Jack Wolfskin Travel Lodge RT Tent From  £908.99

After years of using cheap Coleman Instant Dome tents, I decided it was time to upgrade into something more spacious now that we're a family of four. The Jack Wolfskin Travel Lodge RT ticked all of the boxes on paper, and was offered at an extremely competitive price on CampingWorld (compared to local options here in Tokyo), so I decided to pull the trigger not knowing how long it would take to arrive given the covid situation, or how much Japanese customs would charge for import taxes. In the end, I'm extremely pleased. The tent arrived in 13 days, which I find quite impressive in a pandemic (big ups to all the essential postal workers out there). The tent is massive and extremely heavy, and you'll need a large camp site to set it up properly with all the rigging. You definitely need a car and a buddy to do this one proper.

Initial setup took about 40 minutes to get everything just right. Getting the main poles into their slot takes a bit of strength - I can't believe some of the reviews I've read of people claiming to have set it up alone. However, once it' standing, it's a thing of beauty. The main tent is very spacious, and the ground sheet extends throughout with a very clever tub floor that can be flattened or rolled up. We opted to remove the "third" room and roll the ground sheet halfway, giving a covered area to leave our shoes and park the cooler at night time. The entrance tarp is large enough to provide shelter in the rain and still have some tables and chairs underneath. There is storage everywhere, and so much ventilation that there was no moisture on the inside of the "bedroom" or main tent in the morning (our Coleman would be dripping wet). The materials feel and look premium, and the color combination looks great - light gray and dark gray (which keeps the bedroom area darker in the morning), with touches of burgundy and lime green. The guy lines are also done right, and corners have O-rings that combine 3 guys in one so you only need to hammer down one stake. The "awnings" that are supported by the additional poles give an extra premium touch. I feel like we went from the Toyota of tents to the Audi of tents with this one!

The travel lodge is a roomy tent with excellent windows pockets for storage tent is very easy to pitch with excellent poles lots of straps and guy ropes to be pegged which makes it very sturdy and doesn't move during gale force winds no leaks during heavy rain dries very quickly has 3 entrances 2 with a canopy and main one has a veranda which can be used for shade during sunshine and for cooking during bad weather very happy with our purchase and love the new colour