POD tents mean you can truly camp together

For everyone but the truly hardcore, it’s not exactly camping season right now, but it’s never too early to prepare for summer 2015. And instead of that ratty old tent you picked up a decade ago and have been dragging to campgrounds and festivals ever since (or, you know, the luxury hotel room of my your dreams), POD tents offer a stylish, flexible way for families and groups of friends to truly camp together.

The tents come in two sizes, maxi and mini. The smaller tents sleep four while the larger size fits eight sleeping any old how, or add optional sleeper cells to give four people individual sleeping areas and a touch of privacy. There are zippered compartments for belongings (basically the camping version of a bedside table, so you can make yourself at home) plus room to stand up and move around.

But the big selling point is the fact that the tents can be fastened together in any combination using pod tunnels which simply zip on to the tents’ doorways. (See a tour of some of the tents joined together on YouTube.) This means that you can have a real group camping experience, and that when the British weather inevitably forces you indoors, you’re not limited to your own cramped canvas box but can carry on the party in your little tent community.

POD tested their first design on festival goers this summer but need more cash to bring the updated version to market. So they’ve just launched a Kickstarter to bring in the £50,000 they need before 4 December. If you’re interested in backing it, the mini tent will have an RRP of £425 but chip in £250 and it’s yours. (Although you should know that if you buy it, you’ll probably have to actually go camping…) They plan to start shipping in May next year so you should be set for festival season 2015.

Want to read more? We’ve chosen our 20 favourite coats and 16 favourite ankle boots to get ready for the winter weather.

If you’re more interested in getting a new camera than new clothes this season, you might be interested in these camera accessories for your iPhone, which beg the question: Do you need a camera if you own a camera phone?