Tentsile Stingray

[Kieren]

Here are some pics of the Tentsile Stingray on its maiden solo trip. Turned out to be a very nice night too. For those of you who don't know about them, they are basically a tent that ratchet straps between three trees and tensions up, the interior floor space forming three beds or hammocks. These pics are from late last year but I set it up again today and left my other half and my two youngest with it and I'm just heading back there from work now. This is its first outing with a group of people in it so looking forward to a night with the family. I'll submit a review when I get two minutes.

[kermit67]

look forward to the review

[Si Glasgow]

They're crazy looking things! I really like them 😊

[Kieren]

First night was interesting. Didn't have it set up quite right and when I got back from work everyone had slid into the middle. Also a very cold wet night.
Have tensioned up the straps underneath now and it looks a bit more like three beds than one slack trampoline. Hopefully have a better night tonight. That said there is a little bit of water coming in but we will see.
Left the kids sitting in their sleeping bags under a tarp by a fire and at least they were more or less smiling.

[kermit67]

best you hope more smiling cos miserable kids is bad news camping lol

[Kieren]

I bought them some sweets, they'll be fine ;-)

[Stevie]

Looks great mate, here's hoping you get the set-up right

[Kieren]

Well last night was a lot more comfortable having tensioned up the under straps. The downside is a fair bit of water made its way in and we got quite damp and cold. Before I go to far into that though I'm going to get on to the boss man at Tentsile and talk to him about it because I've got a feeling it may have been more to do with the tent being mis shaped for a night the previous night.
So anyway, we managed to stay off the ground and apart from the cold and wet I have to say I was very comfortable, as much if not more so than when I was on my own due to the fact it was a bit more balanced. Also worth noting, the kids loved it and we're still in good spirits in the morning.
I'll have a chat with them and either get out in the rain with it again or get a review done.

[Gooner]

Woodland could you see where rain was coming in?

[Kieren]

It was quite hard to say Gooner. The thing is the fly was sitting against the tent netting so it was just developing in the net. It looked like it might just be condensation the first night but the second night it was raining harder and clearly coming through. When I took it down this morning I checked the seams but they are all taped so very hard to tell. The reason I want to talk to thee tentsile boys before I say too much about it is to find out what they think about the way I put it up and if it affected it or damaged the coating by rubbings against the net. I'll call them monday and see what they say but don't want to say they produce leaky tents if it was my fault.

[B*J]

I have seen these before but has no feedback from anyone who had used one. They do look really good and I quite fancy one. I will be interested to see your final verdict.

[kermit67]

they used 1 of there tentsile tents on the gadget show but hard to say it was a review as they didn't put the rain fly up & it rained lol but not seen any real reviews on them so best I do some home work & see what people are saying look forward to hearing what they say woodland

[Kieren]

I have to say, there are some very good things I have to say about them. I'll stick it all in the review after I've had a chat with them.

[Gooner]

Woodland how did you get on with Tentsile?

[Kieren]

The big problem that I have at the minute is that we got wet but until I can talk to one of the two chaps at Tentsile and work out if this is a normal problem or if it was the fact I had set it up badly in the first place I don't want to say too much about that.
Apart from that, I had a great sleep in it the first time I went out on my own and the first night I went out with the family I had set it up wrong, which I think might have had a knock on effect to the second night.
The thing about it is though, it is an entirely unique product in a number of ways, which I'll go into in more detail when I review it. It's also very comfortable and as far as the kids are concerned it's a lot more exciting than anything else that they have seen, and they've seen some pretty cool gear. There are a number of potential applications for it and a number of things people have used it for that Tentsile themselves told me about when I visited them.
There are so many things to say about the Stingray that it is a whole review worth of information and so I really should get on with it but if you asked me if I like it or dislike it, it's a very big like from me, the kids and the few other people who have seen it and that's the feedback I've seen across the board from the majority of Tentsiles customers.