OZtrail Elite Series

some Hiccups but been great!! – We bought the Chalet 4 almost 10 years ago. Within a few months the fly was UV damaged and literally ripped in our hands. We only used it twice for 3 nights each. Took it back to our local sports shop who said the NZ Supplier will not replace as they determined it was our fault (only because we had also purchased an Oztrail Odyssey which the fly… Read more

also deteriorated). Luckily our store replaced the Chalet 4 with a Chalet 6 and took the hit (shame on Oztrail!!!). Funnily enough we happened to meet the ChCh Rep for Oztrail camping in Totaranui. Not saying anything about our experience, he admitted they had some initial quality control problems. Anyway, the Chalet 6 after 10 years is now starting to tear but we have had a great joy out of it. Also our Odyssey has been a campers dream after 10 years of service (once the initial fly was also replaced) but is still going strong except for the normal wear and tear. All in all, not bad designed tents but needs better quality material and they need to stand behind their products and honour consumer rights.

Excellent – Had OzTrail Elite Villa 6 years. An absolutely gem of a tent, have been in severe storms and wind down on South Coast, withstood all. Positioning in wind makes difference.

Great Tent for Large Famly! – We purchased this tent last year from Tentworld for our annual xmas trip, we usually spend up to a week away and with 3 kids we wanted a bit more space. Initial set up and wet down went along with no major dramas, (a pole did break when it caught in the sleeve and couldn;t side through, this may have been our fault,) be aware though this tent… Read more

will take 30-40mins to set up but it is a large tent so that is expected. Kids were in one end with double bunks and they had heaps of space for all their gear (clothes, toys, etc), our bub was in the centre room and we were in the other end. We have a queen double high mattress and it is snug in there with our bags (but you don't live in there.)

The front sunroom is an absolute gem, we had our fridge, food, play equip, etc, and we still had loads of room, also during the day it is perfect for a midday nap! Yes it has a powerport access but that is from the sunroom to the main tent, we had to run a power cord through the front door which was a pain, if you had a power pack in the sunroom and were running lights off it that would be ok. Front awning is ok for short stops (wouldn't be putting this tent up for short stops) but you are better off putting up a tarp or sun shelter.

We have not been in rain but we have had strong winds and it handled them with ease, overall this tent is great and was a fantastic home away from home! Heaps of space, front room fantastic for day sleeps, great airflow throughout, excellent value for money! No external access for power, Time to set up (which is expected of a tent this size,) Pole broke during set up (possibly our fault)

Not a Happy Camper – I brought the Elite Chalat 4 couple years ago, i was spose to go camping with the kids when i brought the tent unfortunately i wasn't able to but finally got the chance to take it out a week ago i never used this tent in 2 years i put it up in my backyard as we all do for the first time when i brought it, pulled it down and it basically was packed… Read more

away for 2 yrs in dry clean spot.. when i put it up the first time a week ago in the campsite one ov the main anchor tabs with the ring & 2 pole holders on it ripped clean off the tent i wasnt impressed... also the power cord entry point was in the back room and i had no way to get it to the front only by putting it thro the door way which basically invited mozzies in.. as soon as the sun hit the tent in the morning being 35c day the vent poles up the top snapped... i managed to fix it but as soon as i put it back in 10mins later i watched it snap again... I spend money to by this tent now i have to spend more money to get it repaired... The only good thing about this tent is the size and thats why i brought it.. Mentioned above

Very good tent – The tent is exactly what we needed. spacious, easy to set up, breathable, and good quality. we took some terrible storms this summer in it, and it handled it perfectly. couldnt ask for more. also the price was good. we used it for only 5 people, but our one (dome 12 person) could easily fit 9-12 people with bags Inexpensive, breathable, good quality

Not great but not a total disaster – I've owned two OZtrail tents now. The one i have at the moment is the Elite Villa. We've had it for about 6 years. The T-shaped layout of the tent is a great idea for us as a family - kids at one end and parents at the other. Lots of room in the central room. We keep all our clothes and personal stuff here . The front vestibule is fully enclosed… Read more

(unlike the Coleman Montana) and provides lots of storage space. We keep all our food, cooking gear and camping bits and pieces here.

The quality of both OZtrail tents I've owned is mixed. Some aspects have been good while a few are woeful.

The overall quality of the fabric and stitching is not too bad.

The floors in both tents have been just ok. The floor in the first one (Sportiva Peninsula V) perished badly. The blue surface coating of the floor kept coming away in masses of tiny flakes. Everything (including our skin) would be coated in specks of blue. That's why we bought a new tent. The floor in the Elite Villa Dome is just beginning to perish similarly in some parts. We always use ground sheets when camping and even use marine carpet on the inside of the tent floor. So, I'm not sure what's happening there. Hopefully it is just where we've damaged the surface and isn't a return of the previous problem.

The worst part of the current tent is the poles. At least one pole perishes every time we use the tent. This is very frustrating and leads to the pole sleeves almost ripping and the stitching coming under great strain. I don't know if this is a pole problem or a design problem. I have replaced so many poles that it's just crazy.

The tent is unforgiving in that you need to set up the fly just right or it will leak, even in the lightest showers. Now days we pray it won't rain or set up a tarp over the whole tent if we're staying a bit longer. Last time we camped our beds were wet underneath because of damp coming through the floor. Not sure what's happening there either.

I think next time I'll buy a Coleman Montana to replace the Elite Villa Dome. Even though it doesn't have a fully enclosed vestibule I would forgo that for a better quality tent Good sized and good design ideas. Not too expensive. The poles are useless for this design.

Terrible tent!! – Brought this tent in New Zealand thinking it would be able to withold our weather yet one half decend storm and I was being rained on inside the tent, leakage through the seams and even up from the ground through the floor sheet. Then there is the pole problem. Worst poles ever invented being very week and break easy, a strong wind snapped both… Read more

of the window vent poles and putting the mains poles up took out 2 of the support poles bloody useless. There are also little toggle things to hold back the window flaps which fall apart after a couple of uses the tent is currently surrounded by crumbling plastic and springs.

Basically this tent is only good for a very dry windless climate and a waste of time to use in New Zealand. I will never buy anything by Oztrail again. Not much yet it is a nice size and head height. As per my review rant

Good – Hello, I thought I would write this review as when I was looking to buy this tent I could not find much in the way of reviews nor even deail about the tent. I was in the market for a famly tent for around $400.00. We only camp probably three times per year for usually about a week. The candidates were this tent, the Oztrail Breezeway Villa… Read more

Elite Dome ($359.00) and the Colement CV-9 Chalet ($379.00). There is heaps about Coleman out there and lots of good videos and reviews. That said there is nothing about the Oztrail. I weighed up the merits of both including Colemans repuation and bought the Oz Trail, basically because with the limited time we go camping and for the time we are in the tent I figured we could use the space.

So setting it up in my yard I thought I would put it to the test in some of the bad weather we have been getting lately before we hit the campsite for real. Firstly, the weight was less of an issue as the tent comes in a nice wheeled bag, with an expansion zipper. Once you lift it from the car it's pretty easy to wheel around. Setting the tent up is easy enough, it has colour coded poles and tent sleeves. Although I had to read the instructions a few time to work out how things went, next time I wouldn't need to look at all. There was only one minor defect in unpacking, one of the zips on the tent fly for the screen room has been sown wrong and the tent material overlaps the zipper for the last 1.5 cms. So minor, I'm not going to bother taking it back. The build quality was okay with no other obvious issues.

Once erected the tent was very very big and spacious. The windows and doors etc provide plently of airflow and the tent is quiet cool with the windows open. Gear lockers and little pockets for the window closures all are little bonuses. The screen room is fantastic. All rooms have 'barn' doors so you can close the lower half for privacy but leave the top open for ventilation.

The big question was did it hold up to the rain? Having done a bit of camping in cadets and then over the years with fiends and family I can soon tell if something is going to hold out water. I thought that the 'weak' areas were going to be where the screen room fly joins the tent as the fly is very flat here and I thought prone to holding water. The tent and tent fly were both fairly taut but the design of the screen room was just not as taut.

That night it bucketed down. The ground was already soaked from the past month of rain and was squelshing under foot. The tent was on a slope which was quiet steep (you would never really pitch on this as you would roll down hill but that is the lay of our backyard.)

That night I went down and checked and it was all dry. A 10 cent size puddle of water had leaked on to the floor of the fly room near where it joined the tent. This was a design fault as there is an opening in the floor walls to allow access to the pin and ring system. I also think it was ground water that came in, not rain leaking. The next morning I confirmed all was dry and that previous 5cm pool of water was gone. I was really surpirsed the screen room had held up as I had my doubts. No water had come though the floor despite the ground squelshing under foot. The tent was dry and had withstood a pretty serious deluge overnight.

So I will leave the tent up for another week as we have more bad weather predicted. It anything changes I'll repost but so far I'm going to be a very happy camper. Hope this helps. Oztrail Breezeway Villa Elite (DTE-VI9-C).

Large tent 3 rooms plus screen room. Height was great. Price was excellent ($359.00) from tentworld. Lots of good features, power cord opening (zips top to bottom), vestabule with door mat, access from the tent rooms to the vestabule via a little access panel, Straight walls give you more room inside, lots of windows, heat vent in the room and on the 'Halo' awning over the vestabule. It's heavy but the tent comes in a bag with wheels. It takes a fair while to erect - but then its a family tent and a large one at that. My first attempt was 1hr 10 min by myself in a moderate breeze with my 18 mo bothering me. I should get this down to about 40 mins I think with some practice and/or help.

Leaking hiker – What a disapointment, i bought this tent after careful study and discussions with the supplier and carried it all the way from New Zealand in my pack for use in Scotland, i had explained i was going there.the key was i needed a lightweight tent unfortuately the weather is very wet here but still i am no stranger to that, but the tent leaks around… Read more

the seams i think, quite bad, so i buy ws sealant and try again,still no joy, so now i am about to to seam sealant, sigh very disapointing, i did write and Oz Trail and got a reply and was told i shouldhave tried another sereis but hey wait a minute i was told this would do the design is cool easy to erect and lightweight it leaks and leaks and leaks

OK – Re the Oztrail Elite Breezeway Chalet 4 Plus 2011 model - I plan to take it back to Anaconda asap and request a full refund on the basis that it was faulty/defective straight out of the box. The quality of workmanship was just not there which is a shame because we really liked the tent and researched tents for months before finally deciding on… Read more

it. As for the size and layout it really suited us as we had wanted to sleep in the one room and have a separate front insect proof screened room that we could store our stuff in and use as a kind of lounge room/eating area if the weather turned. After we put 3 single mattresses in the back room there wasn't much room in there to spare so if you have more than 3 people they would have to sleep in the front screened room. Re - the Oztrail Elite Breezeway Chalet 4 Plus 2011 model - I was thrilled to get this for a great price of $199 from Anaconda. It is a 2 room tent. The awnings of the front section can be folded up or pegged out to reveal a fully screened front room. This adjoins an enclosed back room via a divider. The back room also has a rear entrance. We loved the tent as far as size and ventilation was concerned. It was big enough for a family of 3 to sleep in the back room on 3 single self-inflating mattresses (that each measured 195cm x 80cm) The front screen room was a great size and big enough to stow all our gear undercover. The tent was cool and well ventilated even without a tarp over the top - probably due to it being overcast most of the time. There were lots of gear pockets in the rear room. though I don't recall there being any in the front screened room. Upon opening there were defects: A cord inside one of the tent poles was already snapped before we'd got it out of the bag - fortunately the other family we were camping with had the foresight to pack duct tape and the pole was able to be temporarily taped together. There was a significant hole in the screen rooms insect proof mesh. One of the velcro pole ties was only dangling by a thread. On the first night we had a downpour - the main sleeping area stayed dry but the front corner of the screen room had pooled with water despite the tent being fully closed down tight for the night. Design flaws: I'm being fussy now i know but I thought I'd mention that there was a power cord inlet that entered into the rear room but there was no inlet from there for it to also go into the other room (as I have seen on other tents eg. Coleman). The only way to get the powercord into the front section from the inlet was to then unzip the room divider door - which could potentially allow mozzies into your screened off sleeping area. Also I thought the zip for the powercord access should have zipped from the top down (instead of zipping up) as the weight of the powercord was pulling the zip down creating a gap of about an inch for insects to enter from outside.

Terrible – Not fit for purpose - really disappointing, far too many gimmicks at the expense of getting the basics right i.e. a flysheet that fits properly and keeps the inner dry. Wrote to oztrail to complain but heard nothing. space, lots of vents quality, badly designed andfitting flysheet, difficult to put up