We recently launched our first competition to become a Product Tester for Decathlon UK, and our first competition prize, a Quechua 2” XL Air III tent and Sleepin’ Bed Camp double, was won by Sue Tang, a customer at Decathlon Lakeside. Sue has previous camping experience, spending time with her family at campsites with all the basic facilities. Over the Bank Holiday weekend, Sue and her family had their first chance to test the products, and here is her review.
“The Quechua 2” XL Air III tent is very light, and as it folds up flat in a hoop shape, in terms of storage and portability it is absolutely wonderful as it does not take up much space. Once I loosened the yellow banding and unclipped the yellow and red clips, the tent just popped up on its own and into shape. Wow! Then of course it must be anchored down, but that was easy and pitching the tent was very quick.
Pitching the XL Air III tent was very easy.
“Taking down and packing up the tent has never been easier. Once I clipped the 2 red clips the tent was already down and lying flat for me to reverse the process, i.e. clip the yellow clips and put on the yellow banding to stop it from popping up again. In my opinion the colour co-ordinated clips were the most useful feature as when they were clipped together it made taking down the tent easier. The only difficulties I experienced was that I found pulling the tent into a figure of eight shape before folding it over required quite a bit of physical strength, but otherwise I didn’t experience any problems with the tent.
“The tent was tested during a torrential downpour but due to the roundness of the tent, the rain just rolled off. The inside the tent is double lined with a netting layer to keep bugs out and has lots of ventilation. It also has lots of pockets for storing things which is a great feature. During the downpour the windows and the door were very well sealed so the inside stayed warm and dry. From a parent’s point of view, there was nothing sharp, hanging or dangerous inside the tent so it is definitely safe for young children to stay without any harm.
“The Sleepin’ Bed was easy for us to set up – we have an electric air pump which we plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter and blew up the bed in 2 minutes. The Sleepin’ Bed is very comfortable and comes with a very light quilt fitted with elastic in the corners and hooks on the side so that the quilt stays put through the night. The light quilt was sufficient in August but I can imagine that extra blankets would be required during other times of the year. However, I did not feel constricted in the Sleepin’ Bed as I often do in a sleeping bag.
The Sleepin’ Bed inside the tent.
“Overall the quality and the design are absolutely excellent. There are some lovely camp sites in Essex but next year we will venture into Wales or Scotland with our lovely new tent and equipment.”
We’re glad Sue enjoyed the tent and the Sleepin’ Bed and thank her for the review, and we’ll have more opportunities for you to become a Product Tester for Decathlon UK later this year – keep checking our Facebook page and Twitter account for the latest information!
Decathlon UK 