Pump up each beam until the pressure gauge on the pump is in the green. The supplied pump is awesome and makes this really fast and easy. It takes approx 12 pumps for a beam to inflate – less than 1 minute for each. We inspect the interiors of the tents during and after testing to see how each fares against the elements. Some tents manage to stay firm, but others blow over and even have puddles in the sleeping compartments. If you are looking to reduce the hassle of long and complicated putting up and taking down of your tent then inflatable air beams are the way to go. Strong and stable. It is an excellent construction method that erects really fast. And why not? I do think that the manufacturer may have missed an opportunity (or maybe it was just a cost-saving exercise) but it occurs to me that with the addition of a couple of poles, the huge front door could double as an awning. I have some spare poles, so perhaps I'll see if this idea works when I use the tent this weekend.

We consider how easy it is to get into and out of the main entrances and sleeping compartments, how bright and roomy the living spaces are, and if we consider there to be enough room for the number of people intended to sleep in the tent.This is the real strength of an inflatable tent and the Berghaus Air 4 is no slouch in this department. It’s simple and fast… Going up… There was a delay in delivery by the courier, Millets were quite helpful, and after 2or 3 days of complaining by me, I was offered a further 15% off the price of the tent for my inconvenience, so I was happy with that. I said that this is my second Air4. The first one developed an 8 inch rip the first night out. Millets were good as gold in replacing it. I don't think that the rip was due in any way to the design of the tent, or the quality of materials. I suspect that there was a flaw in the weave, nothing more. The breathable inner tent is made of 185T dark polyester which only lets in a small amount of light and lots of air. This makes it easy to get a good nights sleep. There is also a carpet for the main living area. A good addition that protects the floor and makes it warmer in the winter. The down-sides Weight – 19Kg

There is an extension porch which adds a huge 8.5 m2 extra space outside the side door. It comes with its own groundsheet and pegs. Expensive but worth considering if extra space is important. Bear in mind that you could buy a small tent for the same money.An optional awning or canopy can provide protection from the sun and rain, creating a shaded area from which to enjoy the outdoors without having to stay inside your tent. 10) Extra features

I struggled with my old school thinking and imagined an air tent would be all floppy and pretty useless in a wind. For me, as a solo camper, it is just fine. My bed goes in one bedroom, all my gear in the other - which leaves the living area free. Tent footprints are available to buy separately from tents at outdoor retailers. They're essentially an extra groundsheet that you can pitch before your tent, with the aim of pitching your tent on top of it. The Air4 is a brilliant tent. Like one other correspondent, I am a solo camper, no longer in my prime. I'm nearly 70, but not dead yet. I wanted a tent that I could stand up in, and put up by myself. 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.We also bought the porch and put this up next morning. There was a bit of head-scratching and playing with the positioning but we got it up and it is huge, but as easy to erect as the tent. It came with a groundsheet but this only has corner eyelets and I will put in an extra two per side. The central air beam has a lantern hanging point with neat little velcro loops for attaching a cable to. You could also run fairy lights through the loops. At the bottom of this beam there is a zipped hole to receive an electric cable from outside. This keeps everything neat and provides great illumination at night. Tents with rigid poles made of stainless steel or aluminium are for building a rigid frame that will keep your tent sturdy in the wind. They can be heavier and more cumbersome to pitch, though.

After having read a thread on a Facebook group by a designer of the new Berghaus Air tent range, we decided to take a look at what the range of tents could offer us. Like the main living area, there is a single hanging point for a lantern. Putting it up and taking it down The outer tent is made from a blue 70 denier fabric with a a 6000mm Hydrostatic head rating and all seams are taped. This is not a flimsy toy tent. It’s extremely waterproof and strong. There are 2 doors – one on the side that has a generous rain porch, and one on the end. Both feature generous flaps over the zips to keep the rain out.Once the tents are up, we closely inspect the interior of each one and rate them on how likely campers are to have a comfortable and enjoyable experience that meets their needs. We pitch every tent, taking into account how long it takes, how clear the instructions are, how much physical effort is required, and how convenient the process is. This is where an air tent shines. A peg in each corner and out with the pump. A few pumps and not much effort later all the “beams” are inflated. It’s then just a matter of pegging out the guylines. Easily less than 10 minutes. Dropping your tent is a simple matter of releasing the air valves and it just collapses. No poles to unthread from their sleeves. Wind resistance and stability To give you an idea of the size of the two bags together, they both fitted nicely in the boot of a Polo, and not as heavy to carry/wheel along as we expected it to be.