The Outdoor Revolution air tents are amongst of my favourites on the inflatabletent market: although they do not have a lot of models, the ones that they have are outstanding in quality for price.

Looking through their range of air tents from Airedale to Oxygen, they have mostly catered for bigger groups and families. They have now introduced quite a few new inflatable tent models in 2019 – including the Outdoor Revolution Cruiz range of three models.

In this post I will go through all the Outdoor Revolution Cruiz Air Tents, in hope to give you a broad overview. As I discuss them, I will also highlight how they compare to other air tents in terms of quality / specs and price; click on the headers below to jump to the section that interest you the most.

• Overview
• Pitching
• Flysheet, Groundsheet, Weather resilience
• Interiors – size and layout
• Who are the Cruiz air tents for?
• Alternatives
• Why the Cruiz? – Pros
• Why NOT the Cruiz? – Cons
• Secret Tip
• Where to buy the Cruiz air tents?

For the Best Air Tents in 2020 in every category, check out this: Best Air Tents in 2020

About Outdoor Revolution, the company

Outdoor Revolution are based in Yorkshire, they have been creating high quality, lightweight awnings and tents for over 13 years. They utilise an in-house British design team, and they are well known for using the best quality fabrics, components and cutting-edge technology. Outdoor Revolution is a brand well known for pushing innovation, and its range of tents are no exception.

If you’re looking for one of the most reliable tents on the market, then Outdoor Revolution air tents are certainly ones that you must consider.

Outdoor Revolution Cruiz Inflatable Tents

Cruiz 4.0, 6.0EX and 6.0TXL

The Outdoor Revolution Cruiz tents are brand new models, introduced in 2019; and they are positioned at the lower end of the model palette. It looks like that Outdoor Revolution are trying open towards ‘weekenders’, who won’t necessarily find the over-and-above weather resilience irresistibly appealing (and worth the money). You can certainly spot it on the Cruiz air tents that Outdoor Revolution were trying to keep the costs as low as possible, while maintaining a good level of quality of the parts and the materials used.

Compared to the popular Airedale air tents, the Cruiz tents are lighter – they are equipped with a lighter High Density (HDE) fabric flysheet (100D instead of 150D used on the Airedales).

While they come with the same Oxygen Air-Frame technology, there are some parts that are different, ie. the valves; and they don’t have the intelligent pressure relief system either.

There are 3 models available currently: while the entry level Airedale is a 5-person tent, the smallest Cruiz model is a 4-berth version. The 6.0EX and the 6.0TXL both have room for 6 persons; however, you’ll see that it’s not this simple.

Pitching

Pitching is easy as you’d expect: there are 3 air-beams to inflate on the Cruiz 4.0 and the 6.0EX, four on the TXL variant. You inflate them individually to 0.6 psi, using the dual-action pump included with the tent. The airbeams are called ‘Oxygen Air-Frame’. These air frames could only be found on more expensive models previously, but fortunately the Cruiz air tents come with it too. It is said to be the quickest, easiest, and most reliable inflation system on the market. It utilises a quadruple oxygen air frame tube technology. Inflating takes about 6 mins.

The pump connects to Boston Valves, which are far from being high-end, but rather simplistic in design. Deflating the air tubes is easy: you simply unscrew the valves.

Flysheet, Groundsheet, Weather resilience

All Cruiz air tents come with an ultra-lightweight 100HDE fabric flysheet – this basically a 100D canvas, but lighter. It is specifically manufactured to deliver light-weight and compact products that easily pack away into their carry bag.

As for water-proofing, the flysheet has 3,000mm HH coating and the seams are fully taped throughout. The ground-sheet is fully sewn in.

A lighter coloured roof material provides protection from the sun (and heat), while the ‘Vortex’ ventilation system ensures that the air can flow freely across the tent. Optimising the air flow helps reducing condensation and humidity.

In essence, it means that there are a number of high- and low-level mesh ventilation points around and inside the tent, mainly around the bedrooms. Sadly, the ventilation of the living area is a bit of a let-down: only the mesh front panel and the side access door let the air through (this is not meshed, it is either opened or closed).

The PVC windows (which are very good quality, clear windows by the way) cannot be opened either.

Interiors – size and layout

Size-wise, the 4.0 and the 6.0 EX are much closer to each other, the 6-berth EX is slightly wider.

The Cruiz 4.0 has two bedrooms separated by a zipped divider. The rooms are 140cm x 210cm each, so you can easily fit a normal double inflatable mattress in them. The inner height is more than 2 metres above the living room. The living area is just about big enough for 4 people to sit around a camping table if it’s raining: the Cruiz 4.0 has 4.2sqm plus another 3sqm as porch.

The Cruiz 6.0EX is only as much bigger as the extra space for two persons makes it wider: 6.5 sqm living area + 3.5sqm porch. If you add them together it is not small, so if the weather allows and you open the front door up fully (they open 2/3^rd), you can create a large, open plan, comfortable living space. It also features ‘extra deep’ bedrooms: they are not 210cms but 230cms long.

     

On the other hand, it can be split only to two bedrooms in a 3/3-person arrangement.

The Cruiz 6.0 TXL has the same narrow but deep bedrooms, but it can be split into 3 bedrooms (120cm x 230cm each). It also has a much bigger living area: it is double of the size of the living room of the 6.0EX, 13.5 sqm + porch.

In terms of access, you can enter the tent via the side door too. You can upgrade with poles to create a canopy area off the side access door.

Who are the Cruiz air tents for?

As I mentioned, they are pretty much the entry level air tents of not just the Outdoor Revolution air tent range, but pretty much their respective category as well.

In terms of build-quality, materials used and craftmanship they are in a different league than the Airgo Air Genus or the Eurohike Air 400 / 600. It looks to me that they are balancing on the fine line of affordability / quality, and they succeed, to some extent.

The Cruiz 4.0 is a decent 4-berth air tent, with suitable space for up to 4 people. Really comfortable for two, and thanks to the quality materials used (e.g. double rip-stop canvas) it should be okay for more frequent or longer-term use as well, not just for ‘weekenders’.

I think the 2/4 divider and the narrow bedrooms are a hit and miss on the 6.0TXL (but makes it a great option as a 4-person tent). While the comfort level is degraded in the sleeping area, you don’t really gain anything. Except, if you need the ‘3^rd’ bedroom for storage space. But then your sleeping zone would be pretty tight for 4 people, and the room could not be separated either… So you end up with a 4 berth tent that is really for backpacker weekends, or family camping with smaller kids and their stuff. In all honesty, the Cruiz 4.0 could probably do the same…

But hang on! I was going to say ‘…for less’ but actually, I think what happened is Outdoor Revolution have realised what I have been trying to explain above and the Cruiz 6.0 EX is cheaper than the 4.0. This is strange, but perfectly logical at the same time, as the price reflects usability!

While you can expect to pay around £500 for the Cruiz 4.0, the Cruiz 6.0EX is on sale and you can grab one for around £450. Now this is getting very interesting now, as it positions the Cruiz 6.0 only a £100 above the Eurohike Air 600 for instance, while they don’t really play in the same league.

Alternatives

The real competitors of the Cruiz are the likes of Vango Capri, Amalfi etc. Airbeam tents. The Amalfi Air 400 for example could be a great alternative of the Cruiz 4.0: award winning fabric waterproof to 4000mm HH, AirSpeed valves, 16.4 kg package, and – smaller rooms than the Cruiz 4.0 for a few pounds less.

Another one could be the Kampa Brean Air 4: slightly thinner fabric (75D), more coating (6000mm HH) and large but non-blackout bedrooms: and it is for less than £500.

It is strange to think that the Cruiz 4.0 is only a few pounds more expensive than the Berghaus Air 4 (full review here) for example, yet you can touch the difference between the two…

The Cruiz 6.0 EX is levelling the playing field by going against the own-brands of bigger retailers like the ever favourite Eurohike Air 600 (full review here), or the Air Genus 800 (full review here). I must admit, that it may not suit every-one’s needs, but if you can accept what it can do, then it is a pretty good deal.

The Cruiz 6.0TXL is a different matter. The plenty of space it can offer and the range of options of separating the bedrooms makes it ideal for longer or shorter breaks just the same. It can be suitable for couples, families, group of friends up to 6: there’s plenty of living area to spend the time together.

As for alternatives, the likes of Vango Capri 600XL Airbeam (that can match it in terms of living space) are slightly more expensive, but not without a reason. There are some specs that the Cruiz tents will never beat, such as the Inner Tension System or the quality air valves.

But even without these, it has the versatility and features to make it ideal for a wide range of purposes.

Other air tents, that are above this price range – like the Kampa Hayling 6 Air Pro – have more robust weather resilience (i.e 150D flysheet, 6000mm HH rating).  Others, that are below the price of the 6.0 TXL – like the Quechua Air Seconds 6.3XL (click for the full review) – don’t have the space inside, or the same quality of the materials used.

I could list almost every single air tent but to cut the long story short, the pricing of the Cruiz tents seems very realistic.

You can find more 4-5 person and 6-person alternatives in these posts:

Top 5 Inflatable Tents For Camping With The Family

Cheap 6-Man Inflatable Tents (Good Value for Money)

Vango 6-Berth Air Tents Review Pt1. (Odyssey 600, Amalfi 600, Icarus 600, Keswick 600)

Best Air Tents in 2020

Why the Cruiz? – Pros

Without repeating myself over and over again there are two more things that may shift the balance: they come with 12-months warranty, and there’s a further 5% off if you buy them online at Winfields Outdoors.

Why NOT the Cruiz? – Cons

I should have said, they come only with 12-months warranty. A Vango, for example comes with 2+1 years, a Quechua comes with 5 years peace of mind. Would I be overly worried about this? Probably not. The other thing that I can’t NOT think of: why not buy an Airedale instead?

The Secret Tip

In general, the Airedales have 150D flysheet, dynamic speed valves with an intelligent frame relief valve – it is a pressure relief valve to prevent over-inflation (e.g. when the temperature rises, so as the air within the airframe and it starts expanding). They also have large, great quality PVC tinted windows and darkened bedrooms. Owing to the thicker fabric, they usually weigh more than a same size tent with thinner fabrics. And they look like a space shuttle…:)

Why is it a Secret Tip? Because the Airedale 5, which is a 5-berth tent, sells for the same price as the Cruiz 4.0. I wish did not say earlier that the pricing of the Outdoor Revolution tents was sensible!

Update: the Cruiz 4.0 is now a £100 cheaper, which is crazy price for the value. The Cruiz 6.0TXL happens to be £150 cheaper than the previous price, and now costs the same as the Airedale 5.

So is the Airedale 5 still my Secret Tip?

The layout of the rooms is still a bit weird in the Cruiz 6.0TXL, however, it may work better for families with smaller kids. The Airedale 5 has the traditional symmetric separation at the middle, so it is easy to create two decently sized bedrooms.

Where to buy the Cruiz air tents?

To be honest, there are not many retailers where you can buy your Outdoor Revolution Tents from, only a handful of retailers stock Outdoor Revolution air tents at all, and even less have the Cruiz tents. That is a shame… The cheapest option, at the moment, are Winfields Outdoors: although the Cruiz range is only available online, you can opt in for a 5% discount if you are a first-time buyer. If you click on the model name it takes you to the product page.

	Winfields Outdoors
Cruiz 6.0 EX	£449 £399 No Longer In Stock – Try Leisure Outlet: click here
Cruiz 4.0	£399 £499
Cruiz 6.0 TXL	£499 £649
+1: Airedale 5	£499