The sun is here and with it the lure of a life under canvas. A resurgence of interest in camping has spawned a host of weird and wonderful tents.
The tent that thinks it’s a tree house
Roomoon is a spherical tent made from a a stainless steel frame and durable handmade canvas cover. The 1.8 metre-wide cocoon, pictured above, boasts its own solid wood floor, which doubles up as a storage box when the tent is broken down.
A tent that’s cosy and quiet
Derek O’Sullivan has developed what promises to be the world’s first correctly insulated tent. Inside a conventional tent, once the outside temperature drops, the inside gets cold. Conversely, in direct sunlight they can become like saunas. O’Sullivan’s solution is the Thermo Tent – a multi-layer that offers maximum sound and temperature insulation and minimum condensation.
The world’s most luxurious hammock tent
The The Tentsile combines the versatility of a hammock with the comfort and security of a multi-person tent.
If you love the idea of sleeping among the birds, this might be the tent you’ve been waiting for. The Tentsile is fully collapsible tent inspired by a spider’s web. Having the tent suspended between trees means your night’s sleep is unlikely to be disturbed by uneven or soggy ground. The design will also appeal to appeal tree house lovers of every age.
My other car’s a Porsche (tent)
With the average value of London property a staggering £859 per square foot, what better of expanding your home, making your neighbours envious and reducing your emissions than erecting a Porsche 911-shaped tent in your street?
The tents are smaller, but far better value than a loft conversion for those needing additional space. With a footprint of 80 square feet, the car-shaped tent represents over £60,000 of London space – almost as much as a real Porsche 911, but far more cheap and environmentally friendly to run.
Bicycle frame tent
Bikamper uses your bicycle’s road front wheel in place of tent poles. Both tent and fly pack down to a small, space saving size. It all packs down into a stuff bag that straps to the handlebars. The tent offers a floor space of 200 x 90 cm and weighs 1.63 kg. Bikamper costs about £150
Kombi camping
The VW camper tent is a 1:1 scale recreation of a 1965 T1 kombi van. The pop-up van sleeps up to four people in two separate rooms . Expect to pay around £250.
Frontiers-style tent with wood burner
Tentipi tents offer a communal camping experience for up to ten adults at a time. Despite their size, the tents can be erected quickly and are available with a host of accessories including a traditional wood burning stove.
Doughnut tents
The Doughnut tent is a concept design that stores flat before expanding into a variety of shapes like a slinky toy.
Bicycle tents you tow
The day-to-day challenges facing the camping cyclist include carrying the lightest possible equipment and finding level ground on which to pitch the tent, but a new design of pop-up tent designed to be towed behind a bicycle doubles up as a capacious 180-litre trailer and jacks ensure a comfortable night’s sleep on uneven ground. The trailer is adjustable for bikes with wheel sizes from 20” to 29”.
Poncho tents
This new design of poncho/tent hybrid may look eccentric, but it is aimed at the many walkers and cycle campers who need waterproof clothing and a tent, but have to keep to a minimum the weight and volume of equipment they carry. Hikers and cyclists already have a choice of tents that use a bicycle as their means of support, lightweight pop-up designs and waterproof sleeping bags, but the poncho is the first tent that can be worn as an item of clothing.
The ethical choice
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