FOR A family starting out in camping, this is as good a beginner tent as any. The Buckingham is spacious, bright and airy with two massive windows and side entrances allowing light to pour into the living area. 

It’s relatively easy to pitch; four fibreglass poles are pushed through colour-coded sleeves on the flysheet, with pins inserted into each end of the poles to push them into shape. As with most tents of this sort, this can be a bit fiddly and time consuming, especially if you’re trying to do it on your own.

Once the poles are in place, it’s simply a case of pegging the outer tent into position and pegging out the bright red guylines before installing the bedrooms and the groundsheet. If you are pitching in wet weather, the fact that the flysheet goes up first ensure that the inner tent remains dry.

The Buckingham allows you to have two bedrooms at the rear, both capable of housing a double airbed, with the option of another, larger, double room at the front. If you don’t need the third bedroom, it opens up an impressively large living area with space for all sorts of storage units and kitchen equipment. Even with all the rooms in place there is plenty of space for cooking, eating and playing, although it does mean storage is at a premium.

The bedroom pods have sewn-in groundsheets and are easily attached to the outer tent with toggles. Storage pockets provide a useful place to keep torches, iPods, books and phones etc.

Camping says A good-priced family tent that offers plenty of living and sleeping space for up to six people. It may not offer lots of bells and whistles but it’s perfectly adequate for a family to use on a two-week summer break. And although lightweight in construction, the Buckingham is pretty sturdy, standing up well to the strong winds that occasionally whipped up when we were using it.
 

MORE INFORMATION

Price £149.99 (was £299.99)
Packed size 32cm x 68cm
Materials Outer 2000mm hydrostatic head Polyester Inner Polyester Groundsheet Polyethylene Poles Fibreglass/steel
Dimensions Outer 605cm x 260cm Bedroom 1 260cm x 140cm  Height 220cm Bedroom 2/3 210cm x 150cm Height 200cm

Sleeps 6
Packed weight 16.95kg
Pitching time 30 minutes
Style Tunnel


CONTACT

Eurohike
Tel 0800 3895861 Web www.millets.co.uk


This review was published in the August 2011 issue of Camping magazine. Order our latest issue.