FOAK: Tents

Katie has had this idea that we should go camping in France next summer.

I'm not too keen, but most of you have seen what happens if I disagree
with her....

Anyway, I want a tent with reasonable space to avoid the left-hooks
which is piss-easy to put up.

So far, I've come up with the Khyam Biker or similar.

Any other suggestions for an idiot-proof tent?

 

2 x 1-man tents. YKIMS.

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

Ew. She's mad, then we knew that already.

Compromise. Go camping in a tent on one of those perma-tent sites, where
you effectively get a self-catering bungalow.

 

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/gear/mesa.php

D.

 

No. You've got to thread poles through it an everything.

Way too much work.

 

At half-board hotel prices, from what I could deduce when idly
considering this, last summer.

 

The 'three-second' jobbies that I've seen all 'pack' into five-foot-wide
'frisbees' from what I've seen, and you're not going to get that onto a
bike.

So .. <fx: rummages around in bookmarks> .. try some of these..

http://www.actionoutdoors.co.uk/vaude_tents.htm
http://www.quechua.com/
http://www.thenorthface.com/na/gear-shop-category-6.html
http://www.thecampingsource.com/

... but I can't vouch for any of them.

D.

 

I'm not so insane as to be planning this on the bike [1] - my knees
seize after as little as 100 miles on it these days.

[1] Ferry to Santander, then doing more or less what we feel like before
returning via Caen or something.

 

Ahh, sorry. I'd assumed the opposite.

D.

 

(The Older Gentleman) wrote in

Not really looked into prices. I'm very much a bricks & mortar traveller
and this would be the only "camping" I might be persuaded to do, if someone
else was paying.

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

Use LDLines from Portsmouth and spend the money you save on cheap hotels.
About £300 travelling in mid-June

YKIMS

 

That's only a small-ish saving over using the Plymouth - Santander route
(just over 100 quid) - and doesn't take us anywhere near as far south as
I want to go.

 

(SteveH) wrote in

£300 is the saving

LDLines, outward overnight with cabin, daytime return £180. £130 if you
use airline style seats.

Brittany Ferries, Plymouth Santander with cabin then return via fast
ferry on daytime crossing from Caen to Portsmouth £465

 

Bloody awful things, they are, on boats. Get a cabin, and have somewhere
to lock up your kit while you attack the bar and restaurant. And a good
night's sleep into the bargain.

 

Ahhh, right. Yeah.

Yup, just found that - it's a tricky one, given that Le Havre is over
1000kms from where I'd like to start the trip.

 

That's part of the appeal of the Santander crossing, it's a bit like a
mini-cruise with swimming pool etc.

 

(SteveH) wrote in :

I'd get bored on a ship for 20 hours, especially if it was full of
screaming kids. I'd rather spend 2300-0700hrs asleep on a ship then be
bored on a French Autoroute listening to music I liked, stopping off every
now and then to view something or get something to eat at a sensible price.

I did this last year, aiming for the Black Forest. It worked quite well as
they kicked us off the boat at 7ish and we were checking in 468km away in
Bad Wurttemburg by 1630.

 

http://pop-up-tents.co.uk/index.html
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How can you get bored when you're busy chucking them overboard?

Yup, the words 'captive audience' gain a whole new meaning on a boat.

 

One of the things that's always intrigued me is why tent manufacturers
always make their tents in such lurid, fucking _gaudy_ colours.

D.