If you are looking for a spacious tent that is easy to erect then you need look no further.
Description:
The tourer 400 is a 4 person tent that has a central living space and two bedrooms, one to the right and one to the left. The main section is high enough for us to stand up in and both bedrooms are well sized. The tourer 400 is offered in khaki/dark green/pistachio colour scheme so may be a little on the boring side if you like a stand out colour for your tent but its functionality more than makes up for that.
Erecting the tent:
I've been a fan of Khyam's external click pole system since I first used it 12 years ago. The ease and speed of putting up the tent is worth every penny. To erect the tent you pull up on a central point at the roof apex and then click opposing elbow joints into place. Next you extend the 4 poles to the finished height and the main part is up. The bedrooms are stiffened by threading through 2 shock corded poles but these are simple to do as there are no long sleeves for it to get snagged in. The tourer 400 just uses short sleeve sections to guide the bedroom poles into place. Inferior tents use this system for the whole tent and it can take 3/4 times longer to pitch, especially if you are a novice camper.
Features:
The tent is supplied with a generous amount of pegs and guy ropes so can be firmly secured in no time at all.. A nice touch is the mud wall around the tent's edge which will probably come in handy in the next few weeks given the current weather. The 2 doors are very large and can be propped up to make a large porch covering which is perfect for cooking under. The tent is also made with great through vents in each bedroom and overall the whole thing feels very airy and not at all restricting.
As you would expect from a quality make the tourer 400 also is very waterproof and Khyam supply a repair kit and a selection of spare parts with each tent. We also bought the relevant footprint groundsheet which would be a wise investment to help protect such a great tent.
When packed away, which is also an easy process, the tourer 400 packs down into a quite small bag considering its size when pitched, although some may need two to lift the bag as it is relatively heavy. Khyam tents are not the cheapest on the market but you really do get what you pay for with them. Our nearest camping shop had them at what we thought was a reasonable price but we saved a further £40 by searching and shopping online. Some retailers also offer seconds at a cheaper price again. These seconds are not damaged but are ex showroom or demonstrator models. As such they are only available in limited amounts and sell out very quickly. If you do get one you will have secured a genuine bargain.
(+) Size, waterproof - quick to erect for size - smaller to carry/load compaired to others. (-) Pole ropes dodgy(?), tricky to shut zip without adjusting pegs, need to tether v. well.
