As seasoned lightweight backpackers accustomed to crawling into sub 2kg nylon coffins every weekend, the Alpkit Roundhouse feels like a luxury hotel in comparison. Spacious, great value, easy to pitch, incredibly weatherproof yet still highly breathable, we're big converts to the comfort on offer here from day one - in fact, we might not need any other tent for our leisurely campsite weekends.
The roundhouse is a bell tent, a design evolved from Native American Tipis that stood up to snowy winters and high winds, used as dwellings all year round by nomadic peoples. And when you spend a few nights gazing up at its decagonal embrace, with the wind howling around outside, it's clear to see why this design has stood the test of time. Let's get into some details.
LFTOalpkit.com
Pros
- Stylish bell tent design
- Brilliant value
- Simple to pitch
- Packable and portable
- Plenty of headroom
- Excellent weatherproofing
Cons
- A tight squeeze for a double camping mattress
| Type | Bell tent |
| Weight | 12.2kg |
| Sleeps | 4 (but just two if using the inner) |
| Packed size | 70 x 35 x 25cm |
| Doors | 1 |
| Bedrooms | 1 |
| Fly | Polycotton 210gsm - 65% polyester / 35% Organic Cotton |
| Groundsheet | 400D Oxford PU / 10,000mm HH |
| Poles | 18x steel pegs / steel poles |
Design and features
Firstly, we think this tent looks beautiful. A classical, timeless design which fits in anywhere, from the seaside, to a woodland clearing, to a festival, and even your back garden. Its creamy white colour is great at keeping the temperature regulated inside, and the poly-cotton also provides up to four times more UV protection than other more modern materials. We love the wooden fixings for the toggles and guy-line adjusters - it gives the whole tent a really retro feel.
Inside, the Roundhouse offers 2m of headroom at the highest point, meaning that although most people have to stoop to get in the 1.4m high door, it's comfortable enough to stand up walk about in for the most part. There are three D shaped vents in the eves which can open fully to allow plenty of airflow into the tent, or these can be opened with a mesh panel only to stop those pesky midge getting in. We've found that these vents are only needed for all but the hottest summer days, or when you've got plenty of people inside the tent; otherwise the breathable poly-cotton does a phenomenal job of regulating the temperature inside, keeping us cool in the day and warm at night.
The roundhouse doesn't come with pockets or hooks unless you purchase the inner separately, but the hook on which the inner hangs also doubles as a torch or lantern holder. We also like the triple zip door, which can be tucked and folded out of the way for a welcoming space that lets the outside in when needed.
It's also reasonably portable in that the tent itself weights around 12kg, which is manageable to lug from car to campsite by yourself - other family tents of similar size and construction can weigh up to 20kg. And sure, it doesn't pack down to nothing like a hike tent, but it doesn't take up a ludicrous amount of space in your garage or cupboard either.
Pitching
The Roundhouse relies on tensioning the canvas around a central pole, with its subsequent symmetry ensuring the incident angle of the wind remains low no matter the direction of the pitch. This is not a tent for cramped, hike-tent style pitches, as the guy lines will need to extend around a metre more in diameter than the 3m footprint of the tent itself - so leave plenty of space away from hedges and paths if you're in a smaller site.
Once situated, however, of the best things about the Roundhouse is how easy it is to set up. You simply lay the tent flat on the ground, loosely peg out the groundsheet, slot together the central pole, and plonk it into middle of the tent to get the whole structure upright. Once the main pole is upright, and you've added in the smaller A-frame pole that creates the shape of the doorway, the next step is to tension out the adjustable peg loops on the groundsheet, then give the tent a bit more shape by pegging and tensioning the guy lines attached to the eaves.
It'd be difficult to do this alone, granted, but with two people it's a complete breeze; we reckon 10-12 minutes is all you need to fully get this thing up and running before cracking open a cold one. Alpkit have even included two sets of instructions so the person holding the pole in the middle doesn't have to shout orders at the person pegging out the sides. A nice touch.
We found that clove hitching the guy lines to the pegs gave the best level of tensioning (we were using the roundhouse in rather blustery conditions), but the wooden blocks worked well too. We would also recommend bringing a hammer or a mallet, as these are big-boy steel pegs that don't mess about and you might find it difficult to smash them into the ground using feet and hands alone. Once they're in, though, they're in and the Roundhouse really isn't going anywhere, even in properly high winds.
Living space and comfort
Inside, you've got plenty of space for both activities and gubbins; the high roof makes the whole space feel very airy - a great place to shelter from rain and play games in. The only gripe we have with it, and you can see this in the picture, is that a double roll mat is about 4 inches too big for the space, meaning you're pressing up against a pole and the tent wall. Two single roll mats pushed together isn't an issue here, and being fair, we coped just fine with the double matt being slightly squished - but fitting two doubles in with kit would be a very tight squeeze. We'd also have liked a built-in hook for coats and jackets on the pole.
The roundhouse does have an inner available to purchase separately, and in the interest of fairness, we used it for about half of our testing. The inner is great and does make the tent feel more cosy and bedroom-like, helping to both insulate from noise and light, and it keeps it a few degrees warmer too. It also divides the space nicely for wet or muddy gear and shoes to sit in the entrance rather than be trogged though to the rest of the tent, plus you get pockets and torch hooks which are useful for keeping your things organised.
However, putting up the inner significantly impacts space in the Roundhouse. Without it, the Roundhouse happily sleeps four; with it though, you wouldn't want more than two of you plus kit in the space offered, as you lose about 6 inches all round. We still squeezed the double roll mat in the bedroom, but it was even more of a squish. We think the inner will be great for winter camping, and can definitely see its uses, but for most of the year, and especially if you're using the tent as a communal shelter, we'd say you don't need it.
Durability and weather resistance
It's clear that this is a tent built from quality materials. We had a large array of weather for our testing, from blazing sunshine to howling rain and wind overnight, and the tent kept us warm and dry throughout. We were especially impressed with the breathability of the Roundhouse - being used to double-walled hike tents, it felt odd to have a single skin between us and the elements, but it performed brilliantly, beading up beautifully and staying dry to the touch from the inside even with bags pressed up against the walls. We're excited to use this tent into the winter seasons, and have every faith it'll perform well even in the roughest of UK weather.
Sustainability
Alpkit are committed to only using cotton from organic or Better Cotton Initiative-certified sources, and subsequently their cotton for the Roundhouse is 100% organic. As well as being free from harmful fertilisers and pesticides, organic cotton uses significantly less water and produces lower levels of greenhouse gases, making that a real win on the sustainability front.
Alpkit also say that the roundhouse should last at least four times as long as a nylon or polyester tent. They've also ensured that the Roundhouse's lifespan is increased by using durable steel poles and pegs, seamed construction and 400D PU floor. And when you've finished with the product, they even have a reuse scheme where you can send it back - all part of Alpkit's commitment to Net Zero. Overall, this is one of the most sustainable products that you can buy, and gets a full 5 stars from LFTO for effort when it comes to caring for the planet.
Price and competition
The Roundhouse is competitively priced for a family tent at £549, especially when you consider the lifespan and sustainability credentials it offers. The inner is currently on sale for £124, which we'd say is decent value if you're looking for a long term bedroom solution. In comparison to the Robens Klondike (pictured above, reviewed here) the Roundhouse is a bloody bargain - the Klondike RRPs at £980 before you've even coughed the word "inner", which is an extra £300 here.
And sure, the Roundhouse isn't as spacious - you certainly can't fit two double roll mats in it in the same way, and nor do you have the option to add a wood-burning stove as per the Klondike - but it's lighter, more portable and won't make as much dent in your bank account. Plus the Roundhouse seems to be better for the environment, as Robens aren't exactly transparent about their material sourcing.
Verdict
If it wasn't abundantly clear, we loved the Roundhouse from first pitch. It's a great value, spacious, and incredibly durable and weatherproof option. We only wish it was 4 inches larger so we could properly fit a double roll mat inside, but that's out only gripe (hence half a star missing from a full 5* review). We're looking forward to using it for years to come, and highly recommend it as a versatile investment which will last decades given the right care and attention.
How we tested
The roundhouse has been tested by two members of the LFTO team: editor Oli Reed and his young family, and content writer Fliss Freeborn and her partner. Oli used the tent in blazing hot England in the middle of June, and Fliss put the Roundhouse through its paces in August on the blustery, rainy west coast of Scotland during the start of Hurricane Ernesto.
About the author
Fliss Freeborn is a writer for LFTO and lives in Scotland. Her favourite activity in the world is camping, and her favourite products to test and review are always tents, followed by stoves. She would happily live in the Roundhouse if that were a socially acceptable thing to do, seeing as it's far better at regulating inside temperatures than her current basement tenement flat.