Berghaus Air 400XL Nightfall tent review
Camping in summer can be a tiring affair – late to bed after marshmallows around the fire, you’re woken at first light when the sun hits your tent. Berghaus’ Nightfall range of tents aims to solve all that with fantastic super-dark bedrooms that create a soothing sleeping environment and allow you to snooze way past sunrise – as long as the kids don’t wake you first of course!
As a family of three, we loved this spacious and super easy-to-pitch air tent. It was a blustery, windy day the first time we put this up, so we had to be sure the tent was well pegged down before we blew up the beams. But it held up brilliantly in the wind, didn’t wobble around and felt very secure overnight. On our next camping trip in Dorset we had torrential rain overnight but stayed 100% dry and cosy inside; the outside of the tent dried quickly in the morning too. We found the impressively sized living area and the front porch invaluable on wet days – the porch is deep and wide enough to keep your Wellington boots dry and for a number of people to sit and watch the weather!
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Easy to pitch
Even the first time we put this up it took only 15 minutes to erect; it’s definitely a two-person job though, as the beams need supporting as they’re pumped up. Simply peg out the corners of the sewn-in groundsheet, which in a tunnel-shape tent such as this are easy to find the first time you unroll it, then blow up the five beams, in the order suggested in the instructions, using the supplied pump. The efficient pump comes with a gauge so you know you’re not at risk of over-inflating the beams and each beam only took a minute or so to inflate. Peg out the rest of the tent and the fly ropes, then you’re ready to move in.
The beautifully darkened sleeping area would be tight if you had two double air beds, but one double airbed and two single camping mats fit nicely. For privacy, splitting the sleeping area into two is easy with the zipped divider.
Plenty of room to move
This tent feels big and airy with fantastic head height (205cm), so perfect if you have any six-footers in your family. There are handy and capacious storage pockets on both sides of the bedroom and in the living area, plus a hook and tracks to hang lights or a lantern in the middle of the living room - although at only 5ft tall I had to ask a taller person to attach the lantern! Large windows on both sides of the living area and porch make it feel light and bright, while dual cable access points make it easy to charge devices.
At 30.9kg, it’s a heavy tent and quite large when packed, but the wheeled carry bag makes it much easier to move – I managed to get it from the car to the house on my own. It took up just over half of the back seat in our car – it was too heavy for us to lift it into the boot. Do make a note of the packed dimensions before you buy and make sure you have somewhere suitable to store it.
To protect your tent from dirt, stones and damage, and to gain extra insulation and warmth underfoot it’s a good idea to also get the footprint groundsheet. The one for this tent is sold separately, at £65, and is made from waterproof polyethylene. If you want to always find your tent in the field, a striking limited-edition mustard-coloured version of this tent is also available.
Facts at a glance: Berghaus Air 400XL Nightfall tent
- Sleeps: 4
- Type of tent: Family air tent
- Packed dimensions (cm): 85 x 58 x 49 (LxWxH)
- Pitched dimensions (cm): 675 x 310 x 215 (LxWxH)
- Weight: 30.9kg
- No of bedrooms: 1 (can be split into two)
- Poles: Inflatable tubes – 5 beams
- Flysheet and inner: 75D 185T Polyester Embossed
- Hydrostatic head: 6,000mm
- Standing room (cm): 205
- Groundsheet: Sewn in 185T Polyester
- Colour: Navy blue