The Earthrise Camping Story
Tired of Camping Tent Faff? So are We….
Every year, hundreds of thousands of tents are abandoned across the country, mostly at festivals. Not because people don’t care, but because no viable alternatives exist for the cheap budget tents marketed as “festival tents” (aka single use tents). The tent hire market existed, but didn’t cater for this budget of camping, with £100+ deposits and T&Cs so wrapped up in hidden charges, it made no financial sense to hire. This is how one daily commute led to the creation of Earthrise Camping and the goal to fix this.
The Commute
April 2025 – I was on the usual 9-5 commute, stuck in traffic and radio on, when I heard the news that a retailer had announced a tent returns scheme. Any tents bought that year would be refunded with an equivalent voucher, if returned in good condition at the end of the season. This was to help combat tent waste at festivals.
I remember thinking: that’s good, but why are people willing to spend £100+ on a tent, that they then give back at the end of summer? Especially for a voucher to spend at that retailer? Why don’t they just hire one? Surely it’s cheaper, right?
It was a thought that wouldn’t go away for the rest of the journey, so I decided to look into it later that evening.
The Issue
What I discovered baffled me. Every traditional tent hire company I found looked cheap on paper with the daily rates, but the upfront costs once you’ve factored in the deposits, made it impossible for someone on a tight budget to use. Across 7 or 8 different companies I checked, deposits ranged from £100 – £200+ to hire a tent, which seemed crazy, until I delved into the wonderful world of their T&Cs… Charges out of the deposit to cover the cleaning of dirt and mud, charges for the full cost of the tent if it was returned damaged (often cited “as may exceed the deposit as an additional charge”), charges for this, charges for that. This revealed the true insanity of the entire tent hire industry. The market existed but there were huge barriers, not only to customers on a budget, but to those that didn’t want to risk a several hundred pound charge because some prat fell on their tent at a festival!
That sent me down a deeper rabbit hole. How are retailers selling tents for £15 to £70 in the first place?
The answer was fairly obvious, but still made for an uncomfortable realisation. Retailers can source them in bulk for a few pounds each from Chinese manufacturing. Cheap materials, minimal protective coatings, components that fail after a handful of uses; these design choices ensure that retailers have returning customers. As a tent that is well made is a customer you sell to once, one that falls apart after a few uses is a customer who returns quickly for another. It’s no coincidence that 52% of festival-goers view tents as single-use items!
For a full deep dive into why, take a look at our article on tent abandonment.
With these issues in mind, I was set on a mission to change this. So I started Earthrise Camping to provide the answer.
Earthrise Camping – The Tent Hire Solution
Earthrise Camping exists to solve not one but two issues. Firstly, to smash the barrier to camping, by providing tent hire at a price that competes with the budget tent market. Secondly, to do this, we source unwanted used tents, primarily through our donation scheme, keeping them out of landfill, so that we can achieve our low prices.
As a result, we’re the UK’s first fully circular tent hire that delivers to customers across the UK.
Every tent in our fleet was originally built to last, and they’ve all been donated by people and businesses that had found they no longer had any need for them. We cleaned, inspected, repaired and refurbished every tent in our fleet, and then priced them so they genuinely compete with buying new. Just a flat £20 deposit, simple terms, and very little risk sitting with you, the customer. At the end of the hire, the tent comes back, gets checked and cleaned and is ready to go again.
What that means for you: You get access to quality gear delivered to your door, at a price that makes sense and with only a £20 deposit that covers almost anything that can go wrong. No more headaches over buying a cheap tent and what to do with it once you’re done with it.
Who’s Behind Earthrise Camping
I’m Rob, founder of Earthrise Camping. We are currently a one man (and dog) operation, run out of Hertfordshire. I have a love of the outdoors and am a keen walker, scaling many mountains across the UK in the process. Whilst I’m not an outdoor industry veteran, I am someone who spotted something broken that had a major effect on the environment and decided to try and fix it. Every tent in the fleet has been personally assessed, cleaned and tested by myself. They also get used on family trips for intensive testing, which includes the typical British weather that tells you quickly whether a tent actually does its job. If it wouldn’t keep me dry, it doesn’t go out to a customer.
Starting small was the point. It means every hire gets proper attention, the model stays honest, and we’re building this the right way: one hire at a time.
Our Values
Accessibility
Making outdoor adventures available to everyone, regardless of budget or storage space.
Quality & Reliability
Equipment you can count on, whatever the weather throws at you.
Environmental Stewardship
Reducing the numbers of tents that end up in landfill through reuse, repair and recycling.
Quick Facts
Service Standards
Contact Us
No Storage, No Stress, No Problem
Join the smart campers who’ve ditched the storage stress
We’ve Rescued 28 Tents
From waste, storage & surplus stock
We’ve Saved 840Kg CO2
Taking second-hand vs newly manufactured
(The manufacturing process produces around 30Kg of CO2 per tent)
We’ve Freed 63ft³ of Storage
We’ve saved donors in total almost a small garden shed worth of storage space from unwanted tents
