Who Would Buy A Cheap Pop Up Tent?

May 14, 2010 - PRLog -- There are many many tents on the market: big ones, small ones, light ones and heavy ones, tents you can carry in a bag and tents you need a trailer to transport; this all makes choosing the right tent for you a particularly difficult kind of minefield to navigate.                        

The prices of tents can range from an itsy bitsy £10 up to many thousands for luxury multi-berth tents and traditionally made tipis, so why pay more? Simple: if you are a seasoned camper looking for a good quality tent that will last you many years, insulate and protect you and your family and give you the space to live comfortably, then you should look at the upper end of the range.

But what if you are new to camping, not entirely into the fun and challenge of putting up a complicated canvas, fibreglass and steel structure and only really fancy going camping for the odd weekend? The answer - pop ups.

Manufacturers have swiftly cottoned onto the fact that a whole new generation of campers has arrived on the scene: festival goers, glampers, weekend campers and young families are now all choosing camping as their preferred holiday choice - not only is it an eco-friendly recession-busting vacation, camping is really exciting adventure for children and allows plenty of quality time for the family. As far away from the office as it gets, camping is here to stay and no one does it better than Britain. Over the past few years, manufacturers have attempted to solve the issue of arriving and departing the campsite - the hassle of erecting and dismantling your tent - and hey presto! the pop-up tent was born.


Pop up tents vary wildly in quality and price, each generally reflecting the other. The idea is that the tent erects itself as you release it from its bag - hammer home a few pegs and within a couple of minutes you're inside your fully assembled tent, warm, snug and dry (the latter important for the changeable British climate which many of us remember from our youth - getting both body and tent soaked whilst trying to work out which way up the flysheet should go). Innovation through design has led to some great tents now being available - notably the trendy Outwell Smart Tunnal Range and various styles from market leader Gelert - which cater for anything from the lone camper all the way through to reasonable sized family tents.

However, with all the smaller, cheaper pop up tents to be found both in shops and online there has been a wave of reviews slating the durability and design of pop up tents - so why buy a cheap pop up tent? Well, firstly you have to recognise that the cheaper the tent the less good quality it will be, but stick with a few key rules and you should be home and dry: better brands will make better tents. Fact. A cheap branded tent from Gelert, Outwell, Vango etc has a lot of years of design and manufacturing experience behind it, plus a brand name they do not want to devalue - it is more likely that a big brand has made a cheap tent through bulk buying rather than an unbranded tent which may be cheaper due to skimping on materials in manufacture. Identify how and when you are going to use your tent - if it's for the kids in the garden, for a quick summer weekend or a festival, then you do not really need to worry about thunderstorms or durability. If you are planning to use your tent plenty of times it may be better to invest in a tent that's a little more expensive.

The cheapest of the cheap tents should be reserved for times when you're not looking for a long-term investment, just shelter for the weekend. A bit like RyanAir, a no frills tent will keep you wind-free and dry and that's about it - don't expect any fantastic design features and you won't be disappointed. Big brands are still your best bet, as they will at least be waterproof, but if you're picking up a tent for under £30 then at that price it's cheaper than a B&B, less hassle and much more fun, with the added bonus that you can throw it away if it gets muddy, dirty or if you just can't get it back in the bag.

Check out out range of pop-up tents HERE, all big name branded from just £24.99:
http://www.campingworld.co.uk/SearchResults.aspx?Search=p...

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CampingWorld.co.uk is one of the UK's best e-commerce sites for camping and leisure retail and ski wear during the winter ski season. Camping World also has multiple superstore sites in Surrey, Sussex and Hampsire and the largest UK outdoor tent display