If you aren’t a proud owner of an air tent yet, here are five reasons why it’s a smart move!
1. Exceptional Wind Performance
Don’t worry, they’re not like bouncy castles that will fly away when the wind picks up! Social media content coming out of New Zealand last summer showed first-hand how Zempire air tents handled the cyclones that hit the country’s east coast. If you haven’t already, view a video example here.
Much of wind performance is down to the tent’s shape and aerodynamics. However, when you compare an air tube that is 10-15cm in diameter with a fibreglass pole that is 8mm in diameter, it’s obvious which will create the more robust structure to handle wind! In extremely high winds, Zempire air tubes are known to bend when under severe stress and bounce back into shape. There’s absolutely no risk of snapping a steel or fibreglass pole, or even bending it out of shape permanently (both of which could also damage the fabric of your tent).
Don’t worry, air tents aren’t like bouncy castles that will fly away when the wind picks up!
Setting up in windy conditions is also easier with a Zempire air tent, especially with those that feature single-point inflation. There’s less disruption from the wind when you don’t have to thread poles through sleeves, and Zempire air tents also have their flies attached. This makes them a lot easier in comparison to tents that have them detached. Pack-down is also much more straightforward in high winds; the tent simply collapses in a matter of seconds to then be folded, rather than requiring poles to be pulled through the sleeves with the tent flapping around!
Easy Tip: You can increase your wind performance purely by directing the front of your tent away from the prevailing wind.
You’ll be amazed at the time you save not having to refer to an instruction manual every few minutes!
2. Quick Set-Up & Pack Away
You’ll be amazed at the time you save not having to refer to an instruction manual every few minutes to check what pole goes where! The fastest inflation time we’ve recorded with a Zempire air tent (our Pronto 4 V2) is 17.33 seconds! Pumping up an airframe instead of solving a pole puzzle saves a huge amount of time and brain power, as the air tubes are already attached to the tent. Even some of our largest polyester tents, like our Evo TXL V2 (sleeping up to 8 campers), can be inflated in under two minutes.
Packing away is even faster. Simply undo the Boston valves or air-release taps and watch the air tent collapse in a matter of seconds. Ever been in a situation where you spent a bit too long at the beach and feel the rain coming in? An air tent’s simple deflation process takes the stress out of pack-down and sends you on the road much faster. More than anything, it’ll have your camping holiday off to a good start, and packing everything back into the car a lot easier!
Camping excursions are supposed to be relaxing, and Zempire air tents make that possible.
3. Simple and Convenient – You’ll Go Camping More Often!
The majority of Zempire air tents are a one-person task to set up, and you don’t need to be a camping expert. That said, there are plenty in our Zempire family! It’s literally as simple as rolling the tent out, pegging it down, and pumping it up. In fact, the hardest part may be choosing whether you want to manually pump it up, or use an electric pump like our Supercell to do the work for you.
If you’re camping with your family, an adult can look after the kids while another can solely take care of setting up the tent. If it’s raining, only one person needs to step outside to pitch an air tent while the rest stay dry in the car. Convenient, right? Camping excursions are supposed to be relaxing, and Zempire air tents make that possible. You’ll naturally go camping more often, feel more confident with setup, and enjoy your time in the outdoors even more.
Taking care of your tent to increase its longevity is easy, so you can camp in comfort for years to come.
4. Durable and Easy to Maintain
Don’t you hate it when you open a tent bag and loads of different pieces fall out? Not only do you then have to figure out what each one is, you also must solve what goes where. Then there’s the option of a Zempire air tent, which only has two other bags inside the tent bag simply featuring the pump and the pegs! This massively decreases the risk of losing any equipment crucial for your campsite, and makes it easy to maintain. Sure, you may need to remove some dirt from your pegs, but you will avoid the endless supply of poles to clean too!
If you need to dry your tent after a camping holiday, it’s a lot simpler to do this with a Zempire air tent since they’re so fast to inflate. Taking care of your tent to increase its longevity is easy, so you can camp in comfort for years to come. Not only are Zempire air tents easy to maintain, they also feature highly durable materials – so you can camp with confidence knowing they’ll hold up in less-than-ideal conditions. The lowest waterhead rating on a Zempire polyester air tent is 3,000mm. It only goes up from there!
Most kids jump at the chance to have a turn at pumping up air tents, and are quick to put their hand up to deflate them too!
5. They’re Fun (and Known to Save Relationships!)
We hear time and time again from our Zempire Family that our air tents have saved relationships and marriages! While we take it with a grain of salt, it’s true that there is less time and reason for campsite disputes when you have an air tent, in comparison to more traditional models.
They’re also fun… so technically that’s six reasons! There is a unique novelty to watching an air tent pop up after inflation and collapse on deflation. It never gets old undoing the Boston valves to see the tent deflate quickly with a flick of the wrist! We’ve also found that most kids jump at the chance to have a turn at pumping up air tents, and are quick to put their hand up to deflate them too!
With the ease and convenience of an air tent, you’ll naturally go camping more often and enjoy your time in the outdoors even more.
There you have it. If you were looking for a reason to become an air tent owner – now you have five!
Convinced? Already own one? Let us know in the comments!
Hi, I’m Matt: a kiwi surfer, adventurer, marketer, and camping dad! I take my daughter camping a lot to share my passion for the outdoors and to create memories she’ll never forget. I’m an advocate for Zempire Camping Equipment, and always on the lookout for dog-friendly campsites to bring my pup along!
Hi Matt,
I’ve got a Zempire Aerodrome 2, had it for 6 years and it has been fantastic. We camp 2 to 3 times a year and I completely agree with your review except one thing… Pack up is not as simple as mentioned. When you collapse (open the air valve) the tent the tent does drop quickly. But if you don’t make an effort to ensure all the air is out of the air beams when you fold it, you trap air inside the beams and there is no way on this planet you are getting the tent back in the bag. Once dropped we have to shuffle along the length of the beam towards the valve to ensure all of the air is out before folding the tent. It still doesn’t take that long but it’s not the miracle pack up described above.
Cheers
Punctures or leaks? That’s my biggest concern about air tents, after having tried (invariably in vain) to patch various inflatable mattresses and pool toys over the years.
I have the 4 person one, live this tent..I set up my camper trailer whilst one of the kids blows up the tent on their own..it’s also very water proof as well, last trip we went through a thunderstorm, lightning the whole bit, no water in the tent..hardest thing is folding it up, but once you get the hang of it for a few goes, it’s pretty easy.