Tent options?

Agree 100%. I am a family of four as well and I have tried lots of tents including BW etc, my family think I have a tent fetish? I have a shed full of them.
I favor the little two bow tents out of all of them. They are cheap, light, compact and quick to pack and assemble. I don't even put them in their bag I just stuff it into a sack to save time.
They are a bit of a fair weather tent though so I just carry a poly tarp that I can peg over it on the nights that bad weather is expected.

I don't know what your setup is or your destination but simple and light is the way to go

Good points. And along with my tyre and battery fetish, I own 3 tents, none of which are right for a family of 4. I like the idea of an easy set-up 4-6 person dome tent though.

Problem with the disposable tents is when they fail on day 2 not day 20 meaning another 18 days in a leaky tent with a broken pole or a stuck zip letting the mozzies in. Not quite as critical in the Oz outback but last year in Wonnangatta on Cup weekend out of 15 tents only 2 were still standing Sunday morning after the storm.
For a realistic 15 minute camp setup & a 30 minute packup, a quality touring tent will not only be dry & still standing in the morning but last a lifetime if looked after correctly.
Cheers Craig.................

Hi Craig

Sure was a fun weekend last cup day - felt much the same today on site with the wind driven snow flakes and serious fronts coming thru.
I feel for that guy on Buckland spur - my little member picture below was taken where the now closed Top crossing hut - joined that spur.


I'd have to disagree with you on tents here, but we would agree on the fundamentals that those other tents might last a lifetime and survive much worst conditions, but rather than concentrate on the odd extreme event I think one is better off to concentrate on what happens everyday day in and day out and to have a backup for that time that will come when an extreme event does happen.

Last year when the really bad weather hit outside Alice and it was mud slush and things were pushed to the limit with rescues etc etc someone we know was so stuffed that they couldn't bear the conditions long enough to even
put out the TVan they were towing, let alone any tent and rode out the storm uncomfortably in the car.

So back to the every day real life - we ended up giving away our pyramid touring tent simply because it wasn't effective.

Its true you could put it up in 1 minute using just a centre pole if everything was right just like the ads say but what you deal with constantly is that they are twice as heavy , twice as bulky , generally harder to pack up
and near impossible to get back into the bag they came in. And this is every day - it just wears ordinary people out - and we won't talk about when they get wet.
They also don't have the little alcove like a dome has to keep things mostly out of the weather.

The strain of putting up the sliding pole when sand gets into it or the wind is up is ok if you are strong and healthy but I have seen others do back injuries as well on them.

I watched our other mates with their Black Wolf tents they use once a year as well, somehow its never quite like in the brochures , and when finally packed up this type takes 3 times the room of a dome.

So its true, once every 100 camps or so we have had our cheapies damaged, but ultimately your backup plan should be retreat to the car, as while I have seen the good ones survive - mostly the beds still end up floating in water anyway and the people are drowned rats after the packup.

And at the end of the day your can pick up another $29.95 cheapie 3 man dome to cover you just about anywhere.

On longer trips I carry a spare cheap tent in case of a major failure, they weigh less than 5 kg and are smaller than a sleeping bag so are no problem to carry

Yes we were at Merijig today, top of 5. Saw the choppers heading to the search area then return shortly after due to zero visability on the hill. If the poor bloke doesn't have a fire going it's not looking good for him going into night 3 with more snow forecast down to 500m. Can only hope for the best.
Craig.........

Oh and Windsor Sunwagon, which has been strengthened.

Thanks CJ. It's just come down to a question of balance! Finding that sweet spot is tricky, especially when the spot keeps moving.
I like the idea of the BW too, and I have soft spot for the Canvas pole tents. Coleman do an 'Instant tent' in the US, (not available here) which looks great.

It's a refining process, though I know that I need to address a few gaps in the current set-up. I have shade cloth, never used it on the ground though. No door mat needed...

Just to throw a whole new thought we also considered getting one of those roof tent set ups quick and easy our only peoblem was the tinny. But in saying that have seen quite a few people with modified trailers with them on.

Haven't looked at coleman in us and I can't help with the towing of a camper trailer but they are really good.

Cheers
CJ.

Thanks Mary-Teresa. I can understand the burning it thing, but I don't want it to get to that point for anyone in the family. If it's not fun, no one will want to do it. We'll suck up our fair share of chores, but it shouldn't be a drag on the adventure, which is exactly what I am trying to iron out. As you say, practice will no doubt ease the burden of it all!

There have been some great tips and ideas mentioned above ranging from $19.95 to $800 tents, to my wind-up camper dilemma. And your validation of a the pole tent is great too. But yep, gas bottles, stove, table, chairs... It all adds up.

And with that, the old camper is sounding more appealing. Any thoughts on my possible towing dilemmas?

Joshua.

addendum to above-
In my opinion your 3 litre diesel will amply tow most things, bit slow uphill- but what's the rush...

Thanks a lot all. After chasing our tails for 3 days, we decided not to buy the Camper. I have a total gut-full thinking about it, making tables, weighting scales, decision matrices! If we lived anywhere else, we would have, but being so limited by where we live, it was not worth it.

I have started making a slide out kitchen for the trailer and have taken some the hints and tips on board. I'll streamline as much as I can, use the same tent for the trip there and if it's all too much, we'll re-assess before our return trip. I have a 3-way chescold, so it will have to some out of the ute to go onto gas. The concept of using heat to cool is amazing, really!

The Local mechanic also said the 3.0L 5L Hilux diesel would have no trouble towing the 1000 or so kg, so that was nice to know.

Thanks all, it's been a great help, again.

Joshua.