Just as with a broken pole, duct tape (the unsung hero of every camping trip) can sometimes be used to do temporary tent repairs, and tubes can be replaced. This does not mean the entire tent is rendered forever useless, though. While this is very rare, due to the heavy duty materials used on the tubes, it’s not unheard of. That said, you can of course suffer a puncture to an airbeam.
Tension straps mean an air tent can withstand rough weather (Image credit: Pat Kinsella) Durability, repair and maintenanceĪs noted above, while an air tent may well move around a bit more in high winds, at least the beams won’t snap – which can be a problem with pole tents, either in very extreme conditions or as a result of an accident (reversing your car over them), or incorrect usage. Even so, we felt that the air tent was marginally harder to wrestle into the carry bag than the pole tent. The Osiris Air 500 comes with a pump with a deflate setting, and it’s imperative you use this in order to stand a chance of getting the tent back in its bag – otherwise you’ll be left with pockets of air that make the task utterly impossible. Family sized tents are notoriously laborious to roll up and squeeze back into the carry bag provided, which always seems too small to swallow so much tent. Take downĪlways the least fun part of any camping trip, not least because it means the experience is nearly over, is dropping the tent and packing it away. All things considered, we’re going to call this one a draw. However, while they may bend, inflated tubes will not snap, so that’s one thing less to worry about. This kind of performance will of course vary between tent brands and individual designs and models, and not all air tents will be equipped with these straps, leaving them more prone to bending in the wind. These do impede on the internal space somewhat, but they are optional, and don’t need to stay in place when conditions are more benign, giving you more room for things like your camping chairs once more. However, we spent a wild windy weekend testing out both styles of tent, and found that the Osiris Air 500 performed just as well as the Aether 450 pole tent, not least because it has internal bracing straps that help it maintain its shape even in gusty conditions. Where some people might expect a greater degree of divergence in performance level is in stormy weather, with many people perhaps predicting that air tents might not be so robust.
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For more on this, check out How to choose a tent and What size tent do I need?īecause they all tend to stand pretty tall, and are more often tunnel- rather than a geodesic- (half dome) shaped, family sized pole tents and air tents both rely heavily on tensioning at either end to stay up, and guy ropes all around to stay stable during high winds. Family sized air tents can stand just as high and wide as pole tents designed for the same purpose, offering the same level of head height and floor space, so there’s no real difference there. In terms of features and comfort, this all comes down to the quality of the individual tents in question. Inflating the Vango Osiris Air 500 with the provided pump (Image credit: Pat Kinsella) Design, stability and adverse weather
If the poles are different lengths, it also helps a lot if they – and the corresponding sheath – are colour coded, which they usually are. This is how the Aether 450 works, and it’s all fairly straightforward – although it’s certainly preferable to have at least two people involved. When it comes to knowing how to pitch a tent, most modern pole tents are pretty easy to put up and the majority of the larger models these days are based around a tunnel design, so you simply have to thread several large poles through the sheaths on the inner, then bend them and put each end in an eyelet or similar at ground level. In the battle of air tents vs pole tents, which one earns the right to hold your sleeping bags, camping gear and everything else this summer? Air tents vs pole tents: head-to-head Pitching Our verdict considers what is the optimum option for your camping trips. We look at how these two shelters performed in terms of pitching, design, stability, ability to cope with the weather, take down, durability, portability and price.
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