TENTS | Bell Tent Boutique Touareg Bell Tent – Review

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Bell Tent Boutique Touareg Bell Tent

What is it?

5m x 4m Touareg Canvas Tent By Bell Tent Boutique.

Features

  • The Original 5m x 4m Touareg – One of the largest Touareg’s available
  • Luxury tent with heavy duty 540gsm waterproof PVC zipped in groundsheet. 285 g per sqm 100% natural cotton canvas
  • Pack Size 1m x 40cm x 40cm – 50kg pack up weight Tested to BS5852 fire retardancy standards
  • Heavy-duty YKK vislon® zips with our Bell Tent Boutique branded zipper
  • Secondary mosquito doors. External window blinds
  • Mosquito net windows one side and PVC rainproof windows on the opposite side
  • Thick reflective turquoise guy ropes and extra strong rock pegs
  • Unclip & lay flat groundsheet at front doors
  • Access point for EHU
  • Heavy duty galvanised pegs for guys and extra set of pegs for apron
  • Spring loaded 32mm diameter centre pole
  • 1.3mm thick. 2 x Spring Loaded 22mm door frames
  • Canvas treated with UV colour fast, mould, rot & water repellent
  • Branded metal guy lock tensioners
  • Ground sheet material on bottom of the bag
  • PVC lined canvas peg & pole bags
  • Pole hook for lighting etc.
  • Canvas and groundsheet patch for repairs
  • Comes with a full 12 months manufacturers warranty
Bell Tent Boutique

I bought my first bell tent 6 years ago and I much prefer sleeping under canvas rather than nylon. It’s cooler in summer, warmer in winter and reassuringly sturdy in wind.

I have found the older I get the more I like my home comforts. I like space to move around and my tent was becoming a little crowded, so I decided to upgrade.

It was a toss up between a 6 metre bell tent and the 4 x 5 metre Touareg. I decided on the Touareg tent because the footprint of the tent wasn’t that much bigger than my existing bell tent but thanks to the additional height from the straight walls, it gave me significantly more usable space.

Since the tent is only for single occupancy it might seem a bit excessive to require so much space, but by the time I get in my double size, double height air mattress, clothes hanging rail, cooking station and table and chair, I found I was tripping over things.

Bell Tent Boutique Touareg Bell Tent

I’ve also had my eye on a wood burning stove, which needed far more space than I currently had in my old bell tent.

I decided not to purchase a tent with a flu flap already fitted because I wanted the flexibility to decide where I wanted to position the stove once all my gear was inside rather than having the position of the stove dictate where I can put my gear.

Bell Tent Boutique do offer a retro fit service though, so once I’ve used my tent a few times I’ll probably get them to fit a flu flap for me.

Bell Tent Boutique Touareg Bell Tent

First impressions

My initial thought when the tent was delivered was ‘blimey, it’s heavy!’. I am fairly strong but I wouldn’t advise this for someone prone to a bad back and at a whopping 48kg, it’s well beyond the safe maximum lifting limit for one person to handle on their own.

If packed away wet it could very well be too heavy for me to move by myself. Luckily I have great friends that I usually camp with that I can call on to assist, but if they aren’t around I’m probably going to need to unzip the canvas from the groundsheet and move them separately.

Bell tent boutique tent reivew
Excellent quality pegs, guys and sliders

The bag has a waterproof bottom which can be easily wiped down if it is dirty before it goes into your car but also makes it easier to drag like a sledge on grass, a good idea considering the weight. The bag has a double ended zipper and the tent loads along the length of the bag so it makes it incredibly easy to get it back in the bag if you’ve folded it correctly.

Bell Tent Boutique Touareg Bell Tent
Usable space inside the Touareg

When I unpacked it the guy lines needed attaching, not a job that can easily be done unless you’ve got somewhere to lay the tent down fully flat. I also checked all the zips. Bell Tent Boutique give a 12 month warranty but it does not extend to zips so they recommend you to check them before you use it.

Bell Tent Boutique Touareg Bell Tent
Heaps of space inside even with my large double camp bed and furniture

Pitching the tent

When I put it up for the first time I found the technique to be very similar to my bell tent. Peg down the edges of the groundsheet, then push the centre pole into place before putting in the door frames front and back, then finally pegging the guy ropes into place.

Shell (5.6″) demonstrating how much head space there is inside the tent

There are a third set of pegs to use to pull the bottom edges of the tent outwards over the groundsheet, since the groundsheet is zipped in I’m not sure how necessary they are, so maybe next time I’ll try it without.

From start to finish it took about half an hour to put up the first time but I expect that time to get quicker with practice.

Practicality

The internal space, it’s huge! Even for someone like me that brings large amounts of gear. Normal use would easily accommodate a family of four and everything they need fit comfortably and still have space to move around.

Bell Tent Boutique Touareg Bell Tent

The double doors with fly mesh are wonderful, they allow you to open the tent to allow a breeze through the tent on a hot day whilst keeping flies out.

I was also impressed with the windows, it’s quite unusual to have a window in a canvas tent. They open from the outside the window covers are the same canvas as the tent and are zipped in along 2 sides. When the zips are done up it’s hard to tell there is a window at all.

 Bell Tent Boutique Touareg tent review

I do have a minor niggle with this tent and found that the door tie backs aren’t quite long enough and when used cause part of the ground sheet to become unzipped, so to get around this issue, I extended them myself to make them a more generous size.

As suspected, the only real down side I’ve found is the sheer weight of the tent. However, I knew it was going to be heavy when I bought it so I was prepared for this, but I’d strongly recommend ensuring there are two people available to carry and pitch this tent due to it’s weight.

Touareg tent review

The verdict

Our Rating

Quality 4.5/5

Practicality 4.5/5

Looks 5/5

Value 4/5

Overall Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5)

So the big question is would I recommend the Bell Tent Boutique Touareg tent? Yes absolutely and without a shadow of a doubt.

Touareg tent review

There’s much more usable space than in a similarly sized bell tent, it looks beautiful and that bit different and offers practical features like windows, as well as large doors at the front and back.

I love it and from the comments I received from friends, they have fallen in love with it too!

Bell Tent Boutique

DISCLOSURE | The featured product was purchased privately and we were not paid to write this review.