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The Stargazer Bell tent gives you an amazing space to set up in your garden for children and adults to use all Summer along with a tent that packs up small enough to put in the trunk of a car and take to campsites as well. Despite its size its easy to set up and only takes one person about 15 minutes, With mesh doors and windows to keep cool in the Summer and a chimney flue hole ready for the Winter for a wood burning stove this tent can be used all year round.

In Depth Review

We are lucky enough to have some woodland in our garden at home. As we got children we found we were spending less time out on the trails and camping due to the logistics of a young baby so we began to think about setting up a 4 season tent in our garden that can give us a few extra hundred feet of playing indoor space and the allure of being able to easily camp out in our garden with the kids without the worry of being away from home. We’ve even come to use this Bell Tent to entertain guests, cook meals and have game nights in even in the depth of Winter. We may even rent this out as an AirBnB in the future.

We chose this bell tent on the basis of its cost, features and the 360 degree windows allowing a view of the stars. In this blog Ill walk you through how I built the base out of wood, how to set this tent up and the pitfalls along the way that you can easily address.

Building a Wooden Base

It isn’t essential to have a wooden base for this kind of tent but if you are planning to have the tent up for most of the year then I would strongly advise it. The cost of wood is horrendous these days so I set out to make a base for as little money as possible myself. All in I think I spent around 600 dollars by being very frugal.

Your first option is to purchase some cinderblocks for a few bucks and find anywhere that has wooden pallets you can collect for free. At the time I built my base I hadn’t found anywhere for this but since building it I have.

I chose to build my 16ft by 16ft base in 4 square sections to make it easy to move or repair in the future. Mine is simply resting on a number of cinder blocks and I levelled them using string and a laser between them. I purchased cheap outdoor 8ft lumber from Home Depot and made squares out of four 8 by 2 inch planks. I then added spacer joists every two feet along to create a frame to be able to attach the wooden decking to. I used metal brackets with screws to extra secure the joists to the frame.

Once the frames were done I bought 8ft by 1 inch wooden boards for about 6 bucks each and laid them across the frame using outdoor screws to hold the decking down to the joists. From memory I think it took about 14 boards per square.

By keeping the 4 bases separate I have made it easy to move the whole base or pack it up for the winter easily. Once assembled with the 4 squares together I did a final check that all was level and then simply used straight screw brackets to screw all four squares to each other.

With the boards pre cut assembling all of this only took a few hours. When finished I also used a tough outdoor sealant protector on the wood. I have also been collecting polystyrene packaging for some time so I then bundled everything I had and laid it underneath the decking to help with insulating the floor. I then recycled old cabinets round the open edges to serve as storage for fire wood.

How to set up a Stargazer Bell Tent

I set the Bell tent up on my own in only about 15 minutes. Firstly think about where you want the entrance to be. I chose having it facing away from the prevailing wind and also looking out on a nice part of my garden and the woods.

You lay out the base section of the entire tent and pull each corner out until its as stretched as possible.

You will find that there are stretchy bungee rings you can tie or peg down first on the base of the walls to give you something secure to work with when you then tighten things up with the D rings.

Once you have all the stretchy bungee loops pegged down ( in my case I tied them to the wooden base)You then need to go round and and use tent pegs ( for the ground) or U shaped small nails ( for wooden decking) to secure the D rings down on each corner. Work on opposite D rings to make sure you get the base as stretched taught as possible.

Once all the D rings on the base are secure you can then begin tying off the guide ropes either to nearby trees or to tent pegs on the ground. Put them in tight but not too tight for now.

Then take the pole inside and attach both plastic ends to it and raise it in the middle. I found it was best to leave the pole in the dead center top and then slowly move the bottom towards the middle. The fabric is heavy so you may take a few minutes to lift and move the base of the pole gently into place.

Once the central pole is in place you can put the A frame section round the entrance. Look for little strong pockets near the bottom inside the entrance that the poles sit in.

Don’t forget to put the small plastic rain cap on top of the pole spike on the outside of the entrance .

Once thats done you are all set. You can then tighten the guide ropes outside some more to get the walls and roof sections as taught as possible.

I found you needed to go back every few days a few times to tighten before everything settled down properly.

Fabric

The fabric for the tent is a heavy gauge high quality treated cotton. When first set up you may find it leaks slightly after the first rain but once wet it expands and becomes fully waterproof.

Poles

The tent comes with the folding poles you will need. I suggest leaving the main central pole in the bag for when you are camping elsewhere and purchase a 10ft plumbers steel pipe for you main use. Simply cut 4 inches off one end and for less than 30 bucks you have a waaaaaay more sturdy pole for high winds, snow etc and when you are planning to have the tent up long term.

Tent Pegs and Paracord Included

The tent came with all the tent pegs and paracord I needed to set it up all in a carry bag. You will need a mallet to or hammer to bang in the tent pegs.

Size Options

There are a few size options for these tents. I chose the 5M option which means it is about 5 meters ( about 16ft ) across. You can very comfortably sleep 4 people in double beds or up to 8 people in single matresses in the tent. I chose to equip mine with furniture, beds and chairs so that 4 people can use it in comfort.

Stove Pipe Hole

There is a flap that covers a hole that will accommodate most 3 to 5 inch wood burning stove pipes. When not in use the square velcro down flap keeps the tent dry. The area directly around the hole is also made of a heat resistant fabric.

We chose a Winnerwell Medium Nomad Stove for our Tent. I have a separate review for it here. This was big enough to easily heat the tent in snowy cold conditions and only required topping up with wood every hour or two.

Tips when Using the Wood Burning Stove Inside the Tent

We chose to get a fire proof base mat for the tent for safety and I put a fire extinguisher nearby for safety. The position of the hole in the tent forces you to place the wood burning stove in a safe location.

Make sure there is always adequate ventilation when using the wood burning stove. The main entrance section is actually unzipped at the bottom on purpose to aid free air flow and the top of the tent also has vents. When have the fire run very hot its essential you keep the door slightly open to avoid carbon monoxide buildup and keep the wood burning stove door closed and air vents on the stove closed for efficient burning. If the stove is fitted with a chimney valve make sure it is fully open at all times unless the stove is not in use and its raining. Also make sure the chimney reaches above the height of the tent and has an ember guard on top to stop stray embers causing an issue. If any part of the stove or pipe starts to glow red hot you need to not put any more wood in until the glowing ceases. Its easy to overheat and damage small stoves if you overpack them with wood and they glow red for extended periods of time. I also suggest you periodically inspect and clean the inside of the chimney pipes to remove unwanted creosote that can start chimney fires.

Stargazing

This really is one of the best features of the tent. Sleeping anywhere in the tent you can look up and see outside. When we first used the tent we slept out on a cold clear evening and the moonlight coming in was very cool. I also found that in the Winter on sunny days the windows allow a lot of warmth to build up during the day making the tent very pleasant inside even when its near to freezing outside. Finally in the summer there are window ‘curtains’ you can run round the underside of the windows to reduce the amount of heat coming in to the tent ( or to insulate the tent more in the winter).

Mesh windows and Doors

The Stargazer Bell Tent also came with mesh windows that can be zipped down to allow air flow through the tent and you can even completely unzip the base in the summer to further aid air flow and cooling. The mesh on the windows and doors can be zipped down or placed up to keep insects away.

Suggested Extras

For lighting I chose to get a solar powered string lights from home depot. This meant I had lighting inside when I wanted it. There is a convenient small zip flap near the door to run electrical cables into so that the solar cell sits outside.

Gripes / Cautionary Tales

To save weight the tent comes with collapsible aluminum poles for the main central pole and the A frame over the door. I would keep these for campsites but for longer periods of time or when camping in the snow I would strongly suggest switching out the central pole for a 1 3/4 inch steel 10ft pipe from Home Depot. For the extra $30 spent at a hardware store you’ll get peace of mind that you don’t have to brush heavy snow off every hour or two. When I set mine up with the original pole a heavy snowfall completely folded and broke the central pole. Lesson learnt.

Verdict

The Stargazer Bell tent gives you an amazing space to set up in your garden for children and adults to use all Summer along with a tent that packs up small enough to put in the trunk of a car and take to campsites as well. Despite its size its easy to set up and only takes one person about 15 minutes, With mesh doors and windows to keep cool in the Summer and a chimney flue hole ready for the Winter for a wood burning stove this tent can be used all year round.

Features and Specs

• UNISTRENGH 5M Star Gazer Canvas Camping Yurt Bell Tent with Stove Jack, PVC Roof Windows and Power Cable Hole
• Dimension: Floor-φ16.4ft(500cm), height-9.8ft(300cm),door-86x66inch(220*170cm),wall height-23inch(60cm),
• Waterproof 4 Season Wall Tent – The fabric of this glamping yurt has been waterproof treated and all seams are taped well. This canvas tent with φ5inch stove jack. It’s great winter hot tent for camping with stove for snow and cold. Great hunting tents with floor for deer season
• 5M star gazer bell tent with roof windows – There are 12pcs PVC windows at top of this bell tent. It’s amazing that you can enjoy the sky scenery in camping yurt. Windows can be covered by provided curtain
• Breathable – Top air vents and zippable windows, complete with nets. You even can roll up the wall of teepee tent allowing a cool breeze to blow through on a summer’s day
• Capacity – This 5M canvas tent is for a large family or 6-8 persons camping trip with the capacity for four double mattresses,with plenty of room for all of your camping luxuries – and lots to spare
• Comes with carry bag – All accessories of this teepee tent for adult outdoor camping are packed into carry bag, means is no hassle to throw it in the car and head off for your camping hunting trip. Also good choice for birthday wedding or festival party.