We highly recommend spending a little extra and also buying the carpet for the 6XL for a bit of added luxury underfoot. Four seems to be the theme of this inflatable tent – there are four airbeams in total which take a fair bit of pumping because of the height of the overall structure. There’s a lot of air in them there beams! Look at it as a bit of holiday exercise – you can always treat yourself to a glass of wine afterwards!

Prime examples are the Ridgewood and the Greenburgh 7A inflatable tents, which share a 3+3+1 layout. Another example could be the Quechua Air Seconds 6.3, that has a strange 2+2(+2) layout that I didn’t particularly like, but it could work for some people. There are five airbeams in total which take a fair bit of pumping because of the height of the overall structure. There’s a lot of air in them there beams! One, quite recent, example could be the Lichfield Eagle Air 6, which is basically a Vango with a different logo, and it’s much cheaper. The bedrooms are smaller, but the porch is considerably bigger than the Berghaus Air 6XL’s.

The Air Seconds 6.3 is a 6-person tent and uses four air beams to supply support to the structure. Pumping up is simple but beware that this tent is the the only one in our list which does not come with its own pump. Instead, you are recommended to separately buy the 7PSI hand pump from Decathlon. We were unfortunately not given the Hydrostatic Head information for the 6XL, but can report that our test model was definitely waterproof and will survive a biblical deluge. Dometic have created a fairly unique ‘Safari Tent’ appearance which offers great internal space and height. We feel it approaches the comfort of a caravan and yet costs a tenth of the price of one and does not sit on your drive taking up masses of space when you’re not using it! The porch is supported by one of the old fashioned fibre glass tent pole things. I thought those had died out years ago! 😉 As mentioned, head height in the Antrim is substantial due to the pre-angled airbeams used to support the tent. They give an excellent arch and make walking around easy, even for tall folk like me.

I bought the Air gazebo last year by chance and they match well. Although a largish pitch is necessary, so may buy the Air side awning.

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The front of the Eurohike contains a couple of large plastic windows which provide great visibility. There are also two large air vents for ventilation. In a nice design touch, the whole front section of the tent can also be rolled up for summer camping fresh air – we love this flexibility, but do miss having a covered porch area. There is also carpet available for this tent which really helps with interior comfort. A tent with more than one door can help with airflow, assisting with ventilation and also gives you more flexibility to enter and leave the tent through the most convenient doorway. 8) Number and size of windows The Antrim is slightly shorter than the Coleman however (600cm vs 665cm) and less wide (380cm vs 450cm) which needs to be borne in mind – do you need the extra real estate? Height is ample at 210cm in both. You may not have heard of polycotton before – it is essentially a 65%/35% mixture of polyester (modern waterproof modern tent fabric) and cotton (traditional breathable canvas). By combining the two you get improved breathability but with similar waterproofing ability, as well as a natural feel. The Portal uses three inflatable arches to create two main rooms within – a front 300 x 260 cm lounge area having windows to the front and both sides, and a single large bedroom at the rear measuring 210 x 300cm. Blowing up the airbeams is a simple affair using the supplied hand pump and only takes a minute or two.