Coleman Montana 12 Deluxe

Hi Micheal,

Yes it is the 12 person tent: http://www.colemanaustralia.com.au/gear/tents-and-shelters/gold-series/montana-12-deluxe-cv.aspx

A review I found online said it took 36 mins to erect.

Not keen on 2 separate tents as we have very young girls (age 4 & 2) that I would prefer in the same tent as us. Plus we liked the central room that was big enough for dining 'inside' away from mozzies.

Another option is a smaller 3 room tent (like the Black Wolf Turbo 300 Lite or the Coleman Chalet) plus a screened dome for dining ..... though the price gets higher all up.

Kylie, That 36 minutes would probably turn in to 45 minutes, that is a very long time to set up a tent, then you have the bedding and the rest of the internals to set up and 2 small kids and cooking etc. personally i would look at something simple.. Or maybe if you intend to set up in the middle of the day and stay a while, maybe ok but if you are travelling daily, the setup will kill you!! Michael

Most times we will be going for long weekends, arriving around 3pm(ish) and staying 2 nights, so not worried about too long a setup. But, I see your point should we want to go farther a field, therefore we may have some 1-nighters as we trek around.

I just don't know how we can go "simple" while still having enough room?

Kylie

I had a Coleman Chalet 9CV XL. Only used it twice and sold it. Too big and takes a little over an hour to put it up - too long especially when we have kids and trying to keep a good eye on them while trying to set up.

Currenly looking at buying a blackwolf 300 plus which is like two rooms. Enough for four of us + room to move around. This should take us no more than 15 minutes to put up hopefully.
This way we can enjoy our camping and look forward to setting up when arriving knowing it gets a bit easier.

Kylie, You really dont need a lot of room, we spent 5 weeks in the middle of Oz with a 2 and a 4 yo with a 3m x 4m touring tent, Yes it was tight but try keeping an eye onyoung kids when two of you are putting up a tent for close to an hour and then unpacking your vehicle and trying to get some dinned together.............. not pleasant... something to think about.. Maybe hire a big tent to see what i mean or get along to a camping show and maybe you can find 2 smaller tents that you can fit together... Michael

OOPPS! i meant Getting "dinner together" Michael

Hi Kylie

Until this year we have used a Coleman Northstar 8 tent. It has two rooms & with our family of 6 (now 7) we had the 4 kids (aged 6 and under) in the bedroom section, and my wife & myself in the outer room (of a daytime we through our sleeping bags & mats into the kids sleeping area). This tent has two rooms. On our trips I also took along a large tarp to put up as a shelter for dining, out of the rain etc.

To give you an idea, the Northstar used to take two of us approx 30min to put up (this includes the time wasted in keeping the little ones occupied/close by etc)

The Northstar lasted us 6 years of camping almost every school holidays, until finally giving up the ghost last year when a pole that had not been fully inserted into the ridge frame came out in high winds and went through the frame. Up till when it died (which was due to us) we had been very happy with it, although also realised that it would not last as long as a canvas tent.

When deciding on a replacement, the plan was for it to be either a canvas touring style (Southern Cross or Freedom Tents) or a Black Wolf Turbo Lite Twin 300. We eventually decided not to head down this path and brought forward our purchase of a Trak Shak camper.

We stayed away from the Coleman 3 room tents (which we did look at) because I didn't want the kids jumping around in the tent of a daytime anyway (so therefore didn't need a playroom/dining area); in bad weather if we really needed to stay in the tent (never happened because I had set up the large tarp) then the kids could 'quiet play' on their sleeping mats; there was alot more time involved in putting them up; & I wasn't confident the aluminium/fibreglass poles would hold up to the bigger tent (our Coleman Northstar 8 had all aluminium poles, newer ones now also have the aluminium/fibreglass mix).

For their price range however we were very happy with the Coleman brand.

hope that helps your a little.

We still have our Northstar 8 which takes two of us about 20 minutes to put up. There is heaps of room inside and we have been through some really nasty weather in it without getting wet or blown away. The quality is very good and I would recommend them. Used as portlester described they would make a good family tent.

We also own a Blackwolf Turbo 240 Plus which we use when travelling each day as it is up in a couple of minutes and just as quick to pack away. The Northstar gets taken when we are planning base camping for more than a few days.

When our tribe used to come along (4 children plus the 2 of us) we used to use two stockman 6 man tents pitched with the awnings together to give two sleeping areas and a large area under cover out of the sun/rain. The kids one went up in about 15 minutes with their help (10 without!) then we chucked all their stuff in there and they set that up while we put up our tent and set up the rest of the camp.

Cheers

Pete

The Turbo 300 plus is the heavy canvas one. The turbo lite 300 plus is the lighter material and cheaper. If you are comparing to the Coleman you probably should be looking at the lite one. We got ours for around $650 during an anaconda sale. But I do agree the combination of the blackwolf tent and the screened dome will cost a fair bit more than the coleman.

Thanks Chisel. Have posted below this morning. We ended up grabbing the Coleman on sale at nearly 1/2 price.