Pop-up tents

[Traveler]

Anybody else use a pop-up tent when camping?

I have a Malamoo 3-Xtra.
Very convenient when moving camp regularly while on tour.

[Alex Roux]

I have been keen on one precisely because of he ease in packing up regularly.
But I have also been warned, if you do not fold it up correctly, it breaks and become useless.
The guy at the shop is trained with the demo to do it exactly right, but if you do not fold it regularly yourself, you may forget how to do it.
In fact I wanted to buy one at Outdoor Warehouse in Centurion earlier this year (the one at John Vorster drive). The guy there told me they don't stock it anymore because too many people come back with broken tents. Even though the customers' fault, they don't like unhappy customers, so they don't stock it anymore!

[Traveler]

I just love uninformed sales people.
I must add the quality of the pegs on those ODW tents really was nothing to write home about. If they do however break, it is easy to fix with a cable crimping connector.

It really is not difficult to fold up. I watched the video on YouTube a couple of times, and now it is real easy.

[Peter Connan]

I have a massive "tentdorp" setup I use when staying in one place for a while. Takes about two hours to break down.

We once camped in the Golden Gate next two four people (two couples) in two pop-up tents, one a Malamoo and the other a cheaper,smaller one.

It took them longer to pack up camp than it took me.

they obviously hadn't watched the same video.

Seriously though, I have considered getting one to use as a "second tent" to act as storage and "spot retainer" when touring with the roof-tent.

[Kagiso II]

I asked my back if he will do the crawly crawly thingy and get in such a contraption .. the short answer was "Jou MA se ....]

nooit weer gevra nie .. Not in the market for one if I cannot stand upright in it @1,93 M]

[ricster]

I bought 2 of them 3 man ones... I think Campmaster if I'm not mistaken. Well... when my son got hold of it and said ..."oh look Dad....." vuuup, vuup, vuup.... and there this bliksemse thing springs out into the form of a 3 man tent.

Now the problem was that, had I opened it up, I would have done so slowly, so as to look, learn, and observe how the flipping thing goes back together !!!!.... but NOOOOOO ... my son doesn't think like that !!
So, to cut a long story short, in a mad panic, I started to look for an instruction manual.... which seemed to have gone M.I.A. after this relatively small folded up package exploded into a friggin monster of a tent.... and feeling just ever so slightly the bolt and nut (translate into Afrikaans) in, I saw out of the corner of my eye the round cover that at one staged housed this animal of a tent.... and what do I see on the cover..... a simple 1-2-3 step by step instruction to fold it up. It literally took me 20 seconds to pack it up and place it back into the bag.

I dig that tent !!!!

[Traveler]

Me too.

It is really easy to fold (colapse) once you get the hang. Much easier for me than folding a shirt.

[Alex Roux]

I suspect people who take longer to pack up than the 2hours Connan takes, either have kids (like us) or are just generally slow when it comes to packing up (also like us). Or both.
So any technology that can help my fandamily to get-up-and-go a little quicker should be considered.
If it is as simply as you say Ricster? As long as we use the instruciton manual. Better leave that to Swambo, I have a dangerous tendancy to try and do things first, and read the instructions only when all else fails.

Quicker get-up-and-go time is important in places like Botswana when touring in a group.
It seems to be one of the major sources of friction when touring in a convoy, i.e. people on different timelines...

[firessafari]

OZ Tent is the answer ,it takes minutes to put it up and to take it down and you don't need an army to assist you even i can do it. . see the promo on you tube
Johan

[Peter Connan]

These guys looked at the pictures on the bag, but couldn't get it right. At one stage they were considering driving over them. I know, because I watched closely.

However, I am sure that once you've got the hang of it, it's quick and easy. However, I have two problems:
1) My wife would prefer to be able to get dressed standing up, and all the pop-ups I have seen, are too low.
2) I think that the major time taken during pitching or packing is not so much the tent, as it is packing up the bedding and mattresses. And than all the other amenities.

We are a family of four, and the pinkfeet do very little during this process. Perhaps I need to manage this better, but I am not sure it's worth the arguments that will result, so at this stage it is just me and the missus, and she spends most of her time getting the pink-feet travel-ready.

So with two dome tents pitched 2m apart with doors facing each other, a groundsheet and ridgepole between them and a sheet that fits over them, it takes 2 hours, while the rooftop tent takes about 15minutes to do the same. And the major difference is that the mattresses and most of the bedding stays in the tent.

Alex, you are quite correct though, this does cause a lot of stress within a travelling group.