Most tents have thin, collapsible poles made from fibreglass. They often fold up into a compact size and are connected by an elastic cord. They're usually flexible and will need to be bent to fit the shape of the tent canvas during pitching. The tent sleeps families or groups of up to 8 people and has 4-berth bedrooms at each end, with living space in the middle. It feels really spacious and you can stand up easily throughout. One of my main concerns was how to repair Berghaus tent if we had a puncture. We didn’t have any during our 3-week camping trip, pitched on a variety of terrain, but the tent comes with a repair kit, just in case. Are there any downsides? One huge noticeable timesaver was not having to fix an inner tent via loops and hooks to an external shell. The tent is a single unified component – the bedrooms and living space are pre-attached to the framework so there is no additional connecting or construction needed once you’ve blown up the tent. The air pressure for the Berghaus Air 8 inflatable family tent should be between 4psi and 7psi. How easy is it to take down the Berghaus Air 8 tent?

In use, the comfort is very good indeed, and provides just enough support for up to around 15 stone in weight. If more support is needed then air can be blown into the top valve – this makes the top surface more taut, but less comfortable. We inspect the interiors of the tents during and after testing to see how each fares against the elements. Some tents manage to stay firm, but others blow over and even have puddles in the sleeping compartments. Let’s start with some definitions. At Camping Secrets, we generally distinguish between a Camping Mat and a Camping Mattress as follows: We think the Shangri-La makes sense in single format but is just too bulky as a double. Of course, your mileage may vary on that choice. There’s no doubt that it is an absolute comfort monster in terms of the luxury it offers. This is also reflected in the price of course, and in terms of price per square metre it is one of the highest reviewed. There’s no denying that the SIM was comfortable for my wife though who is a much more svelte 11 stone. OK, 10.5 stone – she’s watching me type!There are also tents with inflatable poles. You'll need to pump up each pole individually, so it can take a bit of effort, but you can avoid trying to feed the poles through the tent canvas. For all intents and purposes the Kip becomes a proper home-style mattress when it’s fully inflated. It has vertical side walls to maximize the top-level surface area and this means that you don’t roll off in the night.

There’s no doubt that the Kip Highrise is an absolutely blissful in terms of the luxury it offers and actually it offers good value at the pricepoint we’ve seen for this year. At Camping Secrets we often like to highlight niche products we uncover which accomplish a task in a clever way, whilst maintaining quality and value. The 3rd generation IForrest Sleeping Pad accomplishes this task extremely successfully. Measuring 201 x 74 x 5cm when inflated, the IForrest includes both an integrated pillow and armrests for significant added comfort. What is great about the armrests is that they stop you rolling off the mattress in the night very effectively. If you are planning to use it on top of a camp bed then this is an important consideration – you might be a foot off the floor! I’d also recommend getting a mat for outside the front porch to stop everyone traipsing mud and sand into the tent. Future family camping adventuresIt's very common for manufacturers to be generous about the number of people they say can fit inside their tents. The number they give will be technically true, but it probably won't account for the space needed for campers' belongings, or the space people need for a comfortable night's sleep. The Comfort 10 is available in single (200 x 60cm), grande (200 x 76cm) or double (200 x 130cm) sizes. Personally, our preference would be for two Grandes placed next to each other, but it depends how intimate you want to get in the night! We really love Outdoor Revolution – they make great quality items at the mid-to-top end of the camping spectrum. Yes they may be slightly more expensive than the Decathlon’s of this world, but we’ve never been let down by their tents or their general camping gear.

If you’re after a slightly smaller tent, there are Berghaus Air 4 and Berghaus Air 6.1 versions available. We pitch every tent, taking into account how long it takes, how clear the instructions are, how much physical effort is required, and how convenient the process is. R-Value for the KingCamp is ~6.5 which is pretty decent for cold weather camping, but not quite on a par with the Outwell Dreamcatcher. For typical UK winter conditions though, this is ample. Just make sure you bring along a decent sleeping bag or use electric hookup for an overnight heater. Operation is simple. The Berghaus uses a rotatable ‘flip valve’ with a protective sealed cap to secure in place. When the flip valve is is one position air can get in but not escape (i.e. use when inflating). In the other orientation, air can escape but not get in – use for deflating.

It is a true 4-season sleeping pad with an R-Value of 6.8. This provides excellent insulation between you and the floor for effective winter-use.

Dimensions are solid at 200 x 76 x 15cm for the ‘Grande’ size which is slightly wider than a conventional single – we appreciate Vango’s dedication in constantly supplying 200cm (6ft7) length mattresses instead of cutting cost by reducing too much.A well-ventilated tent will make for a more comfortable, condensation-free camping experience, and well-positioned vent panels and doors with fly screens allow for the free flow of air while keeping bugs out of your sleeping space. 4) Indoor space and flexible sleeping compartments Moving to the present day and there’s now an extremely wide variety of camping mats and camping mattresses on the market – some of them self inflate (the topic of this article) whereas others require pumping – either via a hand pump, pump bag (a simple way of filling a bag with dry air which can then be squeezed into the SIM via a valve) or electric pump. Camping Mat vs Camping Mattress The Shangri-La is for all intents and purposes a proper mattress when it’s fully inflated. It has vertical side walls to maximize the top-level surface area and this means that you don’t roll off in the night. So it it comfortable? We can give this a resounding thumbs up – it is by far the comfiest double SIM we’ve tested for the money, and while it may seem expensive, this is up there with the best air mattresses but without the stress of punctures or requiring pumps.