Entry to the tent is achieved via a large door on one side, but there is no ‘porch roof’ to allow shelter when putting your boots on.

A good rule of thumb is to go for a tent that's claimed to sleep one more person than you need. If you're a family of four, for example, we'd recommend going for a five-person tent. 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! The Air 6XL is exceptionally well designed, irrespective of the material choice you make. It’s spacious and feels a quality choice – this is a tent to last a lifetime. The high price-tag therefore needs to be looked at as an investment in your family’s future and a potential creator of amazing memories. We believe it makes sense to spend a little extra to help facilitate this. There is an access hatch for the electric hookup cable to be passed through, which seems like an easy feature to include, but is missed by many manufacturers – we need our mod cons! Maybe not for the tallest campers The lounge area is expansive – this is your main living space, with a head height of over 2.15m – perfect for taller folk. The lounge measure 270 x 450cm and has two side doors to the outside, one with a neat little shelter (or ‘brow’) above it to get your shoes on without getting soaked. This also stops water dripping in when the door is open – nice!Setup took us around 20 minutes in total, but that was at a fairly leisurely pace. Look at it as a bit of holiday exercise – you can always treat yourself to a glass of wine afterwards! The sleeping area is well-ventilated and has darkened fabric in this section to reduce incoming light. It can split into two separate bedrooms and is comfortably-sized for a family of four. Four Airbeams Assembly is a breeze as you would expect using the supplied manual pump. Weight of the 6L is 29kG which is actually pretty good for a 6-person tent. The XL increases this slightly to 30.5kg. 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 Ascension FTX is available in both 4-person and 6-person sizes, and each of these can be fabricated using either polyester material or the more expensive ‘TC’ technical cotton. We highly recommend spending a little extra and buying the 4xl carpet for a bit of added luxury underfoot. There are a few design points that it’s worth being aware of before you buy the Portal Alfa. The height is limited to 190cm (about 6ft2) in the front and 180cm (about 5ft 11) in the bedroom. This means that if you’re taller than this then you will be stooping a little inside. Not necessarily a massive issue, but worth pointing out. Secondly, the side windows in the lounge area are quite high up and not that large. Consequently, it can feel a little dark inside if the sun isn’t shining outside. The front windows are fine, but can be a little creased. However, for the price you are paying this is definitely not a bad compromise. The total ‘footprint area’ of the two competing tents are about the same, which makes choosing between them difficult. You need to ask yourself – do you prefer girth or length? Actually, it’s probably best not to answer that…. Let’s talk specs for the Joro. It comes in a rather natty blue colour and is reasonably similar in design to the Coleman Weathermaster 6XL.The standard polyester 401 is smaller and lighter at 42kg, with the TC 401 weighing in at 54kg. A noticeable increase in weight from the polycotton fabric there. 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. Each of the three bedroom areas of the tent measure 140 x 210cm, and for the rear compartment there is a really useful access hatch to the outside world. This enables an electric hookup cable to be passed through into the tent. In hot climates, this hatch can also promote airflow through the tent which is essential for remaining cool. All the bedroom pods also have mosquito/insect netting. The outer covering has a 6000mm hydrostatic head which means it’s extremely waterproof and will survive a biblical deluge. The quality of the fabric and the size of the tent means that it’s a hefty weight though – 28.3kg. Could be a two-person effort to shift it if you’re not built like Sylvester Stallone. The Vango comes with a decent pump as standard and there are five airbeams to pump up in total, taking around 15 minutes for full inflation if you’re being relaxed about it.