Best Air Tents with Sewn-in Groundsheet

Most inflatable tents have sewn-in groundsheet. This has now become some kind of ‘remark of quality’, so cheaper models tend to have sewn-in groundsheets too just to make the impression that they play in a higher league.

If you are looking for an air tent with sewn-in groundsheet to make sure that you are protected from the elements – especially water leaking in – you are at the best place to find out which air tents are the best just for that.

I am also telling you;

• Why you might not want an air tent (or any tent for that matter) with a sewn-in groundsheet – yes, there are some disadvantages, believe it or not;
• Which models you should avoid right away if you want a fully sealed air tent; and
• Which air tent I recommend if you are looking for the best air tent with sewn-in groundsheet

Inflatable Tents Sewn-in Groundsheet v Linked Groundsheet

Brand	Model	Groundsheet
Airgo	Air Genus 400	Linked
Airgo	Air Genus 800	Linked
Berghaus	Air 4	Sewn-in
Berghaus	Air 4 XL	Sewn-in
Berghaus	Air 6	Sewn-in
Berghaus	Air 6 XL	Sewn-in
Berghaus	Air 6 XL Polycotton	Sewn-in
Coleman	Fastpitch Air Valdes 4	Sewn-in
Coleman	Fastpitch Air Valdes 6	Sewn-in
Coleman	Weathermaster 4XL Air	Sewn-in
Coleman	Weathermaster 8XL Air	Sewn-in
Eurohike	Air 400	Sewn-in
Eurohike	Air 600	Sewn-in
Kampa	Brean 4	Sewn-in
Kampa	Croyde 6	Sewn-in
Kampa	Dometic Brean 3	Sewn-in
Kampa	Dometic Wittering 6	Sewn-in
Kampa	Hayling 4	Sewn-in
Kampa	Kielder 5	Sewn-in
Outdoor Revolution	Airedale 6	Sewn-in
Outdoor Revolution	Airedale 7.0SE	Sewn-in
Outdoor Revolution	Airedale 8.0	Sewn-in
Outdoor Revolution	Cruiz 4.0	Sewn-in
Outdoor Revolution	Cruiz 6.0TXL	Sewn-in
Outdoor Revolution	Edale 7	Sewn-in
Outdoor Revolution	Kalahari PC 7.0	Sewn-in
Outwell	Hartsdale 6PA	Sewn-in
Outwell	Lindale 3PA	Sewn-in
Outwell	Lindale 5PA	Sewn-in
Outwell	Reddick 4A	Sewn-in
Outwell	Roseville 6SA	Sewn-in
Outwell	Woodburg 7A	Sewn-in
Pavillo	Sierra Ridge Air (Pro) 4	Linked
Pavillo	Sierra Ridge Air Pro X6	Sewn-in
Portland Outdoor	Alfa 5	Sewn-in
Quechua	Air Seconds 4.1	Linked
Quechua	Air Seconds 4.1 Fresh & Black	Linked
Quechua	Air Seconds 6.3 Fresh & Black	Linked
Sprayway	Valley M	Sewn-in
Sprayway	Valley XL	Sewn-in
Vango	Alton 400 Air	Sewn-in
Vango	Celino Air 400	Sewn-in
Vango	Icarus Air 600	Sewn-in
Vango	Icarus Air Vista 600	Sewn-in
Vango	Lomond 450 Air	Sewn-in
Vango	Longleat II 800XL	Sewn-in
Vango	Odyssey Air 600	Linked
Vango	Odyssey Air 600 Deluxe	Sewn-in
Vango	Portland 400	Linked
Vango	Rivendale 500XL	Sewn-in
Vango	Valencia II 650XL	Sewn-in
Vango	Vango Tahiti II 850XL	Sewn-in
Vango	Ventanas 650XL	Sewn-in
Zempire	Any	Sewn-in

If you haven’t already, you should have a look at the previous episodes:

Part 1: Best air Tents UK / US / AUS

Part 2: Best air tents / inflatable tents with blackout bedroom

Part 3 (this post): Best air tents with sewn-in groundsheet

Part 4: Best air tents in wind

Sewn-in vs Linked Groundsheet

There are not too many disadvantages of a sewn-in groundsheet, but there are some.

Firstly – especially cheaper models – won’t have a flat entrance if the groundsheet is fully sewn-in. This may become an issue if you or anyone in the group or the family have a disability, as the threshold can be quite high sometimes.

Sewn-in groundsheets seal better, that’s great because water does not come in. But it also means that it does not go out either. As most tents have a polyester – full waterproof – flysheet too, in rainy weather or even in a colder morning, it can become quite humid inside the tent.

Even if you leave the flaps open the humidity in the air can turn into condensation on the inside of the flysheet if the temperature drops in the morning. Tents with a sewn-in groundsheet and lower quality flysheet will more likely suffer from this effect.

If the fabric of the inner tent touches the inside of the flysheet, it will become damp very quickly. It can be quite surprising – and not in a good way – to wake up in the morning and find that the wall of the inner tent is wet, even though it has not even rained.

Tents with a linked-in groundsheet have better ventilation throughout, and the temperature inside will be much closer to the temperature outside: it is less likely to experience that condensation on the backside of the flysheet.

That’s why it can be tricky buying a cheap air tent with a thin flysheet AND a sewn-in groundsheet. The thin flysheet has very little effect on keeping the warmth inside the tent, and the inner side will become cold enough for the humidity in the air inside the tent to turn into water droplets. Those will very likely run down on the inside of the flysheet creating a nice little puddle in the middle of the tent, or fall onto the inner tent which is not waterproof at all.

Lastly, depending what you do during the day and how dirty your gear is when you return, a linked-in groundsheet can be rolled up as necessary. You don’t bring the muck onto the groundsheet, so it may be easier to keep it relatively clean.

On the other hand, if you have a tent with a linked-in groundsheet, prepare yourself that every insect you can imagine will find it’s way inside the tent. You can buy a bunch of insect repellent lamps though, I used a pair of these and they worked pretty well, but it’s a tough call…

Air tents that don’t have a sewn-in groundsheet

Quite a few manufacturers – especially on the lower end of the market – prefer keeping quiet about the groundsheet if its now sewn in. So if you can’t find anything on the groundsheet in a product description, it will most likely be a linked groundsheet.

If you have browsed through the table at the top of this page (or filtered to ‘Linked’), then you may already have an idea about which type of air tents don’t have a sewn-in groundsheet.

Not a definitive list, but you should probably avoid the following models:

• Airgo Air Genus 400
• Airgo Air Genus 800
• Eurohike Genus 400
• Eurohike Genus 800
• Pavillo Sierra Ridge Air 4
• Quechua Air Seconds – All models
• Vango Odyssey Air 600 and Air 600SC
• Vango Portland 400

Inflatable tent with the strongest groundsheet

When it comes to finding the air tent with the most durable groundsheet, you must at look at two things: the fabric itself, and the coating.

The coating is important, because as you stand on top of it, the water pressure ‘on the other side’ of the groundsheet can increase dramatically. They say you need at least 3,000mm HH water resistance on the groundsheet (other sources recommend at least 5,000mm HH).

The fabric itself is important too, cause the coating won’t keep the weaves together and won’t make the groundsheet miraculously resistant to ripping / tearing.

So you need something that’s thick, but not too heavy; durable but not rigid. Standard tarpaulin is around 120 gsm. Tarps above 250gsm are considered heavy-duty – these are the ones that you can see on market stalls for example.  What you must know, that they are not water-resistant naturally, they are treated with a coating too.

You can buy additional footprint for most air tents, and having a soft carpet on top of it can help reducing the counter-pressure from the other side (as well as adding some extra comfort)

So the best air tent with overall ‘groundsheet properties’ – in my opinion anyways – is the

Kampa Kielder 5

Why?

• It has a fully sewn-in groundsheet that is 130 g/m² (gsm) thick, and has 10,000 mm HH water-resistance. (The Kampa Kielder 4 has identical features by the way)
• There is an option to buy an additional footprint
• You have the option to buy an additional soft fleece matching carpet
• You can have all three in a bundle

With other air tents, you will have one or two of the above bullet-points missing. There won’t be a carpet. There’s a footprint but it is out of stock since late 2018. There’s no info on the groundsheet HH rating. Or if there is, you don’t know how thick the fabric is and the whole tent is less than 15 kgs, which is not very promising…

The Kampa Kielder 5 has the best all-round properties.