Tough enough to withstand the Aussie weather and kids
When you’re camping in the Aussie bush, you want a tent tough enough to withstand extreme weather conditions and constant use. And if you have kids then your tent has to be able to cope with the little and big, often grubby, camplings who can cause havoc!
The Campmor Safari Bow is our main family hire tent because ‘tough’ is its middle name. Everything about it is ‘heavy duty’. The floor is tough and so is the canvas. It has strong zippers and frame and it lasts in the harsh Aussie sun.
What you might not know is that if a regular synthetic tent and some other canvas tents are set up for more than a few days, the fabric starts to perish or lose its waterproof effectiveness. (That’s why you see some tents at the local campgrounds with tarps overhead.)
We put the Safari Bow tents to the ultimate test over the Christmas holidays when we hired to a school holiday pony camp. For a total of seven weeks the tents were up and, each week, home to campers aged 6-15. The zippers were constantly opened and closed and never snagged. We had a severe storm or two, strong winds and endured the Brisbane summer heat. On the inside – shampoo was spilt, lollies stuck, and muddy boots tramped.
The Safari Bow tents didn’t just survive. After a quick mop and wipe down, they looked almost new. The only indicator of use was the slight fading of some of the cotton hems.
We were pleased to discover that despite the summer heat the temperature inside the Safari Bow was fairly stable. Sleeping-in is an option as the dark canvas keeps the early morning sun out. And it took longer for the tent to ‘heat up’. The venting all-round helped keep the air moving and although it was warm inside, it certainly wasn’t unbearable. And at night it was almost ‘cool’. Even the campers said so.
The no-seam mesh gave campers privacy so they change without closing up the entire tent, and without the risk of the ‘outside world’ seeing in.
Tough enough to be left permanently set-up. Tough enough for weeks of use at a kids holiday camp. Tough enough and cool enough to give you a ‘safari-style’ camping experience. I guess that’s why the Safari Bow is permanently set up at Cockatoo Island, Sydney and Dubbo Zoo, as their choice of eco-resort camping accommodation.
The details
The Safari Bow is easy to set up with a simple steel pole dome and clip hooks. It takes us about 20 minutes to get the tent up and ready for use. You can walk in and stand up and it comfortably sleeps four in bunks or five on inflatable sleeping mats. It is heavy at 35kg, so if you are hiking – this is not the tent for you, but for long term family camping it is a great choice with accessories if you want to ‘extend’ your internal living space.
It’s also expensive. But if you are looking at investing in a tent like this, then try it out before you buy.
Hire camping gear and lightweight hiking equipment from Support Crew Brisbane. Or join us on one of our outdoor family hiking adventures.