Wild Country Family Khamsin

The ever popular Family Khamsin makes a great base for 2 adults and up to 3 children.

Site	Price	Postage	Total
	£425.00	£4.50	£429.5

   User Reviews

General comments: Very disappointing and over-priced tent, given its poor performance. We have been very satisfied with the performance of smaller tents from this company over more than 15 years. Now with 3 children, we needed something bigger. Our Family Khamsin could not cope with windy weather in May at a coastal campsite in NW Scotland. You might well say 'but it can get very windy in Scotland in summer'. Exactly! this is why we bought a Wild Country tent and not a Happy Camper/ Sun packer type cheapo tent. Incidentally the cheaper tents all coped much better with the wind, having been designed with lots of guys. Our tent was flattened by the wind which had veered round a few hours after we pitched it. (None of the Quasars in the campsite were even flapping; 3 Khamsins wre flattened, 1 ripped; Happy Camper types all survived unscathed although flapped alarmingly all night.) 3 years later we are even less impressed, see below:

Pros: Spacious and open design which works well if there is no rain or wind.

Cons: 1. In even mild side winds the tent flattens due to inadequate side guy ropes. 2. Any rainfall drains straight into the inner tent if the outer doors are at all open. (Many budget tents have an extra gusset to avoid this.) 3. The outer tent becomes so taut in warm weather that it is impossible to close without getting dangerously close to ripping the zip out. All tents shrink in the heat but most are designed to cope with it properly. 4. The peg and guy points for the outer do not properly keep drainage clear of the ground-sheet. IMPORTANT POINT: We know at least 4 other dissatisfied Family Khamsin owners!

General comments: I have the Wild Country Monsoon which have been really excellent. As my son has now reached manhood I needed a larger family tent and the separation is welcome for everyone. It has also worked well taking it fdown with a friend to Le Mans (twice this year). I have been immensly impressed with the design features and build quality of the Monsson. On the back of this I have purchase the 2007 Family Khamsin. There are several feature of the Khamsin that make it much easier to install such as colour-coded poles and tabs into which they go. The instructions are not the most comprehensive and it take several trips to work out the optimum positioning of the two ends of the tent. Is it easy to pitch single handed? Yes!! I even pitched it in near pitch dark at Cornbury with just the aid of a small torch. No trouble! (although I had already used it a few weeks for the first time so the drill was partly rehearsed). Those experiencing trouble will have generally pitched the ends too far apart and when the fabric shrinks in dry weather it can be a nightmare to get the zips done up (in some cases its is simply not possible). The only option is to readjust all the pegs. There is a cunning plan in the design and it you get it right then it's not a problem at all; it's just that it's not at all well explained in the instructions and much trial and error is needed, I remain very pleased with the tent. It's been associated with some cracking trips; lovely holidays and lousy weather and I feel warmly towards it as it has always worked exactly as it should.

Pros: It's comfortable and stable and quite good looking. The quality of the kit is excellent and I'd recommend the additional groudsheet protectors. Ventilation is subtle but good (no condensation). Coped well with very heavy rain with absolutely no hint of leakage (doors need to be fully shut). Having groundsheet in central area is good. The colours are pleasing and restful and the fabric didn't flap. The extra support poles for making a door into awning work well. the bi-sided construction is good for being able to choose the optimum side for exit/entrance.

Cons: The Instructuions are incredibly basic. If they described how to position the two ends of the inner tent correctly they would be onto a winner. The fabric does tighten and slacken considerably in changeable conditions. It's important to anticipate the weather and slacken/tighten the guys regularly (as anyone who has slept under genuine canvas will know). I'd like a few more of their light weight alloy pegs as there are not enough if one deviates from the designed pitching regime. Tends to let water in onto central groundsheet if outer canvas is wet when exiting.

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