Black Wolf Turbo Tents

Forgot to mention, friends have been so impressed that two families have now moved on to a Black Wolf - obviously larger than ours.

Hi,

Did your friend purchase the larger size lite tents and are they just as quick to erect?

Thanks

Our friends have got the Turbo 300 - neither of us have the 'lite'. I believe the lite is a lighter fabric so not sure how it stands up in other conditions. Friends fit a set of bunks for their kids on one side, a double mattress for themselves and all their other gear (including various toys, clothes etc that need to go for kids around 5 years old) in their tent no problems.
Having not investigated the 'lite' I am not sure about them but if the Black Wolf quality is anything to go by, I reckon you can rely on the tent doing exactly what they say it will. We had plastic knuckles on our tent which broke, BW replaced without seeing them or asking anyquestions (free) with metal knuckles - I believe all Black Wolfs now come with metal knuckles.
To answer your question about the bigger tent, I have set the 300 up on my own no probs, I am not tall or strong (female) and the only problem I found with the 300 was the extra space I had to 'throw' the fly over before securing it to the corners.

Thanks, thats interesting. I never really think about bunks, even though the kids would love them! I guess the tent we have at the moment is very similar to the Black Wolf Twin Turbo 300 lite. The same shape. We have a queen bed at one end and the kids have 3 stretchers at the other end. All our gear goes in the middle and I love it. It's roomy and I never feel squashed. It just takes us ages to set up! Perhaps I should look at downsizing the tent and doing the bunks. But even so, we still need the extra bed for the third child. What a dilema!

Hi Dave,

Like you, we also have 3 kids and that is why we are looking at the Turbo Lite tents as they are larger than the standard turbo tents and oz tents. There seems to be lots of info around on the forum on the standard turbos but not as much on the lite ones that are larger.
Can you tell me if your tent is still very quick to set up? With 3 kids we need to get set up as fast as possible! How long does it take to set your tent up and what do you all sleep on? Stretchers or inflatables? Do you feel like your sleeping on top of each other? Also did you look at the Turbo Twin?
Our local camping store only has a Turbo 240 on display so it's hard to tell how big they are without walking through it.
I have looked at a lot of tourer tents but just dont see how 5 people and all the luggage can possible fit.
Also, this might sound dumb, but what is BCF? I have seen it mentioned several times but I am un familiar with it? Perhaps as I am in Canberra!

Thanks heaps

Set-up time is pretty quick. We lay out a 20' x 8' sheet as a ground sheet - this came as a ready made unit with sown edges and eyelets - which sticks out the front enough to provide an floor under the poled out awning. All up with fly, back room, poled out awning and guy ropes as necessary depending on the weather, takes about 10 mins. 3 boys are 9, 11 & 12 so can be quite helpful.
We looked at a number of options, and bought the one that was on special, luckily it's the right size. There's plenty of room - we've slept 8 - didn't leave much room for bags though.
As to bedding, we all have individual thermarests with sleeping bags or sheets, weather / location dependent.
BCF is a chain of stores "boating camping fishing" Canberra may still be waiting for decimal currency to be used before they open up there. I insisted they open up the unit and erect it at the shop to see how big it was. With the back room we have 2.7 m wide x 4.5 m deep, measure this out in your lounge and see how big it is. When packed it goes in the trailer in its designated location, so that it's available without any unpacking. Looked at pictures of the Turbo twin, too big for short stays and too big to carry.
Our trailer is an offroad box trailer with canopy, and integral toolbox, pole storage, gas and jerrycan holders, water tank under, plus self made kitchen on swinging tailgate, with drawer units above. This gives us plenty of space, so depending on where we are going, we can carry 5 bikes, 2 kayaks, body boards etc, all at once if need be.

Cheers,
Dave.