Best tent that can be put up by 1 person.

[spire2003]

Hello. This is my first post so be gentle with me. I currently own a motorhome which i have sold ( so long as the buyer pays for it as promised) I am looking to buy a large people carrier and need either a tent or a driveaway awning. Preferably i would need a 4 person tent with good head height. My wife is disabled. She had a stroke 2 years ago & is weak on her left side so is unable to assist in putting a tent up. Whatever i buy i need to be able to put it up & take it down myself. I own a Quecha 2 second tent which is ok but the head height is not good for my wife.Has anyone any idea which tents / awning would be best for my situation. Someone suggested a Kyham Motordome but they look a bit expensive. Thanks in advance for any advice.

[myotis]

Possibly not suitable as you are concerned about the cost of the Kyam, but worth being aware of Oz tents Oztent RV Accessories Shop United Kingdom | RV Accessories Store United Kingdom | Oztent Accessories Store United Kingdom.

The disadvantage of the Oztent is that packed they are 2m long, but I would have thought this would be OK with a people carrier.

Single poled Tipi and bell tents are also readily set up by one person, but doorways tend to be relatively low for the height of the tent. Additionally, the steep sloping sides of the tipi mean a lot of the tent isn't really that usable.

For bell tents see Quality canvas bell tents and canvas yurts, including stoves for Bell Tents. SoulPad.co.uk - Canvas Bell Tents and Tipis, Camping Stoves and Accessories. Camping With Style. - Home Bell Tent UK - Welcome to Camping with Soul!

These are pure cotton so heavy and bulky, but make for a much more pleasant living space than nylon tents. The walls on bell tents make for more usable space than found in a tipi. They are still easily set up by one person

The tipi that most people think of is the Tentipi Tentipi (UK & Ireland), but expensive. Helsport and Bison are two other makes to look at.

I don't know of UK distributors for these but Helsport are sold here Tamarack Outdoors Tipi / Lavvu Style Tents

Mmmm, I can't immediately find anyone selling Bison tents in the UK any more.

I went through this same exercise recently as my wife has developed a recurring back problem and I realised that I needed to replace our existing tent which was difficult but not impossible for me to put up on my own with something easier. I went for the Tentipi Safir 9 CP, a very expensive option, but it should be a 30 year purchase (lifetime in my case) and as its polycotton, a lot lighter than the 100% cotton bell tents. We had also owned tipi style tents in the past, so we knew what we were buying. But bell tents/tipis aren't for everyone, and hopefully people will come along with easy to set up by one person alternatives.

My Nomad Masai hoop tent allows you to peg out the back, put all the hoops in, and then pull and drag it from the front to lift the tent into position, for you to peg the front out. The problem was that as you tried to put the front pegs in, the hoops would collapse, without someone holding them in position so it could several attempts to get the front pegs in, if pitching on your own. However, this was made more difficult because of the weight of the polycotton outer. I have pitched a similar size/style Eureka tent made of nylon and that was much easier to manipulate. But neither of us can stand camping in nylon tents so that wasn't an option. Hence the Tentipi solution.

Hope you get something sorted. there are several people here using Tentipis and maybe the other tents I mention. Also try The UK Camp Site for Tent and Caravan Campers in the UK as there seems to be lots of people using Bell tents across there (including several threads asking about how easy they are for one person to pitch) and a couple of people using Oztents.

Graham

[yellowlabrador]

I'm a bell tent lover, and find no problem pitching it single handed. Never had a problem with the weight either and i have the heavier canvas in a 6m one

the 5m ultimates from bell tent (think its the hybrid from soulpad) are a good choice . canvas is 285g so slightly lighter and you have the ZIG which keeps it toasty inside

I also have a quechua base seconds, I use it as a kitchen with the bell tent - the bell tents walls aren't the best for a cooking corner

[nutgone]

Any small canvas frame tent can be easily erected by one person, I'm not sure on current ranges though as the majority of my tent purchases are 2nd hand.

As a rule of thumb, a small frame tent, or bungalow style frame tent, with just 4 legs, should be possible to erect by yourself. I had a 5 person Cabanon Chambord, which is a 6 leg frame tent, I could erect it by myself but I wouldn't recommend it as I have damaged it in the past (before I bothered to read the instructions), also, when the wind gets up it is a bit of a handful.

Most 4 leg frame tents are pretty simple. As with pretty much all of them you construct the frame on it's knees (with legs at their shortest) then throw the canvas on top, lift the frame up (usually one side at a time) extending the legs as you go. Then, you pull the canvas taught, peg in the corners, go round pegging in the back, sides & front (usually in that order, although always follow your particular instructions), put any ground sheet(s) down, add your inner bedroom(s), curtains, liners etc & there you have it, a good sized tent with full standing height all round, usually a nice sized window or 2 & a full height doorway.

They're often seen as a bit out of fashion these days, but frame tents are not difficult to pitch & make very good use of the available space. There are plenty of good 2nd hand examples on various sites, or you can buy brand new, as many companies are still producing them (largely for the less fashion-lead continental public, but a few do make it onto our shores).

Good luck with your search.

[MJ02]

Hi Spire, take a look at the gelert range, the 4-5 man tents these days are amost similar sizes. If you check the lakebury 5 on you tube you will see 1 person erecting the tent withn 15 minutes. They are so simple with plenty of head room, as Im 6'3 so I need the height. We went for the starview 5 as it was not much more money but had a better weather rating.

[marquee]

Hello. This is my first post so be gentle with me. I currently own a motorhome which i have sold ( so long as the buyer pays for it as promised) I am looking to buy a large people carrier and need either a tent or a driveaway awning. Preferably i would need a 4 person tent with good head height. My wife is disabled. She had a stroke 2 years ago & is weak on her left side so is unable to assist in putting a tent up. Whatever i buy i need to be able to put it up & take it down myself. I own a Quecha 2 second tent which is ok but the head height is not good for my wife.Has anyone any idea which tents / awning would be best for my situation. Someone suggested a Kyham Motordome but they look a bit expensive. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hi, to be frank, those best tent is really easy to set up, although I dare to say those best tent can be put up by 1 person, for some large camping tent, you can not set it up only by yourself. while, the best tent that is easy to set up is really a truth. May this could help U!