When we were invited to be official Camp Bestival Bloggers, it wasn’t long before we realised we had no camping equipment at all. So a collaboration with Cotswold Outdoor was just what we needed, thanks guys!
The most important thing on our wish list was a tent. I wanted a big tent, so it would make things easier with a toddler and LOTS of kids stuff packed in there. We were sent the Vango Beta 450 XL four man tent. Which has one large sleeping pod, that could take two double air beds side by side and a larger section for storage and/or use during the day.
The tent was really simple to put up, which is so important for us. When you arrive in a new place with a toddler, you need speed, as their minds and their feet are soon wandering. To make things easier lots of the clips are colour coded, so it is just a case of matching colours. There was a second skin to the tent, which meant no moisture from outside ended up inside and there was a large window on the opposite side to the door, for extra light. Baby and I actually took the tent down ourselves, while Mr Hubby was taking our first load of luggage back to the car and I can confirm that it was so quick and easy to disassemble, even with a toddler’s ‘help’.
The Coleman Durarest air bed was really comfortable and quickly inflated with our battery-powered pump. The bed remained inflated and when you are ready to go home, it can be rolled up and has handles for ease of transportation, ‘wrap ‘n’ roll’. We received two Vango Stratos 250 sleeping bags. They weren’t the most generous sleeping bags, but were super comfortable and had a fleecy foot part for extra warmth, which was lovely.
My only issue, was that ideally I would have liked to be able to stand up in the tent. Having a bad back, the constant stooping was a little painful. However, this is not a negative comment on this tent, just that I need a larger tent before we go camping again!
Cotswold Outdoor have a great range of outdoor camping and sports equipment and were a real pleasure to deal with.
Disclosure: We were sent these products in return for an honest review.
