Outdoor Revolution Camp Star 350 Tent Bundle: first impressions
Budding families (or couples that like a lot of personal space) that want to spend a lot of time car camping this summer will love this family tent from Outdoor World Direct that comfortably sleeps three. The simple tunnel design comes with a sewn-in groundsheet and inner tent made from a darker fabric to help you sleep through those early sunrises. The living area is big enough for three camping chairs and even a small camping table if the weather is interfering with your outdoor plans. Large windows in the living area come with easy toggle curtains that let you enjoy the view or some privacy.
• List price: £395
• Sleeps: 3 people
• Weight: 34 lbs / 15.67 kg
• Dimensions: 77 x 150 x 94 in / 195 x 380 x 240 cm
• Hydrostatic head: 3,000
• Waterproofing: 120 HDE Polyester Lightweight Fabric - 70 Denier
• Best use: Car camping, Glamping, Festival camping
This air tent is constructed with three air poles that you can quickly inflate with a hand pump plus one fiberglass pole for the front canopy. We managed to pitch it single-handedly in under 10 minutes. Lots of brightly colored guylines are easy to see when the light fades and make for a really stable structure, that with a hydrostatic head of 3,000 is designed to withstand wind and rain. The groundsheet isn’t fully sealed at the front due to a drop down door, which is fine for summer but we might not use this in severe cold and wet weather.
The instructions that come with the tent aren’t great, so make sure you test it out at home before you head out with it, and we wouldn’t mind a bit of a bigger porch. There’s only one way in and out of the tent and bedroom, but with this much space that’s not really an issue. Though it’s not the lightest tent, one person can carry it a short distance thanks to the carry bag that comes with it. All in all, if you’re a small family and looking for a budget-friendly solution for summer vacations, this tent will save you a lot of money on hotel rooms and give you tons of space.
Outdoor Revolution Camp Star 350 Tent Bundle: in the field
This tent has been my first experience pitching and camping in a tent that’s bigger than a standard backpacking tent. When my partner and I are camping with our kids, we typically either pitch two two-person tents or we sleep in the van while the kids sleep in the tent, so we were excited to try something where we can all squeeze in together, plus we’ve been looking for a more budget-friendly way to have a summer vacation this year. So far we’ve tested out the set up and take down in the backyard before taking it out for the weekend to a campsite near Loch Lomond during a recent bank holiday weekend.
Here’s how it performed:
Weight and packability
When this first arrived in a huge box with 20kg stamped on the side, I was pretty sure I’d made a terrible mistake as I couldn’t even carry it from the front door into the living room. However, I was relieved to see once I opened it that it all came packed inside a large carrying bag with handles and at 15kg, I can actually carry it by myself. Not very far, mind you, but from our house to the van and the van to the campsite. Compared to other family tents, it’s not super heavy, but like many such tents, this is best not carried very far.
It will fit in the trunk of a regular car and still leave room for your other gear. I was skeptical that it would fit back inside the carrying bag when we took it down, because these things never do, and I was only partially correct. The bag unzips almost the entire way, which meant I could get the rolled up tent back inside, and though I couldn’t zip it up all the way, I could get it in there enough for carrying, transport and storage.
Ease of use
The instruction manual that came with this tent is pretty sparse and not super helpful. I tried scanning the QR code but all that gave me was a speeded up film of two men pitching it which didn’t help. Anyway, I decided it was worth trying to pitch it in the backyard alone since that’s a good test of how easy it is to pitch, and I need to be sure we knew how to pitch it before we went away. So I persevered, acquiring a small audience of neighbors along the way.
I spread out and staked out the groundsheet first, then laid the tent out on top, which was all easy enough. Where I had the most trouble was figuring out how to insert the pump into the valves, and how to adjust the valves so that the air didn’t rush back out as soon as I removed the pump. Luckily for me, my neghbor Barry was able to decipher from the manual that pressing on a white button in each valve means it stays locks when you remove the pump, and then things just motored right along.
Each of the three air poles was erected by 10 - 12 easy pumps, and then it was time to insert the fiberglass pole into the porch (a bit fiddly) then stake it out and I was pleased that it has tons of high visibility guy lines. After that, it was time to erect the inner tent which forms the bedroom out of dark, sleep-friendly material. This just clips into the outer tent which is easy except for the fact that you have to stand on it and try to attach it to the roof at the same time. However, once the inner tent is in place, you can pack it away still attached and I didn’t need to go through this a second time.
When it came time to take the tent down, it’s just a matter of removing all the tent pegs and undoing the three valves (very fun for kids) then rolling the whole thing back up.
Despite a few false starts, I actually think this tent is amazingly easy to pitch and would feel confident doing it alone again. We can now get it up in under 10 minutes if there’s two of us, and down in about the same time.
Weather protection and breathability
Luckily for us, we haven’t tested this out against heavy rain or high winds, but with a hydrostatic head of 3,000, taped seams and loads of guy lines, it seems really stable and of course, you’re more likely to be using it in a sheltered campsite or your own backyard than you are on some exposed ridge. We had thought that the living room area could double as a second bedroom, but since the groundsheet isn’t sewn in at the front this really only works for dry conditions.
The breathability is great. We ended up sleeping with three of us in the bedroom and had the window vents open out in the main compartment and were quite comfortable despite really warm weather here lately.
Space and windows
Though you can get even bigger tents than this, to us it felt like a palace. I’m 5’4” and can easily walk around standing up, while my partner needs to stoop just a little in the bedroom as he's 5’11”. Though there’s only one entrance to both the outer and inner tent, they unzip on both sides and there’s plenty of space for three people to move around without bumping into each other. The bedroom is meant for three but you could squeeze four in if you wanted to.
The darker materials for the inner tent definitely helped us sleep later and as the sun is rising at 4:30 a.m. in Scotland, that is a huge bonus, and it’s nice to have the PVC windows in the front. This meant we could hang out indoors and feel like we were outdoors, but get some privacy if we wanted.
Durability and value
It’s a well-constructed tent and doesn’t seem cheap so I think this is a pretty sturdy design and it comes with a repair kit. That said, there is a big warning that unzipping the air poles while the tent is erected can damage the tent and it’s not covered by warranty, so I’d be a little nervous about camping with really young, curious kids. Of course, with an air tent you always run the risk of a puncture or the pump breaking, but beyond those intrinsic risks, it’s a robust sleep shelter.
Compared to other family tents, this is well-priced and without skimping on space or making it really difficult to pitch, I actually think this is great value. We need a budget-friendly option for summer vacation this year and I think we got it in this tent.
