Okay, okay, I know I plug ALDI a bit but I promise I am not getting paid by the bargain supermarket for this. I honestly just love their Special Buys, especially when they have something random that I’ve been thinking we need.
Well, this week I’ve been researching tents because, like a lot of families, we are going camping these October school holidays. And you know what I find in my ALDI brochure today? Instant pitch tents.
So are they any good?
Here’s what I’m thinking.
No pitching fights
The annoying thing about camping, especially with kids, is how long it takes to put up a tent. Little ones don’t have a lot of patience and their whining only adds to the pain of pitching a tent.
I’ll also be the first to admit putting up our too-small-for-us-now tent usually results in a few curse words between my husband and I as we fiddle with poles and trying to work out which way the fly goes.
For this reason, I’ve been looking for an instant pitch tent for us. No more fights!
These tents are apparently a breeze to put up, in under two minutes. This is because the frame is already put together. You literally just pull it up and peg here and there.
Done.
Here’s ALDI’s version which is on sale this Saturday (14th) and how it goes up:
But where is the fly?
The ALDI tent has a gazebo-style fly with a decent sized awning, whereas the fly on most traditional tents, and other more expensive instant up tents on the market, covers the entire frame. This is for double layer protection from the elements.
For this reason, I am a little dubious of this tent. Will it keep us dry/protect us from the wind?
Too small?
The ALDI tent comes in two sizes, a four-person and a six-person.
While you could squeeze four people in the four-person, generally, tent manufacturers recommend fewer bodies if you want to store bags and belongings as well. So the six-person is probably more like a four-person and a four-person might suit a couple.
The dimensions for the six are, 300cm (W) x 270cm (L) x 190cm (H) to give you an idea (and yes, that is tall enough to stand up!).
Personally, I would like a tent with a bit of room to hang out in if it rains. For this reason, I’ve been looking at the 8-10 person models.
If ALDI had one of these in an eight-person though, I might be tempted, because …
The price is good!
The four-person tent costs just $129, and the six is $179.
Compared to similar products on the market, this is very, very good.
So perhaps an ALDI instant pitch tent would be good for those quick weekends away that are not too far away (so if it pours you can come home!), or even if you are just wanting to pitch a tent for a night and don’t want the hassle of it taking ages. I mean it’s cheap, so maybe this makes it worth it?
Personally, I will continue my search for the perfect tent for us, but I WILL, however, be picking up some of ALDI’s other camping accessories they have this Saturday, such as:
A single airbed for $14.99:
A camping char for $24.99:
A portable fridge for $499:
A cast-iron cooking set for $99.00:
A light with a bug zapper for $19.99:
