G'day Camille,

The Safari 260 is suitable for year round use, in all weather.
Either pole set up would work, but the a-frame has the added bonus of giving you more space overall, and could potentially provide a touch more stability if the weather was really crazy.
We'd recommend getting some Trace Spings to add to your kit.
You can pack whatever you want on top of the tent, and store/pack it in any orientation.
We haven't tries the a-frame in the original tent bag, and don't have any in stock here to test out, but I reckon you could squeeze it it - just a guess though.

G'day Jake,

The floor area of the safari is taken at floor level, so by the time you go up to around the 50cm high mark where a stretcher would sit, the taper of the walls has cut down the space significantly.
You'll loose around 45cm of space each side at that height, which gives your useable space 160 x 160 cm.
Whilst we haven't tried the combo out in real life, based on that info you won't be able to fit two XL 100 stretchers into the safari.

G'day Tom,

I reckon this would be a great choice - snow load is generally the main concern and you would have too many issue with the safari 260 at all.
The main considerations would be making sure the snow isnt too deep so that you have access to the ground to get your pegs it, and make sure all the guy ropes are out so the tent is tensioned well which will shed the snow fall easily.
If you get a fair bit of snow, you'd probably just want to check the levels arent high enough to have snow sitting against the canvas full time.
Other than that I think it's one of the best, most underated choices for a tent that gives you decent room and head height, but sets up quick, and packs away nice and flat.

G'day Cameron,

Thanks for your patience whilst we tracked this info down!
The awning attachment that comes with the Darche Safari 260 is 2.5m wide at the front of the awning, and is 2.8m long.

G'day Gerald,

The bag is made from material that has a waterproof coating, but it hasn't been tested or claims to be fully waterproof.  I'd say to be on the safe side I'd wrap it up with a tarp just incase.  I think you'd be ok if the rain is light, but anything else I'd go for the tarp.

G'day Russell,

Theres a few things that immediately come to mind - canvas tents/swags do need to be seasoned well before camping in rainy weather, even if seam sealed.  If your tent wasnt able to be seasoned, it may be that any leaks will sort themselves out now the tent has been properly wet.
Secondly, is there any possibility it could be condensation?  Generally the roof is the first area to get covered in water if condensation is the issue, and with any tent leaking issues, its generally the first thing that needs to be eliminated.

If neither of the above are applicable, and your tent is still within its warranty period, jump onto our Warranty Page and fill out a claim for the team to look at.

If its out of warranty, & just need a revamp, check out Gear Aid's Seam Sealer

G'day Jess,

Groundsheets seem to be a personal preference type thing.  I've never personally used one with standard camping tents, as I've not seen the need, but other people swear by them. They can help to protect your tent floor if camping on rough ground with lots of rocks, and low level debris, and make it easier to clean the bottom of your tent floor for pack up.

If you wanted a ground sheet, the tent itself is 2.6m square, with the awning adding around and extra 2-2.5m of length.
A groundsheet close to the 2.6m x 4.5-5m mark would be a good size.  There isn't a specific one made, however, you can look at the Ultramesh Tarps, or the C-Gear Mats.

If you can't find one with those dimensions, you could consider getting 2 - one to go under the tent, and one for the awning space.  This may be worth considering if you plan to get the awning walls, as the undercover area would be much wider than the tent itself.

G'day Greg,

Water pooling on awnings is just part and parcel of tent camping, regardless of the model, unless your awning is specifically designed with a peak.
The only way to really prevent this from happening on the Safari tent is to either have the front edge of the awning lowered below the height of the awning/tent connection, or to pick up a third pole and utilise the extra central eyelet to try and create a peak.
Hope that gives you some ideas!

G'day Greg,

Couldnt tell you the exact time, as I havent done it myself for a fair while, but not long.
You just have to peg out to 4 corners, stick the pole in the middle and peg out all the guy ropes.
I'm thinking 5-10 minutes, and with the a-frame it's probably an extra 5 mins cause it can be abit fiddly to get that up.

G'day Tracey,

No the Safari tent range isn't compatible to be connected to the Eclipse awning.
Unfortunately, Darche do not have any compatible tent / awning crossovers like Oztent have with their Foxwing and RV series.
The only option is the tents you mentioned, that connect in the centre.

G'day Greg,

Are they the standard Single Easy Fold stretchers that you have?
If so you'll have plenty of room width-wise, but it'll be a close fit length-wise.
The Single Jumbo stretchers are too big, unfortunately!

G'day Claudio,

The max space you'll have for a mattress is 125 x 250 cm, so if you're mattress is going to be larger than this we recommend the A-Frame.
Hope that helps!

G'day Judith,

There are eyelets on each of the window flaps, so in theory, they can be pegged out like an awning. Something to consider though, is due to the taper of the walls and the size of the flaps themselves, you'll probably only get them to extend a foot out from the base of the tent.
Hope that makes sense.

G'day Vince,

Darche are an Australian-owned and operated business but manufacture overseas.

G'day Ken,

Yes, you can fit two single stretchers in the Safari 260 when using the A-frame Kit. 

G'day Ken,

The floor of the Safari is sewn to the main body of the tent, therefore is not removable. 

G'day Russell,

The Safari 260 is fully seam-sealed, so you shouldn't need to weather/season it before use.

G'day Russell,

Darche doesn't specify whether or not their mesh insect screens are midge proof, however, it does feel/look fairly fine to me.

G'day Damian,

The 90 x 90cm is pretty accurate due to the internal frame at the top, so while you might be able to shave a cm or two off in the height direction, we'd say you'll need to account for 90cm in the width and length directions. 

G'day Andrew, 

Thanks for your enquiry. The square frame in the roof cannot be removed from within the tent, I'm sorry to say. The poles are sewn into the canvas and are integral to hold up the structure. 

G'day Connor,

I've just given Darche a buzz to double check this one for you and they were able to confirm for me that the awning poles on the Safari 260 Touring Tent are adjustable. 

G'day Tony,

It's a little hard to say really. It would depend a bit on the height of your stretcher as the tent tapers in the higher it goes. To be safe a mattress on the ground would work fine but a stretcher might be a little touch and go. 

G'day Phil, 

The Safari 260 tent from Darche a durable 3 season tent that is as waterproof as it gets, but everything has its limitations. If you use any tent for a week in continuous rain, then there is a small chance you might have a leak - but it is unlikely. 

If you need some tips for setting up your tent when you get caught out in unideal conditions, then check out our blog on the topic here. 

G'day Tony, 

We've just looked into this, and it looks like we got it wrong. Apologies for the confusion, the sleeping area should be 260 x 260cm. I'll make sure that gets fixed right away. 

G'day Trent,

The removable awning and awning poles are included with the Darche Safari 260 Touring Tent and are part of the total weight.