Dog House Tent

  • 07/09/2011

For the sheer novelty factor alone, a tent shaped like a dog kennel is a great idea! It’s roughly the same shape (and size if you have a St Bernard) and is mainly used for sleeping. If you’re in trouble, your other half can tell you to get in the dog house and you can literally do just that. We were sold on the idea before we even received the tent for review!

First impressions were very good. The tent packs down to a conveniently small size and even comes with a dog bowl and name ‘bone’. It was easy to set up and drew comments from every camper that saw it!

And in terms of size, this is indeed what most tent manufacturers would call a two man tent. In other words, it could easily fit two men as long as they removed their arms and legs before getting in. No surprises there.

So, for the novelty factor, this product scores 11 out of 10. Unfortunately, as we’re a serious camping website, we also needed to assess the practicality of using it as a tent. And that’s where it falls down…

The tent only has a single layer of canvas… as you know, that makes it very unlikely to be waterproof as unless it’s made of very thick army-style canvas (which it’s not). And in a climate like the UKs (particularly after the summer we just haven’t had) that’s not very practical.

The other practical issue with the tent is that unless the guy ropes are used, it’s quite unstable and continuously falls over. It’s partly what makes it so easy to set up but is unfortunately also a shortcoming if you’re looking to camp on hard ground or on the beach.

As such, we can’t recommend this tent as a serious shelter for camping in the UK, but if you’re looking for a novelty tent for a festival (and this is one that you definitely can’t lose!) or a play tent for the kids to camp in the garden, this is absolutely perfect. And although it’s a tent made for humans, if you did want a shelter for your canine companions when camping, it would be perfect for them too.

And if you’re looking for a novelty gift for the camper who has everything, then this may fit the bill! It’s available for a shade under £60 from Find Me a Gift: http://www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk/travel-gifts-dog-house-tent.html