The Khyam Ontario 8 is a large, family tunnel tent which when fully erected consists of a large central area and 2 separate sleeping areas. The sleeping areas can be further divided into 2 to give 4, though the internal partition only gives some privacy as it is just a hanging sheet inside the sleeping 'pod'. This being accepted, it will sleep 8 in comfort and still leave a huge central area when 8 can sit around a table. I can stand up easily (5foot 8inches / 173cm) in the central area and my 6 foot son says it's fine for him too. Each half sleeping pod can comfortably take 2 single airbeds or 1 double, allowing 8 to sleep easily in the Khyam Ontario 8.
After some practice, it now takes my husband and I about half an hour to put the tent up, including all the internal divisions. The tent itself comes in one piece and there are 5 colour coded fibre glass poles. It does take a bit of faith the first time as it feels like the poles will break, but they are up to the job and will bend!
When stored in the bag, the Khyam Ontario 8 is heavy (very) but just luggable by one adult or, better, with two people taking a handle each. It is quite a struggle to get it back in the original bag, especially when you are packing up ready to move on, so we have taken to using the original bag plus an additional one to save time (and arguements!) when packing up.
I bought this tent to go on family holidays; 2 adults and 3 kids aged 10-16 (our days at all inclusive resorts are sadly over!) and it is perfectly suited to family camping. Along with the massive central area, it has 2 'glazed windows'; each has half solid plastic and half mosquito netting, and a roll down external blind for night-time or bad weather. The sleeping compatments both have vents with mosquito netting which can be left open or closed, dependant upon the conditions. The groundsheet is integral, which is brilliant when camping on soggy ground. It also has a couple of ready made 'holes' so that you can channel your electricity power cable(s) into the centre of the tent.
The waterproofing is excellent. No leaks, even after 3 years, and we have been in torrential downpours several times! The central area is a godsend in the rain with kids - it gives you somewhere to play cards and just eat dinner.
The zips, guys and windows have been excellent too - no problems there. We have had 1 pole snap but conditions were extreme, replacement was easy and the tent stood up with a broken pole until it could be sorted.
The tent is perfect for long, fixed venue summer camps and has also been used as in informal party marquee for teens. We have used it for 3 summers in a row from UK to France, for a weekend or up to 3+ weeks at a stretch. Even for the longer holidays, it has felt spacious and is bigger than many caravans.
General points to note:
It is a BIG tent - 750cm x 370cm for the tent itself plus maybe 150cm all round for guyropes - and some campsites do not allow or welcome big tents and some charge extra. It is definitely worth checking beforehand very carefully that the campsite is willing and has pitches big enough for this tent. Ideally, you want to make sure that a large pitch has been reserved for you and your Khyam Ontario 8. Certainly, we've had to book a large emplacement several times in France to make sure that we could actually fit the tent on the pitch.
Like many good modern tents, the Khyam is colour coded on the poles. Whilst this works like a dream in the light, it's very difficult in the dark to tell the difference between red, green and blue. Much better to arrive in the daylight! This is from experience - trying to pitch at10pm in the pouring rain after a 20 hour drive!
Tunnel tents as a design are not great in very windy conditions as they tend to be noisy and may be less rigid than some other designs of tent. An extra set of quality set of heavy duty pegs is a good investment. However, we've not had a problem and we have been in some fairly windy places.
All in all, we are very happy with the Khyam Ontario 8 and would recommend it to any family looking to try a summer camping holiday.
Summary: Excellent family tent - I'd happily buy it again.
Source: http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/camping/khyam-ontario-8-family-tent/1611400/
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