Do you remember your first holiday without your parents? I do and this year my own 17 year old will be heading away for a few days with her tribe. Six girls heading to V Fest for a weekend of music, dancing and fun. What can possibly go wrong? It can be hard to let your teenagers spread their wings but it is part of growing up and letting go. Here we put the Coleman Rocky Mountain 5 Person Tent Ideal Festivals to the test.
First Holidays
Going to a festival is a great first break, it is not too long and is a safe environment. The girls have been very lucky as were sent the Rocky Mountain 5 person tent
My memories of putting up a tent is that it was a faff. That it involved standing in corners holding tent poles whilst my dad ran around with the tent. I expected the girls to attempt to be a comedy of errors. Six girls quickly became three because one had a driving lesson, one was away and one CBA and was having her tea! So three girls armed with one Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award between them got started. The three are all quite dinky girls. But they showed that it doesn’t stop them.
Putting Up the Colman Rocky Mountain Tent
The 5 person tent
The girls only used the instructions that are printed in the bag but surprised me with how quickly they got it together. There are simply three sets of poles that thread through the fabric.
Then the tent pegs and ropes just need securing. It was a bit tricky in our garden as this is a substantial tent, therefore they did not pull the tent ropes as tight as it will be in a proper situation. However they made easy work of putting it up.
They had this tent up in just over 30 minutes and got very excited! It was quicker and easier than they thought. They now have more confidence that they can set up camp and be organised and ready to party!
Seeing just how easy it was has also encouraged me to take the children camping in the summer. The younger two bot want to sleep out and now I have said that we can go somewhere for a night or two. My misconceptions thought setting up a tent would still take hours, that I would not be able to put poles together. I didn’t realise how easy it is now. That modern tents are much better designed that literally anyone can do this.
Taking it down was also straightforward. It did take them a couple of attempts to get it back in the bag but they worked it out.
Do You Need Anything Else?
The only additional thing they needed was a rubber mallet to secure the pegs. They have now popped this in the bag ready for V Fest later in the summer.
Letting your teenager spread their wings is scary for parents. But giving them the skills and confidence to be resilient and learn how to co-operate is key. I am very happy now that the girls will be able to look after themselves and manage their camp. They just need to work out how much to take with them and how they will get it from the minibus to their pitch!
They haven’t quite got the hang of travelling light although wellies will be needed. To fit in with the festival vibe Chloe is taking these Bogs Footwear Wellies they are lightweight and waterproof. We love the pull on handles as it makes easy work of putting them on. Chloe has also realised that they can hang off her rucksack, keeping her hands free.
If you have any products or tips that will help the girls on their first festival caamping trip do let me know!
Disclosure: We were gifted the tent for the post.
