TENTS | Decathlon Quechua Arpenaz 4.1 Family 4 Man Tent Review

July 17, 2016 Shell Robshaw-Bryan

1 Comment

Family Camping, Homepage Feature, Reviews, Sponsored Product/Stay, Tent Reviews

Like it? Help us by sharing it!

What we tested

Decathlon Quechua Arpenaz 4.1 Family 4 Man Tent £1 3 9.99

Tent specification

Quick pitching traditional pole tent
2 room tent, sleeping up to 4 people
Withstands force 6 winds – around 50 km/h | Wind tunnel test
Waterproof – Tropical rain laboratory test under shower: 200 L of water per hour per sqm
Tent weight: 9.8 kg
Bedroom: 240 x 210 cm
Living room: 5 sqm with a tent height of 1.90 m

Pitching the tent

On arrival at Shell Island we set about putting the Arpenaz 4.1 tent up for the first time. The weather was grim, grey sky, drizzle and high winds, but thankfully erecting the Arpenaz 4.1 tent was a breeze, and we really like the fact that there is a fabric pitching guide sewn into the bag, so it’s impossible to lose.

Decathlon Arpenaz family 4+1 tent review

With the two of us, it took about 15 minutes in total, including clipping in the inner tent, and the bucket style groundsheet for the outer living area.

Interior space

Inside, the tent is spacious, and in our opinion, ideal for 2 adults or 2 adults and 1 child. In the living area we had two chairs, a camp table, and a small side table, plus shoes and both of our rucksacks, and there was plenty of room for it all.

Lantern hanging hooks — *One of 3 lantern hanging hooks inside the tent*

Inside the sleeping area however, if you are using nothing bigger than self inflating mats, you could fit 4 adults in side by side. We tried our double airbed inside, before determining that there was enough space to use our 2 double-height twin size airbeds; which together are significantly wider than the average double airbed.

Sleeping compartment — *Looking into the bedroom compartment of the tent*

Side view of tent — *The tent being buffeted by high winds at Shell Island July 2016*

The verdict

We’d had our eye on this tent since last season, and were delighted to find that it actually exceeded our expectations.

We are strong believers in the fact that you don’t always have to pay a fortune to get a decent, functional tent and the Decathlon Arpenaz 4.1 really does prove that. There really are not many standing height tents on the market at this size, and certainly not at this price point.

Bucket goundsheet — *Bucket style groundsheet in the living area*

We tested the tent at a coastal campsite and spent 3 nights in it, and the weather was terrible throughout. The wind was very high and did cause some rain to blow into the living area and pool inside the groundsheet in one corner, but it was nothing too major. Had the weather thrown at us just high winds OR torrential rain, I have no doubt that we would have experienced no pooling water at all.

Despite the torrential rain and strong winds, I feel that the tent stood up to the elements sufficiently well, and I was amazed that no poles snapped as the conditions were so bad, so we’d have no problem in recommending it as a solid budget tent buy.

Rain on flysheet — *Rain beading on the flysheet*

DISCLOSURE | Thank you to Decathlon for supplying the featured product for us to review. We were not paid to write this review.

Follow Shell

Shell Robshaw-Bryan

Editor & Owner at Camping with Style

Shell loves all things travel and outdoors and is a nature-loving, comfy-camping kinda girl. Shell started the Camping with Style blog after a serious snowboarding accident which left her with a broken back. Despite this she used the outdoors and healing power of nature to aid her recovery and she continues to spend time outdoors whenever she can.

From open water swimming, snowboarding and kayaking to hill walks and meditation, Shell shares her travels and microadventures here on the blog and in various publications she's written for, Shell has a particular interest in promoting wellbeing and the many benefits of nature therapy.

Follow Shell

Latest posts by Shell Robshaw-Bryan (see all)