How Many Tents?

Until yesterday our tent collection comprised:
- Wendy Warmlite* the Stephenson’s Warmlite 2R (1.3kg)
- Vera Voyager*, the Terra Nova Voyager (2.2kg)
- Midi Tent* – A Blacks 3-man dome (7.5kg)
- Big Tent* – An Aztec Sala 3 (9.? Kg)

The first two are our backpacking tents. The latter two are our car camping tents.

Midi Tent in particular gets a lot of use and despite being a £99 job has weathered a lot of storms that have destroyed other tents of the same and of a better calibre. Lying awake as gusts hit silly speeds the Christmas before last, with the rear poles bending onto my legs and with the sound of other tents ripping and flapping all around, I started thinking that maybe, given our propensity to go camping in winter, we should get a slightly more sturdy model. It wasn’t a thought upon which I acted and there have continued to be some nervous moments in stormy weather.

A few weeks ago I found myself in an outdoor shop and what should they have on display but a tent which seemed to meet our sturdy-car-camping-tent requirements? Geodesic, alloy poles, two porches, big enough to swing the arms, small enough to be warm enough in winter and at a very reasonable price. I left the shop empty handed (actually, I bought a map, but tentwise, I left empty handed).

Last night Mick arrived home from work and, unexpectedly, he was carrying said tent.

This afternoon we unpacked it in the living room and opened the back door to go and pitch it in the garden (just to check that it’s all present and correct). Then we realised that with the grass being so wet we would end up with a tent to dry. So, no photos yet.

But, just as soon as we had a suitable day it will be pitched and photographed and I’ll say more about it.

(* Lots of people give their cars names. The only car I’ve had which had a name was my first one, which was generally known as ‘The Heap’. But, despite not being a car-naming sort of a person, I do find it handy to name some of our kit. For some reason I feel the need to apologise for my kit-naming tendencies, and perhaps it isn’t something to which I should confess, but it really does make it easier to convey which item I’m talking about (particularly in the case of Sheila…).)