Camping. In a tent. Not something that many people would associate with me, I'm one for home comforts, to have a toilet nearby and access to electricity. I know all these things are possible while camping but the closest I've come to actually camping was Eurocamping in France a few years ago where, although we were in a tent they were well kitted out!
The kids and my husband however have been wanting a tent for ages and dreams of a 'lads weekend' seemed within touching distance and when we were asked to give our thoughts on this Eurohike 5 person tent (RRP £99) from a selection of tents available at Blacks we were happy to oblige.
When the tent arrived I was surprised at just how the small it is when packaged up, rolled up into a sausage and stored neatly into this blue bag is a 5 person tent, pretty cool! Everything required to set up the tent is included (tents, floor sheet, guide ropes etc) is tucked into this bag ready to be set up for exciting camp trips away. As soon as it arrived the kids were desperate to set it up ready for a back garden sleepover. Alfie couldn't wait to help!
The Eurohike tent is super easy to set up, all the instructions are attached inside the bag itself meaning that you'll never lose them - a handy feature! Once the ground sheet is in position and the tent itself is straightened out it is simply a case of snapping the clever arcflex tent poles together which are handily colour coded making the job even easier and feeding these through the pole seams and securing.
I would say it took about 30 minutes to fully assemble, in the grand scheme of things barely any time at all! Once set up we had a rather fancy and fairly spacious tent! Luckily we already had a decent blow up mattress and Adi had a camping mattress and sleeping bag so all we needed to do was bring a ton of duvets and pillows down and feed some electric through via a weatherproof, extension lead and it was good to go for a rather exciting garden sleepover.
Amazingly, the day chosen to put the tent up was one of the best ...... in the morning. It was lovely, warm and sunny and then oh my word the heavens opened towards the afternoon and carried out well into the evening. The kids were counting down the hours to bedtime and even the pouring rain didn't put them off. It did me however so Daddy was designated to take one for the team and supervise the sleepover with both kids......on the provision that I supplied him with beer and snacks so he didn't have to leave the kids. Pretty good deal I thought!
As you can see from the pictures below the tent is of a decent size, it's not one that we would consider for an extended holiday but it's more than ideal for a weekend away. It would be a bit of a squeeze for 5 but for a family of 4 there is a decent amount of size, we would be able to fit 2 of our inflatable mattresses in as have some more room to store a few items and make it comfortable. It's warm, dry and robust and feels secure when in it. I also liked the fluorescent guide ropes outside which were very useful later in the evening as I was tending to my beer duties!
Although I didn't spend the night with Adi and the kids I most certainly wouldn't rule it out and we're already thinking about where we could go for a weekend away to fully test it out. We do need to stock up on a few camping essentials before we do this but we have the basics to get us started.
Admittedly it took the kids a while to chill down but they were so very excited to have their little garden sleepover and once in a while it's ok to steer away from the routine. Once asleep they slept the whole night and excitedly came in to see me to tell me all about it and that they couldn't wait to spend another night in the tent! So sweet. Adi said he didn't have a bad sleep either, a little bit chilly but other than that no problems.
As you can see from these pictures, very happy children!
What did we love about the Eurohike tent?
- It's robust and well made, it was weather proof and really did feel pretty secure when in the ground.
- Good value, for a starter tent it's great, what more could you want?
- It packs up so small! It's so compact it's very easy to store.
- Colour coded poles and guide ropes are such a handy feature.
Anything we weren't so keen on?
- We found the zipper to the external and internal door did become easily stuck so not great if you need to get out or in the tent quickly.
- Other than the above its a very good piece of kit if you're entering the world of camping.
The black clouds rolling on in over the Cambridgeshire skies!
If you fancy checking out the range of Blacks tents please head over to the website and have a nose. Has anyone got any camping tips for us? Do share!
* Blacks kindly asks us for our thoughts on the above product. All thoughts are my own.
Love the happy smiles on your kiddos' faces!!
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A great little tent and just look at those happy campers! #BloggersBest
ReplyDeleteI used to love family camping holidays when I was a kids. we would always test a new tent in the back garden overnight. Back then though it would be a frame tent and it would take a lot longer than 1/2 hour to set up (more like 2 or 3 hours) My mum used to label all the poles with permanent markers.
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Do those cuties come with the tent? I love camping...however the ground does not love me the next day! #bloggersbest
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a great tent. What a good size.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the kids had fantastic fun. #bloggersbest
I'm like you - not a camper. The boys have been bugging me for years about camping. We did it once, a few years ago now, and I didn't much enjoy it. I don't blame you for opting out! It does look like your children had a great time though. ;)
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Lovely pictures. We've never actually been camping either - in a proper tent and all. I think it's great to start in the garden and work up from there. Lovely photos. Looks like they both had a lovely time x #BloggersBest
ReplyDeleteAh you had the same as us but at least you managed it!! The grem didn't want to stay out!! xx #bloggersbest
ReplyDeleteAwww you look like you enjoyed the camping experience X #bloggersbest
ReplyDeleteGreat share! I have a 4-person tent and we've been talking about upgrading it to a larger one. We put it up a few times in the backyard just to clean and then let the girls play in. We've taken it to the lake a few times too and it really comes in handy for day events like this where little ones may want to take a nap. PS Beer and snacks is a great trade-off! #BloggersBest
ReplyDeleteGreat review and made me want to go camping again as it has been a while. Always fabulous for making strong family memories #BloggersBest
ReplyDeleteWe planned to go camping a couple of times this year biut never managed it and now I think it's too cold. This tent looks fab and we need a big one for all of us as we have 2 smaller tents at the moment #bloggersbest
ReplyDeleteI love camping & so do the kids - there's something about being away from the norm that's good for all of us! #bloggersbest
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