BellTent 5 Metre
Summary
Price At Time Of Writing | £679
Our Overall Rating | 75 out of 100
Pros - Durable, high quality, classic design
Cons - Heavy, no mesh on openings
Overall - Classic and strong, but a heavier option
Technical Specifications
Packed Size - 96x45x45cm
Weight - 30 kg
Sleeping Size - 19.63 sqm
Our Analysis & Ratings
This is a classic, proper teepee-shaped canvas tent that brings with it all the durability (and weight) of its sturdy materials. We liked that it consists of only one single pole, unlike a lot of other tents of this style, which makes it easy to pitch - but watch out for wind.
Comfort - Being a conical teepee, it does feel slightly more closed-in in the headspace than a yurt-style teepee, but at 3.5m tall there's plenty of room to move around. Its 5m diameter fit our two queen inflatable mattresses, or it would take 8 people on sleeping mats. We did however find it a little hot even with the roof vent open, as with no mesh openings there was no way to bring air in and keep bugs out.
Construction - This was a well-constructed tent made of water-, UV- and mould-resistant canvas that felt pleasingly heavy-duty. The water rating of 10,000mm HH for the groundsheet in particular is far above many of the groundsheet ratings we reviewed, and we found there wasn't a shred of dampness during our testing.
Features - This tent is reasonably lightly featured, with an externally opening and closing roof vent and zip-on/-off groundsheet. We did like that the front door was pad-lockable, great for drunken festivals, and also that at minimum, you can pitch it by just putting up the one central pole and staking out the base (caveat: if it's windy and you have to stake out all the guy lines, there are quite a lot of them - on the bright side, once the guy lines are out, the shape of the tent makes in naturally very wind resistant).
Size/ Weight - There's no getting around it - it's a heavy, bulky canvas tent.
Versatility - This would be a really nice option for longer-term setups - if you're going to be moving around a lot then due to its weight and bulk we'd suggest choosing another option.
Overall - A classic, quality teepee, but heavy.
