paul replied:

I have a Tanami Tourer (see at www.campingdirect.com.au) and think it is excellent and more so, the people i bought it off are excellent. I bought an early model they had made in china and it kept leaking so they sent me waterproofing stuff, didn't work, so they offered me the money back while they took it off the market to fix it, i said i wanted to keep it unilt they could replace it with one that did not leak, about 6 months later they settled on an Australian tent maker to reproduce the original to a higher standard. I now have that one.

It truly goes up like this, roll out the tent, put in about 6 pegs, get out the pole, walk in the tent and about 45 seconds later you have a tent that is waterproof, excellent heavy duty zips, and you can stand up in it. I put a double size self inflating mattress on one side of the centre pole, you could easily put a kids mattress on the other side still with room to walk between the two mattresses, maybe bit cramped with 3 but for sleeping it would be fine.

Not cheap, but good quality canvas tents are not cheap. I usually don't bother with the awning or the guy ropes, just don't need them, though you would get straighter sidewalls.

Worth a look. Get the folded up dimensions from the website maybe or ring them to make sure it fits in the back of your wagon. The pole is in a different bag to the tent as from memory it is about 1.5m in the bag. If you are in or close to Brisbane then you can come check out mine before you buy it if you want.

Time replied:

David

Been down the same road.

After much searching and observing other club members I decided on the great outdoors "Fossicker". It is a 10 X 10 canvas tent with external poles (2), is quick to erect, about 5 mins and has plenty of usable room. The roof doesn't angle in like most tourer type tents. They retail for $749, but you should get 10% off without too much trouble (eg if you are a 4 WD club member etc).

They are tough and made from quality materials so should last you years.

Cheers

Buggerlux

Chris replied:

David, I had the same problem but I think I've conditioned myself with the idea of keeping the oztent on the roof. I've asked alot of people the same question in regards to the other canvas touring type tents but after looking up the oztent website I made up my mind to definitely get one.
The better half saw the site and said, "that's what we're getting."
After owning two dome style tents and going on trips where you pack/unpack on an almost daily basis we've given up. All our friends either sleep in their cars or swags and end up waiting while we fluff around repacking gear. Our ideal setup is that with additional sidewalls and screen sideroom it can be run right off the back of the cruiser which is perfect for adverse weather conditions. We set the portable tv up, easy access to fridge and all camping items and cook our food on the tail gate. With a racksack on the rack and as its 6 inches deep there is no problem with it snagging on low brances or rain drenching it as the sack cops all the punishment. Having said that with the tent and accessories it's worth around $1300 - $1400 but it's our dream home (lol). Unfortunately the asian market is slow off the mark to bring the cheaper versions into the country hence lowering current oztent prices but they would probably fall apart when someone farted anyway. Undoubtedly, you would have your own priorities but if you're interested look up www.oztent.com and go to the tents section.
Regards
Chris

jason replied:

david,
i was in big w the other day and they had a range of dome tents that are a little different to the normal dome tents.the fibreglass cross poles actually stay in place and all you have to do is peg down the corners and then lift the centre to connect the pole pieces and its up.on the box they claim it can be erected in only a couple of minutes and they have from 2 person up to 8 person for under $300.i can see how the poles staying in place would make it extremely fast to put up and best of all even the 8 person tent can be put up buy just 1 person.they pack down into a bag size you would expect from a normal dome tent.certainly a cheaper alternative to an oz tent.
jason

Rick replied:

Had a camper trailer for years. Sold it & now swag it, mostly. Saves dragging the trailer. Use the tent in caravan parks etc, where privacy is a tad more valuable. Had dome tents when we was/were more flexible & the kids were smaller. One tent for us , one for the 3 kids. Great...but the zippers went after about 40 uses ....... throw away job as synthetic material is too difficult to repair and retain waterproofing.

We now have a 10' x 13 ' centre pole tent that I bought second hand (half price at $ 600). Takes about 5 mins to set up...peg the doorway & corners, walk in & erect spring loaded centre pole, then nick outside to thread the rear pole & side supports. Easy, eh? Dismantling takes the same time.

It is a Southern Cross & is really well made. I'm confident that canvas is top quality, and the floor is a heavy duty vinyl. It is a little heavy, and folds to about one metre square. The poles are about 150 cm long, kept in a seperate bag. All up, it keeps the cook & the kids happy...

I still sleep in a swag. You keep the crawlies out by careful site selection, swearing helps, and doing the zips up (mine is old & I just throw the flaps over).

There is a similar one for sale in the Trader section of this site.

Cheers

Rick