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they say it comes in 3's what about 4's!

Daniel-K

By Daniel-K
in The Astro Lounge

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Daniel-K

Daniel-K

Posted
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Let me begin with right now i should be with my wife & 2 girls sipping my stella in my tent.

Today me and my wife took a tip to go outdoors to pick up a few bits for my camping trips this month and next month, well they had a lovely 3 berth tent perfect for my dark sky trips http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-aura-3-family-tent-p286292 :D

Jennifer  : Danny you dont need one you already have a tent in the loft just carry on using that one.

so i said yeah i guess your right, afterall the tent i have/had is/was an outwell

spur of the moment thing we decided to go to conwy camping with the girls and carry on down to the Lynn peninsula in the morning to check out some sites. the girls where super excited as they love camping and the tent hasnt been out for a year.

First thing to go wrong:

before we set off i wanted some cash- off to the cash machine-Broke..hummmm i have enough fuel to get to conwy so i though top up before we set off in the morning.

so with the car packed and the girls all excited about camping we set off and arrived in good spirits around 4ish at conwy with 72 miles left in the tank.

Second thing to go wrong:

upon setting up the tent on of the poles snapped DOH!  not a massive issue i had a spare section and it was fixed.

third thing to go wrong:

when i bet down to hammer in the tent pegs my debit car which was in my body warmer pocket SNAPPED in half! i could not believe it, the first though was no cash and little fuel what am i going to do? a quick look on GOOGLE showed a bank that opened at 9:30am great i though the MRS has her passport so go and withdraw some cash in the morning and carry on down to the LYNN Peninsula.

fourth thing to go wrong:

is was around half 7 one girl asleep and the playing on the i-pad tucked into their sleeping bags when the oldest say's "Dad my sleeping bags wet"

a quick ganders and the floor on the inside of the room is wet :icon_scratch:  i had a look around and it was leaking in from every direction. it was obvious that the tent wasn't waterproof any more . so i made the call and decided to load the car and drive back home. the sat Nav said 66miles home and i had 72 miles in the the tank!! i crawled home at 55MPH. i felt so upset cause my girls will wake up in there own bed instead of their sleeping bags

ah well back home got the other debit card going to fuel up in the morning and mosey on down to the Lynn Peninsula  with the girls and have a look at some sites.  :p  looks like i'll be getting my new tent after all.

oh and if your wondering what happened to the other tent, its in the bin at conwy campsite :grin:  i reckon ive had my share of bad luck for the rest of the year. after all its been a long time since something like this happened to me .

Dan

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Stu

Stu

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What a nightmare Dan. Hope the girls weren't too disappointed?

I can cope with most things but leaking tents and wet sleeping bags tend to be the limit so good plan to head home. I've had a few experiences creeping home with little fuel so I know how that must have felt!

Hope you get your new tent and manage a couple of nights away still.

Stu

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Stu

Stu

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Dan, if it helps at all, my best 'worst nightmare', was also camping but in Dorset with my children.

I think it was the second night, the forecast was for perfect clear skies. We were all sorted with tea and the children were happy so I thought I would start setting up. The boot was full with the Mak and all my other kit.

I unlocked the boot, took a few minor bits and pieces out and, wait for it, carefully placed my keys in the boot and shut it! I have no idea how or why I did it :-(.

I called BMW assist but they couldn't come out until the morning, so I somewhat rashly paid to join the AA or RAC, can't remember which. It cost me something like £140!

They turned up sometime later, and despite telling me they would have no problem getting into the car, the guy clearly didn't have a clue and spent half an hour setting off the alarm, in the process waking up the small children in a tent nearby. I was very popular, NOT.

I eventually sent him on his way, and spent the evening staring up at the most perfect skies, dark rifts running through the bright Milky Way overhead, M31, Double Cluster and M13 all naked eye objects. Felt like crying into my beer :-(

Next day, the guy from BMW was into the car in about 15 mins no problem.

You live and learn! It remains one of the best skies I've been under, and the scope stayed firmly locked in the boot all night!

I hope your four troubles are 'it' for a while for you anyway.

Cheers,

Stu

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leelee970

leelee970

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What a nightmare.

 

I too had problems with tents and camping.

The first time I set up I returned very late at night to find the wind had destroyed it – poles through it and everything. (Had to stay at my Aunties a few miles away).

Second time pitched up at a place which had concrete under the grass ??????, no pegs could go through it.

Third time I pitched up, only to find the railway track was right on the other side of the hedge – 30ft away.

Needless to say I’ve not been camping since.

Lee

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faulksy

faulksy

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on the tail end of this funny story (sorry dan) and hope you dont mind, can anyone reccomend a 4 man tent, crash test says pity about the high gear tent, is this a poor quality one ? i have been reading about hydrostatic rating and the higher the better. any one with some links or good advise. hope you dont mind me asking on your thread dan

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Stu

Stu

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I have a Vango Tigris 400 with an additional canopy. Bought it off Gumtree with a footprint, carpet and lots of other extras for £185.

It is a great tent and has never let me down in some pretty blowy and wet conditions.

Tall enough to stand in, and the canopy gives great extra space for scopes and cooking/eating etc

Little things like the cover over the side exit make a difference, means you can get in and out without water coming in, and sealed groundsheets etc.

Here is Camp Davis!

udu2aby5.jpgby7agaqe.jpg

Cheers,

Stu

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crashtestdummy

crashtestdummy

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I had a hi gear Mojave 5 and it leaked like a sieve and two of the poles splintered with the weight of a wet flysheet.we splashe out on a much better outwell one with proper poles and better quality.we got it cheap after our hi gear fiasco,£900 tent for £500.

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scarp15

scarp15

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The Vango tents are good value and can withstand a lot of typical UK weather. We have recently retired ours after ten years and replaced with an Outwell tent, Hydrostatic head of 4000 for the fly and 10000+ for the ground sheet. So 3000+ to 5000 hydrostatic head is what is required for UK camping. Also ensure that the seams are sealed. A nice additional feature to the Outwell (Nevada MP 5)  besides the sown in ground sheet, is that one of the entrances has an overhang porch so as to not allow wet in. There are three of us, so the 5 person is good and roomy, therefore always increase by at least a factor of one i.e. four person look at six berth. 

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