If many of the camping-related Kickstarter projects are anything to go by, people really hate setting up tents. The Gouse Tent and Luli Canopy are the latest offerings that are claimed to make the process easier, with a little help from an electric pump and an inflatable frame.
Both products are made by Aerogogo, which previously brought us the smaller Giga, Sphere, and Moon tents. Like those models, the Gouse and the Luli feature tubular textile frames which are inflated by an included electric pump.
The Gouse actually has two side-by-side H-shaped frames, which together form a linked HH pattern when viewed from above. One frame forms the bedroom, while the other forms the “living room.” A curtain between the two can be drawn and zipped shut when desired. Of course, the living room can just be designated as a second bedroom, although it doesn’t have a floor.
Extra functionality is added by three canopies – one over the front door and one on either side of the tent – which are held up by included support poles.
With a ceiling height of 210 cm (6.9 ft), a length of 665 cm (21.8 ft) and a width of 225 cm (7.4 ft), the Gouse is claimed to accommodate eight to 10 people … although 10 sounds a bit ambitious to us.
Its frame is made of polyethylene-coated TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), while its walls are composed of two layers of material:
150D Oxford fabric with a PU2000 waterproof coating and a silver UPF 50+ sun-protection coating on the inside, and 150D Oxford fabric with a PU3000 waterproof coating and a black polyurethane sun-protection coating on the outside. The raised-edge floor is made of 300D Oxford fabric with a PU3000 waterproof coating.
Ventilation is facilitated by a total of six large mesh windows, the covers of which can be rolled up and tied in place as needed. There’s also a stove pipe hole in the ceiling, for keeping warm with a user-supplied stove on cold days.
Set-up consists of laying the tent flat on the ground, staking it down at the corners, then inflating its two frames – each one reportedly takes eight minutes. In a final step, its canopy and wind support straps are also staked down.
The Luli Canopy is a lot simpler than the Gouse Tent, as it’s open at both ends and utilizes just a single H-shaped frame. It has a ceiling height of 220 cm (7.2 ft) and end openings that are each 250 cm (8.2 ft) wide, allowing a vehicle to be backed part way in if desired. Like the Gouse, it has six mesh windows. One added feature, however, is an integrated projection screen for watching movies.