Tent with pole in the middle

We used to have a Southern Cross Ultimate 9x9 (3m x 3m or thereabouts). COI Leisure also makes a 9x9 I think.

If you get one, you can save internal space and sleep in the middle (away from wet canvas) if you go with the optional "side pole" kit - which lets you put up one pole each side rather than one smack bang in the middle. Just means a tiny bit more to carry.

Have a look here.

http://www.freedomcamping.com.au/

Have you ever used one. I found the pole in the middle to be a complete pain in the big toe. These BlackWolf turbo tents is the tent of my choice.

I didnt even no they still made the old canvas tents.

Why would u buy one of them.........heaps more expensive i suspect, weigh tons, take longer to put up and are mucg more bulky in your truck........they also take ages to dry whereas a nylon tent can be dried with a towel and after another 10 mins is pretty much bone dry.

And worst of all........u still get wet in them.

Hi David, dont know about 8'x8' tents most you will see would be 9'x9' (2.7mx2.7m) sorry Crispy not (3mx3m) .
We have a Freedom 10x8 tourer & it sleeps 2 on one side of the center pole.

Southern Cross Canvas also make a range of sizes.

There is lots in the archives on tents.

Cheers

Hi David, The tents you are asking about with a pole in the middle are a pain in the behind. They are heavy, the pole is a pain in the bum (no hope of any cuddling up with hubby, well your case the wife, mmmm maybe thats why he brought ours !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and they take up heeps of room. We slept in ours on a cold night on top of Kosiosko, and all the bedding got wet cause you are up against the walls. Not really much room to move away from the walls either. Hate to see what happens when it rains. At least the dome ones you have got more room, and they have a fly over them. Anyway, thats my opinion on them. I do think you will be sorry if you get one. I am, but Geoff thinks it is tops.
See ya
Karen

Check out COI
I have a tornado 3m x 3m.
You can get a double air matress either side of the pole or a side pole kit.
I have just returned from a week and a half in the high country where it rained most days and never got wet at all.
For the money you can't go wrong.
You can get several sizes, 2.7 x 2.7 , 3 x 3, and longer. They are called extended tents.

David
We have a Freestyle Tourer it is the same style as the Southern Cross but it is 8ft6 wide x 11ft6 deep. If you go to the following site you will see a photo
www.grangerscampingworld.com.au. Then go to Tents-Touring - Tourer 9
Cheers
Mike
BTW Grangersare in Dandenong Melb

Hi David,

You are getting a variety of ilinformed resposes from people I feel have never owned a quality canvas centre pole tent.
I have owned a Freedom 3.2 x 2.6m centre pole tent for over 9 years. It has been an excellent tent and I would buy another if something happened to this one. It takes litterally 1 minute to set up. You can also buy as an option poles that go around the inside of the tent instead of using the centre pole. You can easily fit a double matress either side of the pole to accomodate 4 people (at the moment we fit a porta cot and one double matress).
We camped over the xmas/new year period and it rained almost continuously for 2 days. We didn't get wet. It was also very windy and thunderstorms at times and we didn't blow away. One aspect that people forget about is the wind. Dome tents for example almost blow flat in a strong wind!
We camped last year for 4 weeks in this test and because it takes only a minute to set up you don't mind settng up and moving around alot more will on holidays. Also you can stand up in it. 100's of tour operators cant be wrong now can they. If you are in Melb. Freedom Camping is in Elizabeth steet and get them to give you a demo on their tents. They will show you how good they are and how easy they are to set up.

Leroy

Canvas tents are an investment. They cost you more, but knowing a few peopel with southern cross tents that are well over 10 yrs old, they could actually make money selling theirs now.

As I posted above, how can you go wrong with a Single pole tent - with the sidepole kit. Centerpole in a 9x9 gets in the way.. Sidepole kit takes about an extra 2-3 mins to setup - and you end up with about 8.11x9 useable area...

You should go and look at them yourself, and make a decision, opinions are like bums round here, everyone has one, but not all are worth checking...

"Also you can stand up in it." When all else outside has turned to sh*t there is nothing like a centre pole canvas tent. Wouldn't relinquish my SC 9'x9' for a crappy dome tent....I have a swag for when I want to feel coccooned!!

Hi Dave, you wouldn't be the same David Bell that was letting tyres down to get off Binningup Beach WA on the 23rd December would you ?

Peter G.

Hi David,
Just my 2 bits worth. Myself, partner and now 3 year old have been travelling for 2.5 years now in a 10x13 southern cross ultimate trekka. Nothing but praise for it. We call it "the canvas palace". Roomy, easy to put up-other half can do it herself when required. It cost a bit and is a bit on the heavy side but has never blown down and we have never been wet.
Popped in to see them in the factory when in Victoria to ask for a spare bit of canvas for a minor repair (our fault) and got given large sheet of each colour and floor. I look forward to handing it over to the young fella when he's in his 60s. Great quality tent. Can't stand up in a dome.

Cheers
Dougie

david
have a look at oztrail tents-very similar to southern cross ones
have 9, 9plus and 10 plus
check out website think oztrail.com.au or similar
very good quality(not as good quality in my opinion as southern cross) but at 1/3rd of price

Hi David..

Will use your thread as a convenient follow up to . one I started before we intended to go tent shopping whilst in Sydney a couple of weeks ago.

Interesting that I didn't get any of the 'who'd want a tent with a centre pole' lines then!! Admittedly this style does remind me of an old one a friend used to have, but we're talking quality here! And seeing the flimsy dome tents in the shops didn't sway us away from quality canvas one little bit. Staying up in all weathers is what appeals to us.

So.. we managed to see a couple of SC tents up.. and one Freedom up. None the size we were after.. The first SC was a 9 x 9 put up (saggily) in Boots at Prospect. Certainly looked small (no good for family.) and pokey, but the way it wasn't pegged out well didn't help.

We then saw a 10 x 10 SC at Thornleigh camping (or whatever it was called.). The guy was a bit creepy, but we got a bit more of an idea as it was put up better, and that extra square foot makes a heck of a difference. When I expressed my disappointment about not being able to see a few different models up in Sydney I got a lecture about how they don't get paid for floor space like supermarkets and stores like Harvey Norman do !! Riiight.

We then saw the only Freedom one in the Sydney area out at Emu Plains. It was the Northern Tourer.. 3.2 x 2.6 m (very frustrating this changing between imperial and metric) and I liked the fact that the frontage was wider.. (compared to the 3 m frontage of the 10 x 10 in the southern cross). Seemed to me that it would give you more useable space (like cooking space) out under an awning. But as we want an extended one, that feature doesn't apply.

Overall we probably liked more features on the Freedom than the SC...but the main thing the SC had better than the Freedom was that the O-rings are stainless steel !! Otherwise we liked the pole system of the freedom... the spring loaded pole rises to the right height of its own accord. OH liked that the floor was stitched to the walls internally.. less problem with the stitching outside rubbing. Of course not being able to see a fly 'in action' makes it a bit difficult. (As I recall it was the fly system that swayed Truckster immediately to SC.)

So we came home empty handed.. still undecided about which brand, let alone size needed, and cranky that you can't see enough up in Sydney to make an educated decision. If _I_ had a camping store, I'd have a patch of grass out the front, and I'd offer to put up any tent if it wasn't already on display. Especially the tourers, as the quick erecting time is supposedly a feature!!! Do these guys realise that we were ready to part with something like one and a half grand for the right tent, but because noone has them on display, we didn't. Certainly Southern Cross and Freedom aren't doing themselves any favours _not_ having big enough dealers elsewhere in Australia, never mind the biggest city in the country.

My only thoughts now are to get each company to send me lots of photos of the bigger models that we are interested in.