Not sure about belltents

[heartbroken77]

Have fallen in love with the belltents but not sure how practical it would be for me. my current tent has a canopy so can cook, can you cook under the belltent canopy on a using a gas barbie??? also fairly new to camping and on last trip was asked what man tent i had, what would you say for a 5m belltent?? Also picked my tent as it had windows so when sat in on a rainy day have a nice view out onto site, just wondered if a bell would feel a bit closed in but have read that there light inside?? any advice would be great thanks

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

I love our bell tent with all my heart but I have to admit they have their drawbacks. One is you do need somewhere separate for cooking. You can buy canvas tarps and you could probably cook under there or like us get an event shelter and put it just in front of the tent door. It gives you somewhere to cook and to sit in bad weather or in the sun, but it does ruin the look of the bell a bit.

If you don't have something like that you are stuck sitting in the tent which can feel a bit closed in with no proper windows.

The good thing is they are cool in the mornings because of the pale colour canvas so you don't get too hot to lie in.

You can also roll the sides up on a hot day which gives more of a feeling of being part of the world.

As to what man it is, it is hard to say but as the question is generally asked to work out size it is probably easier to just say 5m bell tent and most people will know what you mean.

[Bramblesinforrin]

5m zig. Happy sigh. Love ours and off again today.

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

How is the forecast Brambles? I felt realty sorry for those camping yesterday, at least in the South East where we are! We got drenched just running from the car to GoOutdoors in Lakeside. Fun day shopping for camping stuff :-)

[Bramblesinforrin]

We're going to the south east and it looks good this week. Sadly for those camping, the weather has not been good over the weekend.

Right. There's an iceytek to load and a car to Tetris with sims and tent age.

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Oh excellent. We are off to near Tunbridge Wells next weekend. Fingers crossed weather holds! Good luck with tetris.

[heartbroken77]

thanks for the reply, its really helped and i think a belltent could be for me, the option of a lie in has definatley swung it!!!

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Well the lie in will depend on your children of course. It is more a theory than a reality at the moment for us !

Depite their drawbacks, bell tents are fabulous. There is all the fun of kitting them out of course, and they really are incredibly easy to put up and take down. We have friends who have an Outwell for long holidays but are considering getting a bell tent as a weekend tent simply due to how easy ours is to deal with.

You now have to decide if you want to go for the cheaper option of a separate groundsheet or pay a bit more and get a ZIG to avoid bugs. I have to say we have the cheaper version and have never found it a major problem but it depends how phobic you are I guess.

Whatever you decide, I hope you love your bell as much as many of us on here do

[ViviPru]

I felt realty sorry for those camping yesterday

MPFT, we were at Bedgebury. It was biblical!! Pushed the old LoGear (and my camping-loathing BIL) to its limit!!

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Oh ViviPru . I can imagine - it was coming down in sheets at Lakeside. You poor things.

We had a day at Eweleaze that was nearly as bad (and with added wind) but at least there were respites. Nothing at all yesterday.

[ViviPru]

No it was utterly relentless in Saturdat. Today was beaut though!! Sadly we were coming home but at least the kit was packed away dry!

I did enjoy reading my kindle in my sheepskin bedecked moon (a tip picked up on here -thanks!) by the light of the paraffin lantern as the rain sheeted down

[NettleTea]

yep, we were near to you ViviPru - just about 8 miles down the road. Felt sorry for our poor glampers, but when I saw them all off this morning they said they had a fantastic time - gave them a chance to fire up the woodburning stove, or sit under the canvas roof on the kitchen and watch the rain. Ive never seen rain like it though - rained from Friday night until Sunday morning just about non stop.