Easthills Outdoors Instant Shader Deluxe XL Beach Tent Easy Up 99" Wide for 4-6 Person Sun Shelter - Extended Zippered Porch Included Beige

The media could not be loaded. FIRST UPDATE 13th AUGUST 2018OK so we made it to Biarritz, historic Bayonne and to the gorgeous beaches of the French Basque Country in South West France on the Atlantic coast. We amazed everyone with our Easthills Outdoors Easy Up XL. Everyone was staring at us, looking like the King and Queen of the beach in our palatial tent!I bought some 30cm (12in) U Spikes for £5.99 for 10 and these have anchored the tent against the Atlantic wind with no problem at all and no need for the guy lines. Yesterday, the wind was very strong and the tent had no problem in terms of strength against the wind and the spikes kept it firmly anchored. Unfortunately, what had been a simple dismantling in the previous days, turned into a little bit of a nightmare due to the strength of the winds which must have been around Force 6 on the Beaufort scale, judging by the size of the waves. Other people, didn't even have any shelters out, which mainly consist of either straight beach umbrellas or the umbrellas with the extended sides. These had long been packed away. However, our packing away was difficult due to the tent catching the wind. This of course, is not the manufacturer's fault! It's merely a cautionary tale, which I ended up just rolling the tent to the best of my ability. It would never have fitted in the bag, but the intention is when the weather changes back to beautiful sunshine I'll be able to re-pitch and eventually pack it properly.Here are my observations from 5 days of use on the beautiful French Basque coast:1) It really is easy to pitch and set up quickly, especially if you invest in some 30cm (12in) U Stakes and a mallet.2) Even with very bright sun, my wife still managed to discretely and invisibly change into her bikini in the zipped up tent.3) The shade is brilliant from the tent....those who have complained must be talking about having the windows open!4) The size is brilliant. We honestly have had not just looks, but long lingering stares (could be my wife in her bikini, but I reckon it's the tent!)5) Ordinarily, this packs down easily and perfectly, if you follow the steps I mention below.6) On the issue of unsticking the legs, I have found the solution thanks to another reviewer: you just need to gently pull the joint away from the leg, then the leg will bend easily. There's no need for any force or broken manicured nails (my wife's glad now!)7) No-one in Biarritz or Bidart has a tent like this!Finally, once we've got round to it, I'll update the video with one from our beach trip. In the meantime check out some of the photos from Bidart in South Western France.July 2018 THIS IS A PRELIMINARY REVIEW. IT WILL BE UPDATED IN AUGUST. THESE ARE INITIAL (PRE-USE) THOUGHTS AND FIRST IMPRESSIONS.THE VIDEO SHOWS HOW TO PACK THE TENT PROPERLY TO FIT INTO THE BAG PROPERLY.....This is a preliminary review, as much as for our benefit, as for yours, before we do the full review when we take it to La Grande Plage in Biarritz in South West France between 8th-22nd August. PLEASE CHECK BACK IN AUGUST FOR A FULL BEACH REVIEW. This is our very first video review!The Easthills Outdoors Easy Up 4 Person Beach Tent Deluxe XL wasn't available for me to purchase in the UK at the time so I bought it from Amazon in the USA and had it shipped. So why did I pay over the odds for it, £114.02 ($150) versus the bargain price of £84.90 ($112) on UK Amazon? Quite simply when I watched other reviewers of this product versus the rival manufacturers' products I noticed some distinct differences. Firstly, this was bigger than rival offerings. Secondly, the vestibule/porch flap zips up completely. Rival offerings have a couple of friction clips which secure their vestibules leaving a very big gap around the sides and a 7.5 to 8cm (3 to 4inch) gap at the top, completely negating the point of "closing" the porch up. Lastly, there were thoughtful details, like sand pockets which use velcro to secure the sides allowing easy egress of the sand, and toggles, rather than Velcro like rival tents.The package arrived 2 days early from the US, which was a nice bonus, however, we've only got round to putting it up a day after it arrived. So if you watch the videos, you'll get a better idea of what it's really like. Some things I really like after our initial set up:1) It fits in the locker under the floor of my Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake (not available in the USA) along with two golf umbrellas, two portable camp chairs and still leaves room for me to store things. Of course, this is as a result of having a very big Mercedes and having a tyre fit kit instead of a spare wheel. (The under floor locker is double the size of the new E Class Estate's)!2) It's well made. Having inspected all the seams and stitching, it's been made with care and good quality management techniques.3) It's really big (when I set it up in France, you'll see just how big it really is).4) The zippers work on the inside and outside and they can be secured with a travel padlock.5) The mechanism is excellent, and is really easy to put up.I noticed that other reviewers, both videographers and writers, have had problems getting the tent back in the bag. This, I'm afraid is clearly operator error. I took good care to see how it was packaged from the factory, to ensure that I knew how to fold it back tightly. Watch the video and you'll see what I mean.Basically, what you need to do is to:1) Ensure the windows are all unrolled and undone.2) Fold up the front porch so that the first part meets the first crease in the floor. This ensures that the "umbrella" mechanism is covered and the central part of the tent has evenly spaced material, making it easier to get into the bag. DON'T zip it up, or fold the porch into the tent completely.3) Make sure all legs are bent (free of the joint mechanism). If some are stuck, push using your thumbs close to the joint. If you try doing it from the end of the leg, you'll apply leverage which will break the leg.4) When you roll it, make sure you've covered the legs and mechanism, as per the video.5) Keep the tension in the roll as you do it.6) Secure the tent using the strap provided at the widest point.Some other features which I like are: the toggles which are used to roll the windows up, and secure them closed. I like the stretch "aerated" material holding the poles to the material. This gives a reduced aerodynamic pressure on the poles and the tent fabric. I like the window mesh which is small enough to allow good airflow which keeps the interior cool and again reduces aerodynamic pressure on the structure.When we pitched it for this review, we had forgotten a mallet, so couldn't use the pegs and guy-lines. The ground here in the UK is solid after having had high temperatures and no rain for 7 to 8 weeks. Therefore, we just stuck one 1 litre water bottle, each, in the two side pockets and believe it or not, the tape measure in the rear pocket.In truth, my wife and I can't wait to get this out to Biarritz, perhaps Easthills Outdoors will get some orders as a result of our pitching this in Biarritz. Biarritz is the centre for European surfing, and a luxury resort too, so there could be a good mix of potential clientele from surfers to the "glitterati". I'm certain we'll get plenty of admiring glances for our tent on the beach.

We just got this a couple of days ago and we immediately set it up in our spare bedroom to check it out and to familiarize ourselves with putting it up and taking it down. It took a couple of tries to get it up, but no big deal once we did it a couple of times. I spent all one evening looking at different sun tents and reading the reviews on them. This one seemed to have very good reviews and it also had many features that I wanted, the main one was the size. I needed it to be large enough for room for two chairs for adults and extra room for a child, cooler, beach bag, etc. Also, of importance to me was the price. I didn't want to spend more than $50-$60 if possible and this one fit the bill as I purchased it on Amazon prime day for $55.After setting it up we noticed some things that we really liked, such as, extra large windows for ventilation, four nice sized mesh pockets (two on each side) for sunscreen, snacks, keys, sunglasses, etc, the front flap acts as a porch for extra people to sit on or to just help keep sand out of the tent. It also zips completely closed, which I absolutely love because if anyone wants to change clothes before heading home we don't have to walk all the way back to the restroom. Also, if we leave the tent for any length of time we can put all of our personal belongings inside of the tent and zip it shut, which is another great feature. I purchased two ozark low-rise chairs and I think they will work perfectly for the tent! I sat them in it just to see how they would fit and they fit in perfectly! The low chairs will be great for extra headroom, etc, plus we will sit at just the right height to get a nice breeze from the windows blowing on us.I really like the carrying case that came with it, it's roomy and easy to put on your shoulder to carry everything needed. The plastic stakes that came with the tent are very sturdy and well made. The pouches for holding sand have Velcro for easy opening and closing. I plan on taking gallon size ziplock bags for the sand as recommended by another reviewer. If there was one thing that I would change it would be that I wish the tent came in a darker color, like royal blue, just so it isn't so light, but it isn't a big deal and we are packing an extra-large beach towel to clip to the top of the tent if we feel we need it for extra shade. I'm very pleased with this tent and can't wait to take it to the beach next week and try it out!! I'm sure we're going to love it!!***UPDATE***We took this to the beach two days ago and it worked great! Set-up was easy and quick. My husband and I had it all set-up and secured with sand in five minutes or less. Our two beach chairs fit perfectly in it, as well as our small cooler and beach bag, with room for other small extras. We brought an extra beach towel to clip on top of the tent to the poles for extra protection from the sun and that worked great (little tip -- I had my husband cut the clips off those plastic hangers that come from the store and they worked amazing at keeping the towel secure). It was a very hot day out (87 degrees) with just a small breeze, but we were very comfortable! I didn't want to leave! We ate our lunch inside the tent out of the sun and sand and it was great! We took a long walk and put everything inside of the tent and zipped the front shut, another wonderful feature to help keep our belongings a little safer. Next time I'm taking an extra beach towel to place on the front flap as it gets very hot in the sun and when you step on it it hurts a little. We used the extra large mesh storage holders for keeping our cellphones and sunglasses up off the floor of the tent so we'd know where they were and didn't have to worry about stepping on them. The man who was sitting near us complimented on it, he thought it was pretty nice! We are very pleased with this sun shelter tent and can't wait to use it again next week!