Tents on display

hobo57

I am in the market to buy a tent. I need a quality tent that will withstand a year long tour.
I have narrowed my choice down to a Terra Nova Voyager or Solar 2 or maybe a MSR Hubba Hubba.
The owner of a camping shop looked aghast :shock: when I asked him was it possible to see a tent on display. He said 'where would I put it up' and 'how could I sell it if you did'nt want it'
Is this the norm. Surely not.

Any suggestions as to where I might view a quality tent (London area) in real time.

john ponting

The Complete Outdoors http://www.completeoutdoors.co.uk/compl ... estore.php 10 mins from M25 J20 are showing the MSR Hubba 1 person on their site and the MSR Super Fushion.

Plenty of parking, some tents on display, normally enthusiastic beard behind the till.

Give them a ring.

timbooth

I was in Snow And Rock near Covent Garden the other Sunday and, whilst the assistants in there no nothing about what they sell (he admitted that he didn't ever use a tent) he was more than happy to unpack the whole thing, get the instructions out of the pack and help me erect it, there and then in the shop! I didn't buy it in the end, but don't feel guilty - if I can't see a tent or understand how easy it is to put up, I won't buy it.

You are right to go elsewhere!

PHcp

Give Terra Nova a ring, you'll find them very helpful and they'll tell you who your local stockists are.
TN contact

It might even be worth getting a cheap train up to Derbyshire. They have some tents in the factory clearance sale or they sometimes offer a part exchange deal. They've recently moved, they used to have a field where the tents were up for testing, I expect they have something similar at the new place. Being UK based might also be an advantage for after sales service.
You could combine a visit to TN with one to Alpkit if you needed any other stuff.

hammerite

PHcp wrote:

Give Terra Nova a ring, you'll find them very helpful and they'll tell you who your local stockists are.
TN contact

It might even be worth getting a cheap train up to Derbyshire. They have some tents in the factory clearance sale or they sometimes offer a part exchange deal. They've recently moved, they used to have a field where the tents were up for testing, I expect they have something similar at the new place. Being UK based might also be an advantage for after sales service.
You could combine a visit to TN with one to Alpkit if you needed any other stuff.

and if you go up to Derbyshire look out for a Yeomans tent display. They usually commandeer a different field by the A6 for a week at time selling tents. MIght be the wrong time of year for it now though!!