Camping Centre Exhibition – Wokingham
| Published» 26/08/08Heading off to my first camping exhibition I was excited, not only do I love camping but the idea of being able to spend the day amongst tents and getting a good look inside sounded like great fun. The Camping Centre was holding one of its three annual exhibitions in Wokingham so I thought I would have a browse.
Arriving at the site I was amazed at the spread before me, a huge field covered in brand new tents just waiting to be explored. Overall 5 brands had their wares on show and in addition Triango was showcasing their Silver edition folding caravans.
There was a wide range of tents for various camping trips, from the single man backpacking expedition tent to the large comfortable family size tents for the summer holidays. Indeed it was the larger tents that were attracting most of the attention with quite a few families looking for their next camping purchase. The ones that seemed immediately popular were the Khyan range and the Sunncamp range. Both provide lots of space and have handy compartments to separate the children and the adults, and even have spare space for your wardrobe. I particularly like the look of the Sunncamp range as they use an interesting combination of shapes and colours in their design which I find looks modern and comfortable. My favourite is the Prism which looks stunning, due to its unique use of triangles, and as an 8 berth tent has loads of room.
Another range that was worth taking a look at was the Vango tents, I love how Vango use space, and they always make sure there is plenty of storage space, even in their backpacking ultralite and mountain range. Right the way through their range of tents Vango put careful consideration into the shape and design of their tents, and I find that they look sturdy and not too complicated to assemble.
In contrast I wasn't particularly impressed by the Coleman range. I thought the backpacking, expedition tents were claustrophobic and the larger family tents were stuck on the concept of a linear tent, that did not seem as family friendly as the more centralised, rounded designs of the other brands on show.
Overall I enjoyed my time looking around, and checking out what was in store for the summer. The tents on show were impressive and they all seemed reasonably priced. Being a warm sunny day made all the difference, I'm sure all would stand up to heavy rain but there is bound to be one or two that look inviting when the weather takes a turn for the worse, which unfortunately it seems to have done this summer. Here's hoping for a hot sunny September.
Useful links:
http://www.campingcentrelondon.co.uk/
http://www.vango.co.uk/
http://www.colemancamping.co.uk/
http://www.khyamcamping.co.uk/
