As with most types of accommodation, size does matter! In fact with camping or glamping it’s even more important to get the right size tent. With space at a premium, having enough room for everyone to sleep and move around comfortably is important. Especially if the unpredictable British weather potentially keeps you inside that bit of extra space could make a real difference to your camping holiday!

There are various size bell tents available, but the most common sizes are 3 metre, 4 metre and 5 metre, if you think you may need something larger you can also find 6 metre or 7 metre and even Emperor (double) bell tents in the UK too.

So, how do you decide on which size is best for you? Well, first things first, think about the size of your party. If it’s just going to be two of you for weekend getaways with blow up beds, then a smaller tent should give you enough space. However, larger groups and families, or those bringing pets and proper glamping beds and furniture, should think big for a more relaxed and comfortable longer holiday.

Whilst these dimension might sound like a large amount of space, when deciding on which size you also need to factor in the sloping ceiling, which does eat into usable space in a bell tent. To give you a little help on which size tent would best suit you, here’s a few specs on the standard sizes.

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For those who have slept under canvas, it’s very hard to go back to anything else. The way the light filters through your tent, the feel and look of this natural fabric offers a very different camping experience. It can however need some TLC. The key thing is to understand the way to look after it and it will last you for years and years.

As the majority of your tent will be made from it, there are a few things to consider when buying a canvas tent.

Firstly the canvas weight, a good rule of thumb is to buy the heaviest weight canvas you can afford.

The most common canvas weight in the market is 285 GSM which is ideal for recreational use, most users will find this weight suitable in terms of practicality and cos, but not as practical for long term pitching. Heavier weight canvas tents of around 360 GSM can be better suited to longer term pitching, but remember, heavier canvas equates to a heavier tent bag to carry!

Check if the tent is 100% natural canvas or wether it has a pvc lining or a treatment of the inside. Tents with lining inside the canvas or a treatment on the inside may loose the some of the benefit of natural canvas – the breathability. You don’t want to buy a natural canvas tent only to find the lining or treatment inside means it gets condensation on the inside!

You may find bell tents are bigger and heavier to carry than a regular polyester tent, 5 meter tents weight around 32kg.

Something to conciser if you’ll be carrying your tent to your pitch, this is especially true if the tent is wet during take down.

Remember you should never pack a canvas tent away wet as this will result in the dreaded mould ruining your tent. Canvas tents can take a longer time to dry than a polyester tent does and so you may need to dry it in the home or garage before storing it away.

If you’re considering using a stove, you should be aware that whilst canvas tents are more fire resistant than a polyester tent they are not fully fireproof, so caution should be exercised. If you want a fully fireproof tent then look for tents that conform to British standard BS 5438 and BS 7837 this id a “Fireproof” version of regular bell tents.

When you initially use a bell tent, you may have to go through some “weathering”. This means allowing the fabric to get wet and then dry out a couple of times.

Because of the way canvas is made, bell tents may not always be fully waterproof on their first use. It’s possible some water may form on the inside of the canvas.

Firstly don’t panic! To be fully waterproof, the fabric will just need to be wet, and once dried it will knit together, making it fully waterproof. Some people will give their tent a good wetting down with a hose and leave it to dry prior to their first trip away.

All the canvas tents are pre-treated with mould resistor and waterproofing, but depending on the amount of use, it can be worth re-treating every year. With a canvas tent it is also important to check for mould, always clean away any spills and stains or the inevitable bird droppings as quickly as possible.

At first, it may sound like canvas takes a lot of care and attention but, the benefits and its durability far outweigh the general maintenance. After a night under a canvas tent you’ll be hard pushed to want to sleep in a polly tent again.

As well as a standard centre pole you can buy bell tents with or without an A-frame around the door. An A-frames is a valuable addition to your bell tent as it will create a raised entrance area. Bell tents without A-frames around the entrance can on occasions have issues with water entering via the front door.

Most poles are spring loaded to help when putting up, the centre pole diameter is also important to check though, 32mm diameter is a good size for durability.

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Guy ropes come in two variety’s – man made fibre or traditional sisal rope. On wet pack ups sisal can stay damp for longer and create mould if packed away damp. However as sisal guys and ash sliders do look nice, you could opt for the best of both worlds by opting for a set of each.

It’s well worth paying attention to the zips by trying to choose a bell tent with good quality, heavy duty zips, cheaper tents can have poor quality zips which can snap on the first use. Some bell tents have front doors that are tied or laced shut instead of zipped, whist laced up doors can create an authentic look for your tent, practicality, these can be a bit frustrating, particularly when trying to shut the doors in wind and rain.

Some bell tents do not have fly sheets covering the air vents or doors, annoying if midges are around, so our advice is to simply choose a bell tent that does.

Whilst traditional bell tents are beige or cream coloured in 100% cotton canvas, you can now also find colourful and patterned alternatives if you fancy something a little brighter, you can really stand out from the crowd with numerous colours to choose from. Do remember though that due to exposure to the elements, the colours and patterns may begin to fade over time.

Once you’ve decided on the right size, groundsheet and colour of your tent it’s time to think about how you want it to look and feel inside. The whole idea of glamping is to bring glamour and comfort to camping, and the bell tent is the perfect place to do this.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re using your bell tent for weekend breaks, summer holidays, parties, festivals or weddings, you can get a whole host of essential accessories (and some less essential, but nice) to create the perfect atmosphere.

If you’re planning on embarking on all-season camping or just don’t like the idea of feeling the chill on a coo evening, then investing in some decent heating for your bell tent will do wonders.

A very effective way to do this is with a wood burning stove and custom-built chimney flue, so you can have the warmth and glow of a real fire, and with some models the ability to cook indoors too. If you do opt a wood burning heating system, be sure that the tent you’re buying is properly equipped to house the chimney flue for complete fire safety.

For this you’ll need an outlet in the tent for the flue pipe to extract the smoke. These are not always standard and for most tents they will require either a flashing kit of a stove flue flap (or both) fitting. Some suppliers will offer a retro fit service to put these in.

Other heating alternatives include electric heaters, electric fan heaters or electric oil filled radiators, but remember you’ll need to be close to an EHU to use it and have special EHU plug fittings for appliances and in some cases be limited to 5 amps of electricity, so be sure to check the campsite has EHU’s and your appliances are compatible before you go.

You can also keep the heat in through extra insulation, this can be done through floor mats and rugs that sit on top of the ground sheet and will help to keep the cold from rising up. Also, investing in tent inners will give additional insulation during colder periods, as well as allowing you to create separate quarters inside.