Id have to take, outweighs any possible enjoyment. But thats just me 

 

I agree with Dave, Walk in and walk out with no need to set up or take down!

[Welster]

15 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

Thanks @Welster, I hear you on the storage space. For at least another year we will need to fit a (small) pram as well!

I guess it depends where you are going and for how long.  We go as a group and its usually 2-3 nights.   No power and we need to take food, drinks and often drinking water.  
 

We each get a 50 litre tub to put our gear in and another couple for cooking stuff and food.  Big esky, small esky and heaps of little bits and pieces. The  clothe tubs usually go under the awning bits of the tent so it doesn’t take up the tent room, the gear stays dry and it keeps the critters out of them.  
 

 

[Welster]

1 minute ago, dazamcstaga said:

 

I agree with Dave, Walk in and walk out with no need to set up or take down!

I agree to an extent, its so much work for the few days we go but also some of the best experiences I have had with my friends and family. 

[kingie chaser]

1 hour ago, Little_Flatty said:

Thanks Neil and Adrian,

We will look into Coleman and oztrail tents. We are looking for more economical family adventures as you suspected.

@kingie chaser I hear what you say about the person rating for tents. I had  a two person tent for years which served me comfortably for myself. You’d want to be really good friends with anyone who stayed in it with you!

Thanks again, maybe we will have some fishing reports to come of our ventures.

Mike

I also think the Wanderer tents are ok as well for the price.

 

I think your probably looking for a 6 person dome which there are many types & I would also be looking at the ones with an annex attachment at the front that is also fully floored which can be used for storage & if it rains its also pretty much as water tight as the tent.

 

https://www.a shop.com.au/p/wanderer-magnitude-dome-tent-6-person/594901.html?cgid=BCF0215

 

https://www.a shop.com.au/p/wanderer-geo-elite-42env-dome-tent-6-person/361867.html?cgid=BCF0215

 

As usual work out what you want & shop around, there are some pretty good sales on atm!

 

Personally Id like to have enough to buy a camper trailer, even the lower end ones these days are pretty well kitted out.

 

Good luck whatever you get 

[Renegade460]

Have you considered a base model camper trailer.

[Welster]

My first tent was an Aldi one that went  ok for a few years.  My new tent is a Diamantia 4 person Dome which is better and ok for 3. 
 

The last few years we have been taking my work trailer as the camp kitchen that works pretty well. 
 

 

[JonD]

Many of the tents at snowy's and tent world have videos which are helpful for getting an idea of size and how easy they are to erect and pack away etc https://www.snowys.com.au/camping-tents

Ive used many different brands and sizes over the years with the family and have to admit a family tent can be a pain to use. The bigger ones for 4-6 people can be tricky to put up if the wind is blowing. Also finding a good flat spot of ground for them can be tricky, ok if you plan on staying in camp grounds but even then avoid any slopes or areas water can puddle.

Another issue for me was the fact Im a light sleeper, so snorers and fidgeters keep me awake which isn't so good when I do all the driving to the NT etc, maybe you might be the snorer who keeps everyone awake!!!!

Eventually Ive moved over to swags but even those take a bit of sorting when it comes to comfort, waterproofing and ease of getting in and out of. 23zero have been the best for value and comfort we've used, they also do rooftop tents etc.

The big positive of the swags is that we each have our individual cocoon that can quite literally be rolled out almost anywhere, even just off the side off the road on our long trips. These even roll out on the bed of my truck or the floor of the boat.

We still have a tarp or a communal mosquito shelter to cook, eat or lounge about in. Just when it comes to sleep time we each have our own rooms and don't have to put up with kids farting comps etc etc!!!!

[JonD]

Our first family tent was a southern cross (Ozy made) This was a big heavy lump to carry around. This in the below video is a similar type of tent but as you can see its big and heavy but a good setup. I also still have a 6 person marmot dome tent which could sleep more as well as plenty of room for packs of clothes and all the fishing ear etc. 

The trouble with many of the lower end tents can often be leaking seams, poor zippers and mesh that lets bugs in. Also the poles in cheap tents are often low quality so carry spares if you get a low cost one. 

Try to keep food out of the tent in plastic tubs or ants will find their way in, or in some cases bush rats or even dingo's (had both).

 

Edited January 28, 2021 by JonD

[xerotao]

We use an rv5. 2adults and 2kids. 6yo and 4yo. Havnt looked back to dome tents. 

[JonD]

1 minute ago, xerotao said:

We use an rv5. 2adults and 2kids. 6yo and 4yo. Havnt looked back to dome tents. 

They do look pretty good and would most likely be one of my first choices if I was starting out with little kids again.

[kingie chaser]

Where would we do without the internet??

Yep there is nothing you cant research via the WWW & if Im doing researching its my primary search facility in every format, youtube, websites, whatever.

 

Not saying this isnt the right place for this discussion but its why I am also part of the 4x4 Earth community where camping & 4x4 is its basis & there is a lot more info available on the subject.

 

We all have a solution that suits us & its a fluid thing, I have 2 swags & 2 tents, on a particular trip one is selected over the other to suit the conditions/trip, hell sometimes I take both because I can 😉

 

At the end of the day there is not one solution & really its all about budget as usual.

 

The Oztrail RV's are great, with add ons available, the other option is the RX series which I would prefer but again more money.

 

So really as usual imo its about having a budget & finding a solution that suits your purpose.

 

When the OP replies to me stating he is looking for economical family adventures 

 

Hey, I really would like something like a MCD Jackson but I dont have $20K spare.

 

@Little_Flatty just to put it to rest, what is your actual budget please so the input is more applicable?

Edited January 28, 2021 by kingie chaser

[Guest Guest123456789]

Great thread!

@Little_Flatty I also have a family of 4. I recently stayed for one night at Patonga with the kids mainly to spy on other campers and see what gear they used!

I walked around the camp grounds and talked to young and old - great experiences!

The best tip is that a big heavy duty tarp that covers most of your camp site comprising many tent poles is great for three reasons:

1. Keeps the site dry

2. silver side deflects a lot of heat

3. Cheap

Under the main tarp/tent cover you then have some tents, maybe one for you and one for the kids (or one big one for you all). You then have tables and chairs, lights, fridges etc. This was the most popular set up compared to caravans and camper trailers.

As long as you have the high ground everyone stays dry and cool.

Here is an example 

Edited January 28, 2021 by Guest123456789
Typo

[Little_Flatty]

Hi all,

I really appreciate everyone's advice. I was just commenting to my wife that I don't have a heap of people in my network who are better qualified than the raider community to advise us on family camping adventures

It turns out a lot has happened in the past few days and on everyone's advice, we looked at a few tents and ended up getting ourselves a 6 person Oztrail Blackout tent. It came in well under our budget (I was prepared to spend up to 1K). We also scrummaged some shade cloth from our garage as a groundsheet and already have a tarp. Now thinking how we can fit all of our equipment in our car (answer is probably to go above the car like @Welster).

My wife and I had been talking about camping with the kids since they were born. She is from a family of six and has an idea of how epic family camping trips can be (and she still wants to do it!).

We're just going to keep it in Sydney for now (if we forget anything, we can just drive home and get it!). Places like Narrabeen and Cockatoo Island are planned for starters, then maybe central coast ( @flatheadluke Patonga sounds great!), then we might target more remote sites as we re-gain our atrophied outdoor skills

Love all the suggestions. We're taking them all in.

Mike

[Guest Guest123456789]

4 minutes ago, Little_Flatty said:

Hi all,

I really appreciate everyone's advice. I was just commenting to my wife that I don't have a heap of people in my network who are better qualified than the raider community to advise us on family camping adventures

It turns out a lot has happened in the past few days and on everyone's advice, we looked at a few tents and ended up getting ourselves a 6 person Oztrail Blackout tent. It came in well under our budget (I was prepared to spend up to 1K). We also scrummaged some shade cloth from our garage as a groundsheet and already have a tarp. Now thinking how we can fit all of our equipment in our car (answer is probably to go above the car like @Welster).

My wife and I had been talking about camping with the kids since they were born. She is from a family of six and has an idea of how epic family camping trips can be (and she still wants to do it!).

We're just going to keep it in Sydney for now (if we forget anything, we can just drive home and get it!). Places like Narrabeen and Cockatoo Island are planned for starters, then maybe central coast ( @flatheadluke Patonga sounds great!), then we might target more remote sites as we re-gain our atrophied outdoor skills

Love all the suggestions. We're taking them all in.

Mike

Sounds like you’re well on the way that’s a great set up. 
 

You should be able to scrounge some tent poles and ropes cheaply for your tarp, gumtree flea bay etc or if you’re like me stumble across a large cache of poles that someone was throwing out with council pick up! They’re bloody expensive at some of the big stores new!

[Welster]

Congrats on the tent purchase. Enjoy your adventure wherever you head. 
 

I agree a plastic tarp is pretty handy.   I have 6 adjustable poles that I take as well but i haven’t used them yet. Little things like light rope, extra pegs, cloth pegs.  I have some cheap LED strip lights and usually take a spare battery out of the boat.