Lab Notes

I tried to buy one of the Quechua moduar tents for my first family camping experience. We have a decathlon only 2 miles away from the ALPKIT HQ. All they had in stock was a ‘New Sleeve’. I asked the assistant if they were getting anymore in stock and the reply was, they don’t sell in the UK, great for France. But I love the concept.

I will go back to the initial question and I will make my judgement from family perspective. Consider the conditions: A. You travel as a family (not a group of friends who need privacy). B. Yor travel is a combination of changing campgrouds daily + staying on one spot for a longer time. C. You travel with the car, where lightness is not crucial + want to use some components of this equipment for backpacking where weight is crucial.  Than my suggestion is: A > You need a roomy tent for days when you stay at one location longer. B > It needs to be modular quick & easy for overnight stay + more luxury for a longer stay. C > I recomend to buy French "Quechua;TBase New” as a central space + 2x lightweight high quality tents (igloo shape) + 2x Quechua TBase New Sleeve” to join igloos to TBase + 1x "Quechua;TBase New Door” to close thethird entrance to TBase New. For overnight stay, you only setup those two igloo tents, if you stay longer, afford some luxury and join the modules together. To be honest, this is the most inteligent combination I have seen do far.  I have been using large family tents for years, but none of those can compare in functionality. For more info > [url=http://www.quechua.com]http://www.quechua.com[/url] Available usually in DECATHLON stores around France, some places in Italy etc. Think it over ... it is realy inteligent. And at the end of the day, you still have two high quality, low weight tents for tough backpacking. Your kids and your family will acctualy never overgrow this combination of equipment. Wish you grat outdoor adventures !

My Dad made a giant Vango Force10 ridge tent style tent for family camping,you could sleep three or four people in the the inner,and the other half of the tent was the porch and living area. Maybe you could sell a large fly sheet and veriety of inners to go in it or something? Cheers Tim

For carbased base camping, I don’t see any need for lightness (and only some need for compactness).  I just spent ten days in a 1970’s era proofed cotton frame tent wonderful, full headroom, seperate compatments, room for table and chairs, windows etc. Only challenge is that erecting it is complex by modern standards, but better design and good labelling can fix that.  I would love to see a modern bell tent design. These are the tents with single central poles. They are simple, strong, and have excellent central headroom. I see no reason why lightweight internal baffles can’t be used to divide the space up for privacy.

The modular system would work well for campsites that charge you per tent, since you would only have to pay for one rather than two or three. The modular concept could get slightly awkward since these things could only be used for campsites or car camping, and not for serious trekking. For families with kids it would be good, but these guys generally stay together, so every time they put the tent up they would have to zip sections together, it would take extra room to pack. These guys are generally going to go to Argos to buy a big family tent. Modular systems would be good for camping with mates. But sometimes a groups of mates want to go away and have a laugh without all having to buy a section of tent, and you might have someone new along who dosent own one, and hes then stuck on his own. i think it would be good to have a domed tarp that is big enough for 6 tents to park their openings under. It could be cheap, with extra guy lines to make it windproof. Groups of friends, families with seperate tents, or scout groups camping without the luxury of patrol tents could then pitch up surroundin g it. This would create a waterproof dome to socialise under. A groundsheet would be helpful on muddy days though. The problem with this is that everyone needs to pay for their own tent and camping ends up costing more. just a few ideas

id like the options of having your kick ass moutnian tent that wont fall down but having the option of adding new flys with massive porches when needed. these could be mega heavy and cheap as for car camping etc. i think other companies do this but they always provide a high spec outer. i dont want hi spec when im in a field in the peak i want cheap and big and indestructable.  your up against the mite of argos on this one. i do like the idea of a big tarp tent though.  you could call it the alpkit splatte

for a base camp tent then modular may be they way forward, as the kids grow up you can zip them off to a separate pitch and the adults can get merry in the spacious porch come gazebo and fall into bed easily

I have no kids in the family or on the way! so I am not so sure about any added value by joining tents together. Even if I went away with friends I think we would prefer the privacy of seperate tents. A shared tent would be great for eating and playing cards when the weather is bad but maybe a simple tarp is enough?