If you love camping but sometimes wish your accommodation was a little larger, one option is to buy a really huge tent. Alternatively, you could go for the Qube, a modular offering that lets you build a space as large as you like.
Designed by Brit inventor Jason Thorpe, the Qube will connect with any other Qube — whether it’s the two-, three-, or four-person design — allowing you to create a floor plan that suits both you and your fellow travelers.
The Qube can apparently be set up in less than two minutes, which sounds great if it’s your swear words that can often be heard drifting across the campground every time you struggle to set up the same tent you’ve had for the last 10 years. And with generous headroom of at least 215 cm, there’ll be “no more stooping over or doing ‘the dying fish’ while you try and get your jeans on,” Thorpe says.
A nice touch is the Qube’s black lining, which guarantees a total blackout for sleeping so you won’t be rudely awakened by early morning sunlight pouring in through one of its four windows.
It also features a ventilation system, a “special material treatment process” that claims to reduce condensation, and strong rain protection. Constructed from heavy-duty nylon, the Qube should last comfortably for many years.
Fortunately — and importantly — the tent is easy to pack away, too, “so you won’t need to be an expert in origami to try and get it back into the bag when you’re ready to come home.”
While the Qube could certainly pave the way to a fun social camping experience with your buddies at a festival, it could also offer some much-needed privacy and space for larger families on the verge of a nervous breakdown after three days or so at the campground in close quarters.
Downsides? Starting at 32.65 pounds for the two-person Qube, it’s not light, so you won’t want to be carrying it far in a backpack. Or at all. Also, if it’s your buddies you want to go Qube-ing with, you’ll need to persuade them that forking out for the tent is a really good idea.
Speaking of money, the Qube is available via its Indiegogo page starting at $250 for the two-person design. With its funding goal already smashed by a factor of more than 10, shipping to the U.S., Europe, and South Africa is set to start in July, 2017.
