Coming back to add a follow up comment. I upgraded our tent following basically the same method - was very simple I have to say and only took about an hour or so. It was absolutely the best thing we could have done for our tent. I means we can sleep in a lot longer in the British summers with ridiculously early sunrises. Regularly sleeping till about 8 or so, wouldve been about 6 without I'm sure. We camped 13 nights in Wales and it was top notch. We also did Just So festival. Both times with our one year old and he slept like a king. no early wake ups, also didn't notice any negative impact with temps and def no condensation issues. Highly recommend. Thanks so much for this video!
This is exactly the type of tutorial I’ve been looking for. I bought a Coleman, dark out tent and it’s nowhere near as dark as what you’ve accomplished. Great job
Retailer here, 8 years, plus more years camping. Great walk through and DIY way to do it. Inusually recommend customers use lightweight fabric or mesh to drape over, and it's great seeing a thorough walk through of it. My only criticism of this, and suggestion for anyone looking to do this, is that the weed membrane at the back done in this way will severely reduce the airflow through the tent. Which will increase condensation and will retain the heat in the summer. I'd suggest to cut out or just not have weed membrane covering the mesh areas, or use a lighter Weight mesh fabric instead of weed membrane. Also relevant for the front, but not as much of an impact.
We used the tent a lot last year without any problems, but we have recently upgraded to a new inflatable vango tent with blackout/darker bedrooms. I'm glad you liked the video, and thanks for your comment!
Hi Ian, thanks for your comment. It transformed our tent and even allowed us to get a lie in! Please check out my other videos and if you like what you see please subscribe!
I'm very sensitive to light when sleeping. I'm. Going camping for the first time and this is exactly what I needed. Great video. Really great advice. Thank you so much!
Im the same, really light sleeper so i wanted a solution without buying a new tent. The weed material is available from amazon and has made a massive difference to our tent. Dont forget to give the video a 👍!
I have been looking into a method of doing this with my outwell nevada m bedroom pods. Great idea 👍. I was also wanting to change the bedroom zips to the new magnetic style doors. To overcome the zzziiiipppppp noise multiple times when the kids are in bed or you don’t as much noise on a loo break in the night. I suppose you could get some of the magnetic tape on a roll and place it either in long strips or in smaller spaced out strips Sandwiched in your vertical silver gaffer tape seams so that the two sides are attracted to the other bedroom pods door. Would mean a bit less of an overlap would be required.
The weight, breath ability, cost and light blockage of the weed material is an excellent solution- nicely done. Given that the inside of my tent doesn't have hooks on the ceiling I am thinking of just lining the inside of the external removable rain fly/ cover. The bottom wont be completely blacked out but for light reduction this still would be a significant upgrade. Thoughts on lining inside of rain fly? I've also considered lining the outside of the fly cover with reflective tarp material/ safety blanket material as it would also provide excellent light reduction, but also heat reduction- however the weight, cost and packability would exceed the weed material- though still floating this idea after camping in 30C temps. Is there a particular weed cover material you recommend and thickness?
Hi, I'm sure it would work lining the fly sheet but you would have to try and see. As far as material goes I used a woven weed membrane as that's what I had left over from a job.
I have followed your instructions and it added a lot of darkness to the tent bedroom, my option was to upgrade to the "fresh and black" so this saved me £100. The only downsides are that it makes the tent larger so it is certainly more difficult to pack away and its certainly not easy to do like, I found the back part very difficult and stress invoking but, if you need it dark it works well and, I guess this depends on your personality. Thanks for the video and the idea appreciate it.
Hi Simon, thanks for your comment! We looked at upgrading the inner bedrooms to vango nightfall ones from a similar model of tent but due to the cost and the fact they are not "blackout bedrooms" i decided to make some!
Effin' love it! GENIUS I have the same tent as you :) I've seen your gaffer tape update in your description, have you since developed any other additions/improvments or found any issues with your method? What about heat? We're going to Wales in July with a 1 year old and will very likely follow your method to help us sleep, though wondering if it gets absolutely roasting, or maybe it's less? Thank you. I'm now subscribed!
Hi, it does get a bit warmer during the night. We camped last year in August, and it was nearly 30° in the daytime, but if anything, it helped regulate the heat. You can get the weed membrane from amazon. I will post a few links in the description. Cheers
No mate, the weed membrane is permeable, so it allows the heat and moisture to escape. If you install weed membrane for gardening, it allows water to pass through but not any finer particles.
Planning to do this on my tent and found a non-woven weedmat and the manufscturer says it's made from plastic. Would this work or is there a different kind of non-woven 'fabric' material? Confused because most are labeled as fabric but the one I found says plastic...
@@FixitwithFowler is it better to use the non-woven so it's more permeable? Or is the woven one good enough to prevent condensation? Thank you so much for replying to the comment.
Question: link for membrane leads to fabric which is matt, but on the video you use the glossy one. Also I see you use woven fabric instead non-woven. Other thing what basis weight you had in the fabric you use, as this is few square metres to be used, it cannot be to heavy...
The link is for better membrane, the woven glossy membrane just frays really badly. The fabric in the link is really light weight, and we have used that in the latest tent with no problems!
@@FixitwithFowler thanks, i thought perhaps it was cut from the back end and made using the excess. Which now seems really silly but I’m currently sleep deprived 🤣
Im not sure if it would affect the outer material of the tent. Also, im not sure how you would secure it, especially in wind. That's the reason i decided to put the material over the tent inner!
I am so happy I found this video I’m close to tears writing this comment. I am a relatively new camper and initially started out with borrowed tents and then bought my own second hand tent that still cost me a packet but it isn’t suitable for me. I’m disabled and struggle with sleep in the comfort of my own home and when I’m camping or at a festival I can’t to keep up with my friends and loved ones as I’m pushing my body past its limits and then not having an opportunity to properly sleep and recover before starting the next day. I always sleep with eye masks and ear plugs but they shift and move so I get disturbed by sunlight and heat easily and in the blazing heat can’t even use my tent to nap in during the day and recuperate if I’ve tapped out and my friends have gone on ahead without me. I’ve just spent the last 2 months desperately trying to get a blackout tent for a cheap price and not having any luck and instead of looking forward to my first (and currently only) camping trip of the year I AM DREADING IT. I intentionally have not booked any further trips because I am scared of running my body into the ground with lack of sleep. Now with this video I finally have an easy, affordable solution that will be an absolute game changer and I truly cannot thank you enough. I cannot wait to try this and will be back to tell you the results. I really do think this will make camping more accessible for me which will mean I can try attending more events and trips. It took my body close to a month to recover from one of last year’s trip, which is why I haven’t planned for more than one this year. I was close to tears when starting this message and am fully overwhelmed at the end as I really believe this will be life changing for me. I couldn’t be more grateful, thank you ❤
Hi Charmaine, Unfortunately, im a terrible sleeper, and i always wake up with them either round my neck or fall off completely! That's why i wanted a better solution, and for under £30 i means we all sleep better!
Coming back to add a follow up comment. I upgraded our tent following basically the same method - was very simple I have to say and only took about an hour or so. It was absolutely the best thing we could have done for our tent. I means we can sleep in a lot longer in the British summers with ridiculously early sunrises. Regularly sleeping till about 8 or so, wouldve been about 6 without I'm sure. We camped 13 nights in Wales and it was top notch. We also did Just So festival. Both times with our one year old and he slept like a king. no early wake ups, also didn't notice any negative impact with temps and def no condensation issues. Highly recommend. Thanks so much for this video!
Thanks for your great comment, and im so glad it's helped you.
This is exactly the type of tutorial I’ve been looking for. I bought a Coleman, dark out tent and it’s nowhere near as dark as what you’ve accomplished. Great job
Thanks for your comment, its a real game changer for us!
Brilliant idea! Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Retailer here, 8 years, plus more years camping.
Great walk through and DIY way to do it. Inusually recommend customers use lightweight fabric or mesh to drape over, and it's great seeing a thorough walk through of it.
My only criticism of this, and suggestion for anyone looking to do this, is that the weed membrane at the back done in this way will severely reduce the airflow through the tent. Which will increase condensation and will retain the heat in the summer.
I'd suggest to cut out or just not have weed membrane covering the mesh areas, or use a lighter Weight mesh fabric instead of weed membrane.
Also relevant for the front, but not as much of an impact.
We used the tent a lot last year without any problems, but we have recently upgraded to a new inflatable vango tent with blackout/darker bedrooms. I'm glad you liked the video, and thanks for your comment!
This is just a genius idea! Definitely going to try this! Thanks for sharing 😊
Simple genius. Perfect solution thanks.
Hi Ian, thanks for your comment. It transformed our tent and even allowed us to get a lie in! Please check out my other videos and if you like what you see please subscribe!
I'm very sensitive to light when sleeping. I'm. Going camping for the first time and this is exactly what I needed. Great video. Really great advice. Thank you so much!
Im the same, really light sleeper so i wanted a solution without buying a new tent. The weed material is available from amazon and has made a massive difference to our tent. Dont forget to give the video a 👍!
Pure genius! Really well thought out; beautifully executed and explained really well. Thank you for a smashing tutorial 👏 👍
Hi Dave, thanks for your comment. Its been a game changer for us!
Excellent idea. I'm definitely going to give this a go
It's easy to do but I can't find the membrane on amazon anymore.
Awesome mate! Nice one
It works so well, no more early mornings! Thanks for your comment 👍
I have been looking into a method of doing this with my outwell nevada m bedroom pods.
Great idea 👍.
I was also wanting to change the bedroom zips to the new magnetic style doors. To overcome the zzziiiipppppp noise multiple times when the kids are in bed or you don’t as much noise on a loo break in the night.
I suppose you could get some of the magnetic tape on a roll and place it either in long strips or in smaller spaced out strips
Sandwiched in your vertical silver gaffer tape seams so that the two sides are attracted to the other bedroom pods door. Would mean a bit less of an overlap would be required.
Yeah, that's a good idea as it would save altering the zips on the sleeping pods.
The weight, breath ability, cost and light blockage of the weed material is an excellent solution- nicely done.
Given that the inside of my tent doesn't have hooks on the ceiling I am thinking of just lining the inside of the external removable rain fly/ cover. The bottom wont be completely blacked out but for light reduction this still would be a significant upgrade. Thoughts on lining inside of rain fly?
I've also considered lining the outside of the fly cover with reflective tarp material/ safety blanket material as it would also provide excellent light reduction, but also heat reduction- however the weight, cost and packability would exceed the weed material- though still floating this idea after camping in 30C temps.
Is there a particular weed cover material you recommend and thickness?
Hi, I'm sure it would work lining the fly sheet but you would have to try and see. As far as material goes I used a woven weed membrane as that's what I had left over from a job.
I have followed your instructions and it added a lot of darkness to the tent bedroom, my option was to upgrade to the "fresh and black" so this saved me £100.
The only downsides are that it makes the tent larger so it is certainly more difficult to pack away and its certainly not easy to do like, I found the back part very difficult and stress invoking but, if you need it dark it works well and, I guess this depends on your personality.
Thanks for the video and the idea appreciate it.
Hi Simon, thanks for your comment! We looked at upgrading the inner bedrooms to vango nightfall ones from a similar model of tent but due to the cost and the fact they are not "blackout bedrooms" i decided to make some!
@@FixitwithFowler do you struggle with packing it away since?
I can still get it in the bag but its a bit of a squeeze! If you have poles you could always put them separate!
@@FixitwithFowler I ended up upgrading to the fresh and black in the end 😂😂
Effin' love it! GENIUS I have the same tent as you :) I've seen your gaffer tape update in your description, have you since developed any other additions/improvments or found any issues with your method? What about heat? We're going to Wales in July with a 1 year old and will very likely follow your method to help us sleep, though wondering if it gets absolutely roasting, or maybe it's less? Thank you. I'm now subscribed!
Hi, it does get a bit warmer during the night. We camped last year in August, and it was nearly 30° in the daytime, but if anything, it helped regulate the heat. You can get the weed membrane from amazon. I will post a few links in the description. Cheers
@@FixitwithFowler I suppose I could potentially keep the door covers open at nighttime proper then drop them down at sunrise
We just shut them once we went bed and opened them once we woke up
@@FixitwithFowler Did you experience any condensation issues at all? I know you said it was fine in the video, but just wondering since then
No mate, the weed membrane is permeable, so it allows the heat and moisture to escape. If you install weed membrane for gardening, it allows water to pass through but not any finer particles.
Would this work on a popup tent? Or would the additional weight cause it to self fold?
Im not sure, but i think you would be ok. The weed fabric is lightweight!
Planning to do this on my tent and found a non-woven weedmat and the manufscturer says it's made from plastic. Would this work or is there a different kind of non-woven 'fabric' material? Confused because most are labeled as fabric but the one I found says plastic...
The one i used was plastic woven material. However, you will need to seal any cut edges with tape. Otherwise, it will just keep falling apart.
@@FixitwithFowler is it better to use the non-woven so it's more permeable? Or is the woven one good enough to prevent condensation? Thank you so much for replying to the comment.
@JeongYiphotography I don't think it matters as they are both permeable.
Great video!
I cannot find any 50gsm membrane for sale of 4x10m. Would 100gsm work or be too heavy? Thanks!
Also, would you recommend woven or unwoven?
Hi, I'm not sure about the weight difference but it might tell you on the packaging.
I used woven fabric, and so long as you tape the edges, it works fine. It is stronger and more durable than non woven fabric.
Do you leave the blackout liner in place when you pack the tent away?
Yes we did but it makes the tent a bit bulky to pack away. Thanks for your comment 👍
hey :) just wondered if you had an updated link to a membrane that would work? The one in the description only goes up to 2m xxxxx thanks :) xxxxx
I will have a look tonight for you!
@@FixitwithFowler any luck?
@livesoundssharing1700 no unfortunately not. However you may be better trying a local garden centre or builders yard.
@@FixitwithFowler any idea whether it should be heavy duty or not?
@livesoundssharing1700 No, it wants to be a lightweight, heavy-duty weed membrane is normally used for drives.
Question: link for membrane leads to fabric which is matt, but on the video you use the glossy one. Also I see you use woven fabric instead non-woven. Other thing what basis weight you had in the fabric you use, as this is few square metres to be used, it cannot be to heavy...
The link is for better membrane, the woven glossy membrane just frays really badly. The fabric in the link is really light weight, and we have used that in the latest tent with no problems!
How did you measure the sections for the doors are the front? Did I miss something?
Just measure the inner tent Once it's up.
@@FixitwithFowler thanks, i thought perhaps it was cut from the back end and made using the excess. Which now seems really silly but I’m currently sleep deprived 🤣
@zcgbd32 lol, well not for much longer!
@@FixitwithFowler hehe fast forward to me just sleeping in my garden because my tent is now easier to sleep in that my bedroom in my house
@@zcgbd32 I hope you get on with it ok!
can i just put it on top of the tent?
Im not sure if it would affect the outer material of the tent. Also, im not sure how you would secure it, especially in wind. That's the reason i decided to put the material over the tent inner!
I am so happy I found this video I’m close to tears writing this comment. I am a relatively new camper and initially started out with borrowed tents and then bought my own second hand tent that still cost me a packet but it isn’t suitable for me. I’m disabled and struggle with sleep in the comfort of my own home and when I’m camping or at a festival I can’t to keep up with my friends and loved ones as I’m pushing my body past its limits and then not having an opportunity to properly sleep and recover before starting the next day. I always sleep with eye masks and ear plugs but they shift and move so I get disturbed by sunlight and heat easily and in the blazing heat can’t even use my tent to nap in during the day and recuperate if I’ve tapped out and my friends have gone on ahead without me. I’ve just spent the last 2 months desperately trying to get a blackout tent for a cheap price and not having any luck and instead of looking forward to my first (and currently only) camping trip of the year I AM DREADING IT. I intentionally have not booked any further trips because I am scared of running my body into the ground with lack of sleep. Now with this video I finally have an easy, affordable solution that will be an absolute game changer and I truly cannot thank you enough. I cannot wait to try this and will be back to tell you the results. I really do think this will make camping more accessible for me which will mean I can try attending more events and trips. It took my body close to a month to recover from one of last year’s trip, which is why I haven’t planned for more than one this year. I was close to tears when starting this message and am fully overwhelmed at the end as I really believe this will be life changing for me. I couldn’t be more grateful, thank you ❤
It was a real gamechanger for us. We go to a race meet for 5 days and we didn't get up until 9am! Everyone else was up by 6.30am.
I think it's a good idea but easier why not just ware an eye mask
Hi Charmaine, Unfortunately, im a terrible sleeper, and i always wake up with them either round my neck or fall off completely! That's why i wanted a better solution, and for under £30 i means we all sleep better!
Because its challenging trying to get a 1-10 year old child to put on an eye mask when they are supposed to go to bed around 7pm in daylight
This is just a genius idea! Definitely going to try this! Thanks for sharing 😊
It's a real game changer. We were sleeping until 8am and last up on the camp site!