Aussie camping gear

[kiwi1973]

This thread isn't about the car, but thought I'd seek some advice here, as I'm on my way over to Sydney in a couple of weeks and keen to pick up some camping gear that's not available elsewhere - you guys are spoiled for choice! I plan on getting one of the new model Darche AirVolution inflatable tents and an extra comfy self inflating mattress - my question relates to the latter.

I'm interested in getting something like the Dune 4wd mat (10cm) or Wanderer Tourer self inflating mat (12cm) in a queen size - these aren't available in NZ. The only negatives I can find in reviews online is that any of these 4wd mattresses in Double/Queen size are impossible to pack away without someone else to help. I prefer to buy something that I can put away by myself. I expect many of you use these sort of self inflating mattresses - Can you put them away by yourself, or should I be looking at buying single mattresses?

[Turorit]

G'day kiwi

Depending on your budget you might want to consider an Exped. They are on sale at snowys at the moment, $280 for the double (down from $499) https://www.snowys.com.au/megamat-10-duo

I've got one & they pack down a fraction smaller than a oztrail king single 4wd mat.
They are relatively easy to pack by yourself, though to get all the air for the smallest size you have to roll/unroll a couple of times.

The singles are also on sale https://www.snowys.com.au/synmat-9-lw-sleeping-mat

[Dicko1]

This thread isn't about the car, but thought I'd seek some advice here, as I'm on my way over to Sydney in a couple of weeks and keen to pick up some camping gear that's not available elsewhere - you guys are spoiled for choice! I plan on getting one of the new model Darche AirVolution inflatable tents and an extra comfy self inflating mattress - my question relates to the latter.

I'm interested in getting something like the Dune 4wd mat (10cm) or Wanderer Tourer self inflating mat (12cm) in a queen size - these aren't available in NZ. The only negatives I can find in reviews online is that any of these 4wd mattresses in Double/Queen size are impossible to pack away without someone else to help. I prefer to buy something that I can put away by myself. I expect many of you use these sort of self inflating mattresses - Can you put them away by yourself, or should I be looking at buying single mattresses?

Like others on here I bought the Exped...brilliant. 2 of my neighbours have also seen the light and bought them!! From Snowys as well.

I had the Darche Airvolution tent...Too bloody heavy and was not impressed with the things ability to maintain a good shape! I bought it from someone who had used it once and they also said that at around 35kilos its a big lump of a thing cart around. Not really quick to set up either. Plenty of tents out there a lot quicker and better value in my opinion.I reckon its a case of the product not being as slick as the advertising. I used mine once in the backyard and promptly sold it! I bought a quick set up tent and it took 1/5th of the time to setup, was sturdier and cost 1/4 of the price. Its all very well saying to buy quality but I dont see the value in the Airvolution gimmick.

[Drjohn11]

Agree you can't do better than the Exped mattress

Alex

[kiwi1973]

I see so many positive reviews for the Exped. And at the current price Snowy's have it for it is certainly near the top of my list.

[kiwi1973]

Like others on here I bought the Exped...brilliant. 2 of my neighbours have also seen the light and bought them!! From Snowys as well.

I had the Darche Airvolution tent...Too bloody heavy and was not impressed with the things ability to maintain a good shape! I bought it from someone who had used it once and they also said that at around 35kilos its a big lump of a thing cart around. Not really quick to set up either. Plenty of tents out there a lot quicker and better value in my opinion.I reckon its a case of the product not being as slick as the advertising. I used mine once in the backyard and promptly sold it! I bought a quick set up tent and it took 1/5th of the time to setup, was sturdier and cost 1/4 of the price. Its all very well saying to buy quality but I dont see the value in the Airvolution gimmick.

Yeah, I too am somewhat concerned by the weight, even if the new 2017 version has slimmed down slightly to a still heavy 29.9kg. Can I ask what you ended up getting that you were happy with? I'm just mindful that any tent I get needs to comfortably accommodate my family of 5.

[Dicko1]

I have a camper now but I bought a Coleman instant up from Snowys for when I do overnight trips. My friend over the road saw the tent and he ended up buying the Coleman instant up 10 person GOLD tent...about $450 from Snowys. He has 2 kids and missus. They spent 3 nights along side me when camping and were very happy with the purchase. If you do go the Coleman get the GOLD series..cost a little more but stronger and probably better for use in NZ.. Advertised as a 10 person but really your lot would even find it "comfy"...maybe buy a smaller 4 person as well for your oldest 2 or use as a play room/storage area? Check them out on Snowys site...they will be slightly bigger than the Airvolution for sure and less than 1/2 the price.

Good luck.

[johndavis125262]

hi guys i see your talking about mattresses wold 1 of those battery air pumps to blow up air beds work sucking the air out of a self inflating mattress because my pump has a suck inlet and just wondering ?
regards john

[KiwiNTPajero]

I have a long exped 9 or 10 and a "pump"Its easy to deflate,a bit of a hassle to pump up.You dont blow them up with your own breath,that contains too much moisture and will cause the down to deteriate.I reckon two singles will always be more flexible .I find i have to fine tune the pressure.Is a double one one complete vessell or are there two seperate vessells that you can have at different pressures(softness) on each side?

[Dicko1]

hi guys i see your talking about mattresses wold 1 of those battery air pumps to blow up air beds work sucking the air out of a self inflating mattress because my pump has a suck inlet and just wondering ?
regards john

I use the $19 cheapie compressor to both inflate and deflate my e4xped...saves heaps of time and saves the cheek muscles!! So, yes...you can use it to suck all the air out and get it to roll up nice and small.

[Turorit]

Whille we're on the topic, this just popped up on my facebook feed, a comparo video of Exped & Blackwolf mats

https://www.snowys.com.au/blog/exped-megamat-black-wolf-mega-deluxe/

I use a popup Mallamoo 3 man tent on my trips. Unzip the bag & throw it out, job done! Exped fits nicely inside.
Only downside is packing the tent in the car- its a big circle, about 1m in diameter. It often gets packed underneath all of my other bags so there's a bit of stuffing around to get it out when we rock up at camp.

[old Jack]

Most tents are undersized so a 4 person tent may be able to sleep 4 people but no room for gear, standing up, getting dressed etc so for 5 people a gloor area of 8ft (2.4m) x 12ft (4m) is what you need. Trouble is these tents start getting heavy and bulky.

Bang for your buck the Coleman Gold Series are worth looking at, and the 10P Gold is about the right size.
Oztrail do a copy of the Coleman and is sub $500;

https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/oztrail-cruiser-450-cabin-fast-frame-tent

Our family tent of 25 years is a NZ made cabin tent from Sunshine Leisure, no longer made but good secondhand units come up forsale occasional. Ours is a 9ft x 14ft single room with a 8ft x14ft verandah which also has zip on walls so it creates a weatherproof dining area. It has been through all sorts of wild weather and has alwsys been the last tent standing on many an occasion. It being kept for the adult kids to use when they have families and go camping. We could pitch the tent and have beds setup in about 20 minutes and the about 30 minutes to break camp once everyone was trained. We used it fir a mixture of overnighter to 7 night stays all over Australia ia all weather conditions. Canvas is about 22kg and the poles/pegs 30kg so no lightweight but we had a LWB 89 Jackaroo and no trailer so we learnt to pack light and compact.
Current equivalent but a bit smaller are these NZ tents;

https://www.kiwicamping.co.nz/product/kakapo-5-canvas-tent

But at at $1500 they are a long term investment.

OJ.

[kiwi1973]

A little more background as to why I'm contemplating the Darche AirVolution. For last summer I purchased the Oztrail FastFrame 300 Plus. Initially I was super impressed with it, but sadly it only lasted one month of use. Now to be fair the one month that it lasted was a highly unusually windy NZ summer and the tent was constantly being knocked about by some pretty big wind gusts. Eventually a severe wind gust finally destroyed the tent, but by then it was already pretty much stuffed having been knocked flat a few times. The tent was ok for general use, but not a particularly heavy duty tent. For instance whenever it was knocked down by the wind, other tents around us were still standing fine. And as I'm an experienced camper the issue was not with my erecting the tent. The tent fabric was good and waterproof and the awning was pretty good, being able to properly shed water due to its ridge pole and thus not ponding water. But the steel used to make the 'fast frame' is thin and flimsy. As the tent sways in the wind it pretty quickly wears out. As it wears the frame becomes increasingly flimsy to the point that this significantly impairs set up.

I feel that some of the winds we had last summer could have potentially flattened any tent (even if as stated above it was just our tent that was knocked down), but what I like about an air frame tent is that when a wind gust exceeds the tents ability to stand it should be able to be momentarily knocked over, only to pop back up, with no shattered/bent/broken poles.

I have considered the Coleman Gold series 10p instant tent, but it too weighs in at 30kg and suffers from some of the same issues potentially as the OZtrail FastFrame. The AirVolution tent does look pretty darn heavy duty in construction. 210 denier is some weighty fabric that should be long lasting and robust. Darche have a couple of interesting videos - one shows a 4wd running over one of the inflated air poles without puncturing it. Another video shows a 4wd running over the tent - it is then just propped back up, re-pegged and it's all fine. I also really like that there is no separate fly to be put over the Darche after its inflated - it's an all in one design and I believe that with practice I'll be able to set this up on my own in just minutes. I do like the Kiwi Camping tent that Old Jack linked to above and if we did more stop in one place type camping I'd consider something like that, but we tend to tour and move on frequently. Additionally, whatever I buy now I have in mind to use our next international expedition across Central Asia in 2019, so this summer will be a test run for a new tent with that in mind.

[Phil]

My two cents after 30 plus years of camping.

Exped Megamat 10 for the win, I've had so many brands of these mats when they hit the market.

I've also have had many tents over the decades including buying for Scouts, the best so far, Black Wolf turbo lite 300.
I can set/pack it my self. Can throw it up in the garage roof (22kg) and it fits inside the back of the Pajero.
Sleeps 2 adults and 2 tall kids and travel bags no probs, can stand up in it and you can choose a canvas version as well.

I took a brand new Coleman pop up to Cape York, lasted 4 out of 5 hard weeks up and back.
Our friends had a Black Wolf and still have it 4.5 years later.

[old Jack]

The NZ made Sunshine Leisure tents from the late 1990's to the early 2000's had a silver roof canvas that had a 3000mm water head pressure and the walls where 2000mm. Very, very waterproof and when correctly guyed able to withstand 100+kph winds, they where used in Everest Base Camp. If you want a tough tent find a good secondhand one of these.

OJ.