Our Best Family Camping Tent Setup Yet! Testing New Camping Gear in North Wales
After some of our previous camping adventures involving endless rain, leaking tents and Scott questioning why we ever took up camping, we finally enjoyed something of a rarity – a week of sunshine in North Wales!
This time, we were determined to make the most of it, setting up our Vango Vantanas II Air 650XL family tent with plenty of new camping equipment to try out. And we reckon this might just have been our best tent setup yet!
As a family of four, plus Roxy the dog, we’ve learnt that having the right camping gear can make a huge difference to how comfortable a week in a tent actually is. But does spending more money necessarily mean you’re getting something better?
During our week away, we tested everything from inflatable furniture and camping beds to cooking equipment, storage solutions and lighting. And, as always with The Hadwins, we’re happy to tell you when something isn’t worth the money!
One of our biggest surprises was the Intex inflatable corner sofa. Having previously tried several inflatable camping sofas, we weren’t expecting too much from this relatively affordable alternative. However, it comfortably seated the whole family, survived Roxy jumping all over it and proved to be one of our favourite camping purchases.
We also tried the Hi-Gear Elite 6 camping wardrobe, which made keeping clothes organised much easier, along with the Hi-Gear Duo bunk beds, which helped save valuable floor space and kept the children comfortable.
For cooking, the Campingaz Bistro Grill was a real winner, proving easy to use, economical on gas and simple to clean. Unfortunately, we couldn’t say the same for everything!
The Eurohike foldable BBQ was particularly disappointing, with a poorly fitting grill that made cooking burgers more of a challenge than it should have been. The Quest toaster also had its quirks, unless you happen to enjoy toast that’s crispy in the middle and barely toasted at the edges!
We also show you our camping lighting, washing-up accessories and how we’ve organised the inside of our family tent to make longer camping holidays more comfortable.
So, which camping products would we recommend, and which would we never buy again?
Watch The Hadwins’ best family camping tent setup and honest camping gear reviews – including the Intex inflatable sofa, Hi-Gear bunk beds and Campingaz grill to see our complete tent tour, how everything fits together and what we really thought after using the equipment for a full week.
Whether you’re new to family camping, looking for ideas to improve your tent setup or simply wondering whether some of these camping gadgets are worth buying, we hope our experiences help you avoid a few expensive mistakes.
And for once, Scott had considerably less to moan about. Although, give him a badly designed BBQ and he’ll still find something!
