Perhaps the only tent that's fun to put up and fun to put down! (Gelert Quick Pitch SS)

Member Name: aero-zeppelin

Product:	Gelert Quick Pitch SS
Date:	13/05/09 (285 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Useful, ideal, quick to put up, quick to put away

Disadvantages: Condensation when wet

I buy a lot of things from Gelert. I live within 10 miles of the factory, so their goods are distributed to many shops locally, and I've always been pleased with their products, though perhaps their Quickpitch SS has to be my best buy from there shop in Porthmadog!

I have the XL size, which is supposidly a 3 man tent though I think you could only fit 2 to leave a fair amount of space for clothes et cetera, as it doesn't exactly have a porch. For example say if you were to go somewhere without a car, there wouldn't be much space for everyone's stuff if there were 3 of you and you all had clothes, food and so on. At £40, I didn't think it was a bad price. I bought it in February, so it may be even cheaper now.

I've only used the tent about 3 times since I bought it, but each time it's wowed the people I've camped with who don't have one! Incredibly easy to set up, the only worry is if the tent hits you in the face when you pull the strap off, thankfully this hasn't happened to me yet. Though the first time I put it away, I wasn't able to do it fully. After watching a tutorial video on the Gelert website, it stunned me how the guy could put it up and fold it back down and put it away in less than 1 minute 40 seconds! Once you know how to put it away, you can do it endlessly over and over again because it's so easy, and somewhat fun too, just to watch it pop up again! I recommend you practise folding it away before you actualy go camping, it may save you a lot of confusion as to how to put it away!

My only negative point about the tent is when it rains. Because the tent only has one layer, when it rains, condensation gathers on the roof as it does, and if theres a slight breeze it tends to drip on you quite a bit. You can get popup tents with porches, but they have extra pieces of tent and are a little bit more expensive. My advice is if you want to make a makeshift porch for when it's muddy outside, lay a plastic bag in a semi circular shape around the entrance, it works wonders and saves a lot of muddy insides! Perhaps not a disadvantage but I'll mention it anyway, if anyone were to steal a tent from a campsite while it was quiet and you were gone, this one would be it, because if they knew how to fold it away its a case of folding it and putting the strap round it and walking off!

If you are a frequent camper, or go camping every now and again with friends, I highly recommend this tent for you. I wouldn't use it to camp for more than a few days at a time, especially if I didn't have a car to store my things in, but it's useful for festivals, one night camping and camping with a group of friends somewhere you're not allowed to! I wouldn't recommend you use this to go for a long walk while carrying it to camp beacuse it is a pain to carry around, given it's about 75cm in diameter when folded up, and if it's windy it blows round quite a bit.

I'd say you could get a pop up tent from any outdoor store accross the UK, and I know that Gelert products are distributed around the UK, so if you do see a Gelert Quickpitch SS, buy it ahead of any other pop up tent you see! I'm being biased because I'm supporting a local business and all that malarkey, but it is a quality product.

Summary: Great example of a tent! Go and buy!