Air Tent or Pole Tent??? Which is Best???

In this video I look at the pro's and cons of air and pole tents. Focussing on fibreglass pole tents versus their air beam cousins. Using examples form the many tents I have reviewed I look at price, size & weight, pitching and strength of each type of tent.

Example tents include:

Berghause Air 600, 800, 400 and 400XL

Hi gear Hampton 8, Zenobia 8 and Berghaus Adhara 500 and 700.

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[ericolima]

excellent video, lots of detail and comprehensive. Biggest differences are package size vs ease of pitching.

[martinwarner]

Top class review, very fair. My conclusion goes with yours Sir. Rubber dinghy's, paddling pools, anything that blows up with air does not last. Thank you for this video..

[ViscountCharles]

In terms of extreme heat, the gas laws tell me that a 20 degree rise in the temperature (which is about as much as you can reasonably expect) leads to a rise in the pressure of less than 7%. If air beam tents have burst because of this in the past, I suspect that it is something that has long been engineered out - that the bladders inside the tubes are pretty flexible and robust when it comes to overinflation (much like a bike's inner tube). The greater danger of overinflating your tubes will be the pressure that it puts on the stitching to the material which encases the tubes - it's not going to require more than a couple of PSI over the designed limit to start splitting seams - especially locally, if the tube bends or flexes in the wind.

You're right that a pole repair is easier, and way cheaper, than replacing a punctured bladder if you can't patch it; but patching it is a doddle. A fibreglass pole might need a pole splint (which is about the only spare I'd carry). The real difference is the way that the two poles fail; a slow leak on an airbeam is a bit of a pain as the tent will need pumping back up every few hours if you have a slow leak, but a fibreglass pole can cause serious damage to the tent fabric when it goes. I'd have given that one to the airbeam, but as you say it's very close; IF the pole breaking doesn't damage the fabric, it's a point in favour of the pole tent; otherwise I'd give it to the air tent.

In terms of strength, I'd make two observations. The first is again the failure mode; in high winds both are liable to collapse, but the pole tent is at risk of a catastrophic failure - the air tent is likely to pop back into shape. Second, I'm sometimes a bit wobbly on my feet - I can grab or lean on an airbeam for support and know it's going to hold me up; with a fibreglass or alloy pole, something's going to break.

As you say, the real decision is down to cost and to space, versus the convenience; I have a *smallish* 4-person airtent, and it's as big as I can comfortably carry (and anything larger would also not fit in our small car); but there's just the two of us using it; I can carry it and pitch it on my own, and for that I was willing to pay the 50% price premium. When weight and space are at a premium, as they are when I'm bikepacking, then it's a small poled 2-man tunnel tent I reach for. Which cost the same as the small family air tent, but when I bought it I was paying for small, strong and light (which never make for cheap bedfellows).

It's a "guy line", not a "guideline" BTW. The number of Youtube campers/tent reviewers that get this wrong ... were you lot never in the Scouts??

[stevehandley]

Very nicely conducted review - having clearly identified and explained criteria up front is important, as is the observation that the criteria don’t carry the same weight for all people.
I was interested in the maintenance aspect, as that had been a factor that disqualified air tents for me. Poles are so easy and cheap to repair provided you prepare yourself for it, but I did not realize that air beams are also relatively easy.

[Stacity]

In heavy wind the family pole tent will snap easily where as a air tent will handle any conditions .

[TheLordMuzzy]

Fair review, I’m a single Dad with two small children and will have to pitch it by myself so I think it’s the air tent for me.. 👍🏻

[liaomei]

That was very interesting and a very balanced narrative. I would like to mention one thing i noticed that so many show air tent being put up with manual air pump but these days who wants to use one of those when an electric one battery driven are so convenient. Also i noticed on this brand that there are a lot of separate air channels and means multiple reconnects for the air pump some models are superior that they just need one connection and go up in 15/20 mins from flat. frankly that approach seems the best for an air tent to me but i can see that the UK market is very price focused and not necessarily looking at the tent as something that they will have for a long time but more of a throw away item so this maybe why the channels are separate.

[simonmcclelland]

I bought an air tent and totally agree about the size and weight, I still carry a spare pole (from old tent) that “I think” would do as an emergency air beam inside the zipable space (although have been lucky enough not to have to test this theory yet)
The best part of an air tent though is how fast it can come down in the rain, let the air out and hide in the car whilst it totally deflates, then bundle it up and throw it in the car, put it in the bag when your home and it’s hopefully stopped raining 😂

[iandobson]

Interesting and informative review, thank you. I'd like to see the comparison extend to steel pole tents, which are still common and popular. I have a steel poled Outwell Montana 6 and awning, which I "upgraded" (ahem) last year to a second-hand Berghaus Air 6. Your observation about still having to peg out all the guy lines was spot on: in fact, I've found the bulk of the pitching time for each is the pegging out, so the overall time saving is not as great as you'd think. Another factor to consider is what happens when the tent is no longer new. With our much used Air 6, the bayonet fitting of the pump into the beam valves had become loose and kept popping out during inflation. Frustrating and ended up needing two people - one just to hold the pump fitting into the valve. A big advantage of steel poles is that they are MUCH stronger and more wind resistant than fibreglass. During a camping trip on the IoW in 2015, we caught the tail end of a hurricane from across the Atlantic. Our Montana and all the other steel poled and air tents survived pretty much unscathed, whilst the campsite was strewn with the remains of collapsed fibreglass poled tents. The big downside of steel poles, though, is weight, although this is offset somewhat as the poles come in a separate bag, so the total weight is split. (BTW - I sold the Air 6 and have gone back to the Montana).

[markstuart]

Just picked up the Berghaus Air 400, Superb bit of kit!

[NazSBG]

We've just bagged a used, in very good, like new condition, Berghaus Air 4 tent, on eBay for £146 plus £16 for Postage. Tent was £549 brand new and is selling on eBay, used for between £250-£300. We've got a right bargain.

Looking forward to camping in it very soon.

[pippahappy]

I suffer from bad back problems and haven't went camping for years as our old pole tent had become too difficult for me to put up. Bought an air tent hoping it will be easier to put up.

[leighbrownlow]

Love the Harry Hill and Street fighter reference, very funny 🤣

[michaelwear]

In a camping shop near me a member of staff said they get very few returns with air tents

[ronnythemenace]

Great pointers for both pole versions, and I do agree on all pointers except for the maintenance part which should be in my opinion a slight preference to the air tent, as the fiberglass poles are more likely to break for almost nothing in the pitching phase. The probability of changing three fiberglass poles if not more before changing even one air tube pole seems so much higher. Been there done that too 😜

Nevertheless, both aired beams and fiberglass poled tents hold just fine once they're up, even in strong winds. I had a fiberglass poled tent, Easycamp 600 Palmdale, during the summer storm, Hans, last summer in Sweden. The storm was a nightmare with a lot of strong winds and rain. The fiberglass poles was holding the storm without any issues, but the rain on the other hand was too much, so it started dripping rain inside from the ceiling and some water also came through the groundsheet.

So a new tent upgrade with higher water pressure resistance became unavoidable where we ended up with a new air tent, Outwell the Forestville 6SA, with no regrets on that decision, but we do need a small trailer now just because of the size of the tent package.

Anyways, just my pointers on the beam topic and thank you for making this video with very good pointers which are all spot on for any happy tent campers out there🙂

[dogsjenny]

Really interesting well done reviews . Do you do a similar review/comparison for smaller tents. I’ve just bought an RV 3 in Australia. It’s brilliant, very easy to do almost by myself but weighs over 19 Kgs and takes a lot of room . Friends carried it in their caravan. Having now seen air tents suitable to accommodate my 230x 90 stretcher needed to allow me to get out of bed 🎉as a reasonably active 84 yo. The tents I’ve looked at are Amazon generic brand packed at 6.8 kg. Quest outdoor 11.6 kg. Zempire pronto 13 .7 plus Ango Air at 6kg
The dimensions all around 240 internal so that’s not a worry. Cheers

[chewbarker]

it is a tuff call. I am looking to replace a 8 man pop up tent and have no idea which to go for

[Hobes]

An excellent informative video. Thanks!

[Nurwin]

Having had a Pole tent for years we took the plunge and went for an air tent. Rest assured i will never go back to a Pole tent. Air beam tents are superb and let's be honest unless you proactively take a knife or sharp object to the air beam getting a puncture is very unlikely. One other point they are quieter tents in the wind especially at night. They just don't generate as much noise as Pole tents do.

[Burtie]

Very comprehensive, thank you for the info