TalkAwhile - The Folk Corporation Forum

Hi all,
Hope you don't mind me posting this here. I'm oin a bit of a quandary. I'm upgrading my tent this year to one I can stand up in! There are two very similar tents in Argos - one is normal fibreglass poles, while the other is a wee bit dearer, not quite as nice a layout, less of a hydrostatic head, but....it's inflatable! So inflatable arches instead of fibreglass poles - sounds like a no-brainer for a "loner" in terms of simplicity in erection putting up, but I like the look and layout of the "conventional" one a bit better.
So my question is, does anyone have experience of the inflatable type, and are they really that much simpler to deal with, or do they come with their own problems? Could a "pole" get punctured or leak and go floppy? Do they take up twice as much energy trying to get the back in the bag? etc...
The very good price (€110/120) only stands till Thursday and i presume it can only go in one direction, so I want to buy tomorrow night, hence the "urgent" bit in the title. Any experienced advice will be much appreciated
Are we there yet?
Stephen

We bought an inflatable tent (Vango 4-person) a few years back and loved it. At 2018 Cropredy Mike was recovering from pneumonia so I had to erect put it up by myself, and it was relatively easy. Just don't over-inflate the tubes! You can always add a bit more air once you've pegged it out. It is highly unlikely you will puncture the tubes, unless you go at it with a knife or similar sharp object. We're notorious for breaking things and we had no problems. You should be able to deflate using the pump backwards which makes it easier to get it back in the bag, but that's probably the hardest bit. If you recall Cropredy 2019 (the last time we used it) the weather was so bad we just deflated it, chucked it in the car and sorted it when we got home.

We've never had a pole tent so can't compare it, sorry. My only advise would be you'll spend more time in the tent than you will putting it up so go for what will be the most comfortable. Enjoy Cropredy!  {:-)

The only thing I would say is that the inflatable tent will be much heavier to carry and load in your vehicle than the poled one.

Tony

Thanks Bridge and Tony. Its true, I'll spend more time in it than putting it up (loitering within tent?), that swung it for me. BUT, turned out the reason they were so cheap is they were being sold off never to come back, and they're all gone.
Consolation prize, i did order a cheap and spacious new tent with less bells and whistles and only 6 inches to stoop - I can live with that 🥴

 ;D

There is a camping retailer of my parish who triumphantly announced their current sale with the tagline..

'Now is the winter of our discount tents'. {:-)

To answer the question .. I have a large flexi pole style tent which I can stand up in.  It is an absolute pain trying to put it up (or take it down) solo - I tried it very recently! .  Definitely a 2 man job.

Suggest less standing and more sitting with a beer  ;D