LittleLife Compact Beach Shelter

I decided to purchase this UV shelter to protect the kids on the beach. When it turned up I was surprised how small the carry case was. The shelter itself is very easy to put up(I would recommend trying it in the garden first!). It comes with 3 collapsible poles which are easily fed through the shelter material. The poles are then tensioned and secured in eyelets at the end of each run. These look to be built well and to withstand the tension of the rods. The pack also comes with pegs to secure down,but you can also use the in-built sand holders.Size wise, my 2 year old boy could easily stand up in it and I could lie down inside with him(5'11") and my other 7year old child. There are bigger shelters on the market and if you have bigger children then you may consider these instead if you need more room.In the full sun, the shelter provided a good level of protectionI found this shelter easy to put together with enough room for what I needed and was impressed on how small it folded up. I would recommend this product to friends.

I generally trust the LittleLife brand - we have a few of their other products and they've proven durable and suitable for their purpose. However, this bench-tent is not durable.I've had two of these, as a pole snapped on first use and I was sent a replacement. And the same thing happened on the second one as well.Two reasons I believe the poles snapped:1) The poles got caught on the material runner that the poles run through. Even a small 'catch' means the poles can't bend into position2) You must ensure that the poles that go from front to back and fully in position first - if they come loose, that can lead to the left-to-right pole catching and or snapping*** Pros ***- Small form when packed- Carry case has handles- Lightweight (a 3/4 year old can carry it)- Pouches on the side of the tent allow you to store sand to weigh it down for stability- Comes with tent pegs for use on grass (works on sand too)*** Cons ***- Poles are not durable- When poles snap they produce incredibly sharp fibres that could be lethal- Material is thin and can rip easily when threading poles- Material 'catches' the poles and can cause snapped poles or tearing*** Other notes ***- Most suited to children - would be challenging for an adult to get in*** Overall ***If you're after a small tent that works on grass and sand, and you absolutely need a lightweight tent over a more robust heavier alternative, then this might work for you; as long as you're patient and careful.

our tent was broken. one of the strings that holds one of the poles together was broken. i didn' tknow this until we were on holiday in sicily. but we still managed to figure out a way to use it and it works well once put together.

I bought this tent as a beach shelter for a holiday in North Cornwall.Easy to put up. Light and small to carry. Fantastic quality and well designed. On a very windy beach this tent was going no where!Other tents were blowing away.....mine did not budge an inch.We did make 2 extra sand bags and placed them inside just to add extra weight but the 6 deep sand pockets are more than enough.I'm thinking about getting the larger tent for next year!

Really like the idea of it and have found it useful the two times we've used it. However after putting it up for the second use, one of the poles had split its casing. Not a huge problem except that it now had plastic spears pointing up!! Great when you've got little children walking around on soft sand using the tent. I have contacted them for a replacement but as yet have heard nothing back. Very disappointed as other than the pole, I'd recommend it to anyone. As such, the quality of the poles can't be trusted so I'd show some caution before buying.

Purchased this "little tent" for our grandchildren. It was very easy to assemble and looks fun - just what we wanted. This will be used often in our garden and also will be very useful on the beach. Purchased purely for play and fun times!!

Much cheaper than other products like this that I saw so I was a little concerned that the quality might not be there; I need not have worried. Folds up into a nice easy to travel with bag that fitted easily into suitcase and on beach days in ruck sack. Once you have worked out how to construct it - I won't lie it took us a little while, but as is so often the way once we did we realised how easy it was and felt a bit daft - it is easy to put up and take down. The sand pockets for weighing it down work really well - tested out on an exceedingly windy day at a beach in Menorca. Good size inside too - baby, baby mat, all of our bags and room left. I can see this being used for a fair few years, rather than just a few months, which improves that value for money yet more. All in all - highly recommended.

You assemble it by threading 3 very long (8 feet?) poles through the fabric, then once they're all in place you bend them and fasten in place. The poles are very dangerous when bent (as they are under a lot of tension so snap back with a lot of force if you let go), and are very long. There's no way this would be safe to assemble if you had small children near you or were on a crowded beach. It's up in our garden and useful there but I would never try to take it elsewhere.