Thoughts from the NEC Show

[Guest Peter Sharpe]

I wondered if anybody on here took advantage of any of the special show offers and if you had any thoughts about the tents on display. It seemed to me that tents are getting increasingly larger and it makes me wonder what the limit is. I saw many people showing great interest in the Outwell Ohio, but I'm sure you would have to be prepared to pay for a double pitch on most campsites. It also seems to me that when you take into account the carpets and other equipment shown inside it, you would need a trailer the size of a large folding camper to lug it all around in.

I also noticed that many of the advanced polyester tents are now as expensive as the best polycotton. Could anybody comment about how they compare in wind and rain with regard to noise?

[ROON]

Hi Peter, sorry no-one seems to have come back to help you. I have the felling that not many of us went to that show, as I put a thread on the Chatterbox about it and it died a death.

 

I went but because my daughter wasn't with me, I didn't look at the tents .... only the boats and the motorhomes. I was really disappointed as I felt the show was only of interest for first timers and the stalls were sadly lacking in number. I wish I had spent the weekend on a nice site somewhere with hookup and my nice warm fire, reading a good book.

 

Hope my bringing this to top enables you to get a response. Joy

[Guest Peter Sharpe]

Hello Joy, thanks for the reply. I wondered why you thought the show was only of interest to first-timers (assuming that comment was about caravans and motorhomes), because all the models on show were brand new.

I went to the tent section to see if there were many first-timers there, as all the reports in the national newspapers suggested that tent camping would be taking off in a big way this year. I thought many of the tents on display were far too big for novices to tackle, but there were some pretty good discounts to be had.

The manufacturers' reprentatives who I spoke to at the show told me that it wasn't until the weekend that the promised hordes of first timers arrived, but they were pleased with the steady numbers of up-graders before then. What also made them happy was that having saved manoey on the show-only discounts, most people were putting that money straight back into other extras on offer, especially carpets. Most manufacturers are also producing porches to add on to existing tents that don't have them, but it seems that tent carpets are this year's must-have. They say that once you have experienced the difference they make, you wouldn't even think of setting off without one.

[ROON]

Hi Peter, You may be right. I might be putting my mentality onto other more adventurous people. I have taken so long getting used to my own van (much I am sure to the frustration of Members because of my constant How Do I questions :$ ) that to think of buying a different van is reeeeeally scary to me. I felt, however, that should I be a first time buyer, there were some really interesting new developments and designs which are a vast improvement.

 

It is just that personally, I had hoped for more side-stalls. I was very interested in folding bikes, but the choice on offer was so limited, plus I wanted several smaller items for in my motorhome and couldn't find them. I needed a new, second in case daughter comes with me, sleeping bag and again, COMPARED WITH THE MALVERN and YORKSHIRE shows, there was a very limited number and lacking in bargains. I guess it was just that what I wanted for myself wern't there in great numbers. Maybe, I'm being a bit picky, sorry. :$

 

(Peter, when I was at Malvern last year, CliveH has the biggest tent imaginable. He might know whether you have to pay double or not.)

[CamperPete]

May be a bit late in replying but for what it's worth I purposely avoided this years show as I'd heard the tent area had been drastically reduced as to what was anticipated and even less than last years show. As to the carpets then personally I think they add an extra layer of insulation from the cold floor, are not heavy and fold quite small.......... obviously the latter will change dependant on tent living area size but the Outwell Minnesota carpet that I had didn't take a lot of space in the car.

 

I agree with the comments of the current Polyester Tent prices, I've heard the price hike is due to manufacturing/material costs but to raise them to almost Polycotton prices could be marketing suicide. In the current economic climate the manufacturer, wholesaler and retailer may have to reduce their markup to seriously attract consumers else they may be left with stock they just cannot move. There's some nice innovative ideas with this years tent designs but if those ideas come at too high a financial cost to the consumer then they're wasted.

 

 

[Guest Peter Sharpe]

I think it is inevitable that tent prices will rise because of the unfavourable exchange rates, but many manufacturers are also trying to develop easy-care polyester materials that come close to matching the performance of polycotton. These will obviously cost more than the run-of-the-mill materials used in the entry-level tents. Even so, you always seem to be able to find prices well below the manufacturers' suggested selling prices.