Click for a picture courtesy of Kyham

The Ontario 8 from Kyham has proved a popular choice for families looking for a solid piece of kit that isn’t a mind bender to erect. Thanks to it’s tunnel tent structure it is not even beyond a single layman to put this slick 8 berther up, though it’s always better to err on the side of caution and say that in general we’re looking at a two person construction. If your budget is around £200-300 and you’re looking for a family tent for 4-6 people, this tent should be on your list of possibles. If you’re sleeping 8 then of course this tent will pack them in, but the overall experience will be somewhat marred if you hope to spend some leisure time inside. After the 3×3 metre living space and 4 bedrooms the Ontario is left wanting for extra areas to inhabit, unless you opt to stick on Khyam’s fair weather sun porch.

So you’re interested in the way it looks and the price, but what’s it like to own one of these and use it? Well out of the box we’ve got a single bag that’s roughly the size of a large sports bag and it weighs in around 30kg. That’s a carry-able weight over a short distance if you’re able bodied, and if you’re not it’s quite reasonable to shift from a car boot to the ground without incident. Open it up and we’ve got a bright blue flysheet with a fully sewn in groundsheet that looks and feels to be a good quality of polyester and our pole set. The poles are colour coded and are made from 10mm diameter glass fibre, which is reassuring on a large tunnel tent. The flysheet is colour coded to match the poles and help you locate them, it also has a hydro-static head of 5000, so it’s at the top end of the scale in water proofness. What that means in reality is that this tent’s materials are able to resist well the worst of the weather and unavoidable problems like inners/items touching the flysheet when soaked, it’s also a breeze to put up.

Now everything’s out of the bag and we’re ready to put it up. Here’s a rough idea of the procedure

1. Lay out the flysheet where you want the tent to stand and free up the sleeves as much as possible to aid pole insertion.
2. Construct the pole sections and match the colour coded tapes to the bands on the flysheet sleeves then slide them in so that an equal amount of the sections remain visible at either end of the sleeve. (There are only 5 pole sections, and they don’t cross over in tunnel tent designs so it’s snag free easiness)
3. Place the ends of the poles onto the pins found around the base of the flysheet one section at a time until you have a series of semi circles laying on the ground.
4. Position yourself at the end of the tent where all the semi circles are facing away from you and pull using the corner pegging points so that the end stands up, then peg both corner points.
5. Stand the other end the same way, and peg it. Now peg the rest of the points plus guy ropes and hang the inner tents.

A really easy tent to put up and it pegs well if you keep everything taught and make sure you start with the four corners. The poles are all tensioned whilst the tent is on the ground and then the tent is stood up in a separate procedure. This is the beauty of tunnel tents and the Ontario happens to be a very well executed example of the style.

The tent’s up quickly and easily and it doesn’t break any backs when packaged, but it’s also a nice environment to camp in, which should be the point right? The sewn in groundsheet keeps things clean and tidy inside whilst stopping drafts, just be wary of keeping the doors open incase it rains, there is no shelter over the top of the doors to stop water pooling inside. Other neat touches include two cable entry points, a removable divider curtain in one of the bedroom ends to allow joining of the two double berth inners and wind activated air vents on the ends of the flysheet. The optional carpet adds a homely feel and some good insulation, so it’s worth considering.

When I worked in sales, this tent was a huge seller and will be again this year. We didn’t get many returns atall, only a few factory errors on the flysheet, which could be sorted easily. The only thing that is likely to interupt a trip with this tent is a broken pole or two because it’s a tunnel and will move a bit in wind. Just take some duct tape with you to make a quick fix and visit a decent camping shop for spares when you get home if this ever happens to you. I really rate this tent, especially for the price. Well worth considering.