Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

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al_yrpal
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by al_yrpal »

I see the dilemma here. I heartily agree that lots of space and plenty of headroom are very desirable in a touring tent. I also like to have a seperate place for your gear where you dont have to crawl over or through it to get in and out. Big openings are also very desirable. I had all that in my old Avior X2, but then there was the weight… My current touring bike turns into a metronome with too much weight so I swapped the Avior for a Zephros 1 coffin at 1.5 kg. It is small and very light but not pleasant. Perhaps I should get a better bike?

Al
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CarneddDafydd
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by CarneddDafydd »

I have a Terra Nova Polar-lite-2 for sale ( four season) There's plenty of room inside with ample head room. There's enough space in the porch for gear, and cooking if the weather is foul. This tent has only been used for two nights and in mint condition. Price £250. Drop me a line if you are interested.
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pjclinch
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by pjclinch »

Jimstar79 wrote:I wild camped with a couple of German's that I met on Skye during the summer and one of them had an MSR dome tent and I was amazed at how much space he had inside. My hang up with MSR dome's is that they are to be light grey - which won't help much when wild camping! I was in touch with Cascade Designs last week to simply ask them why they decided to go with a colour that doesn't blend in with the natural environment


Grey doesn't particularly stick out, no more than traditional green on many landscapes (green on a straw-coloured moor is just as easy to see as grey), and a pale grey gives a neutral quality of light inside which I find nicer than green. Personally I often wild camp in a bright red tent: if it's wild there's not really anyone about to see it, and one gets a warm quality of light inside which is nice (that's actually why classic jaffa Force 10s are bright orange, it's not to make them easy to see).
I think pale brown is probably as good as you'll get if you really do want to merge in to the UK landscape, but again if it's actually wild I don't think it matters that much (I used to think it did, I've nbeen less and bothered as time goes by and I've done more).

Jimstar79 wrote:I am umming and arring between a tunnel tent and a dome tent.


Crawl around inside pitched examples. What I value in a tent might not be what you value (i.e., stealth colouration for starters, I really like two-door designs but they're not necessary and add weight, and so on), but if you get inside you can tell so much about whether you'll like it or not. So visit stockists who have space and inclination to pitch things for you, and ask to look at things on honeypot campsites.

Jimstar79 wrote:I'm really interested to hear about which tents you are using and how content you are with them whilst undertaking 1-3 month tours.


I've not toured for that long, but if I was I'd be putting a bigger premium on space and comfort than light weight: whatever you choose will be a compromise between space, weight, strength and cost, and Magic X Factor. Where you're touring may well influence decisions, so if it's somewhere hot then venting is more important than if it's somewhere cold, if you'll be camping on sheets of rock or sandy beaches self-supporting designs have appeal, otherwise the better space/weight ratio of tunnels may appeal, and so on. If there was one perfect do-it-all tent there wouldn't be nearly so much choice as there is.

But the crawling around in real pitched examples (preferably that you've helped pitch, to see what a faff (or not) it is) is hugely recommended.

Pete.
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iviehoff
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by iviehoff »

Tunnel tents tend to be lighter for the same interior volume, as they don't require as much pole. The space can be made more usable too. They also tend to be easier for one man to pitch and unpitch in a strong wind. They are also easier to design as outer-first pitches. Dome tents are more stable once erected, though good tunnel tents are pretty good, provided you pitch them end-on to the wind. On a couple of occasions, when a wind has strengthened and changed direction, I have had to repitch, for you must. But I have survived a storm in the interior of Iceland when a large number of tents around me have been wrecked. I also watched someone damage their dome tent while de-pitching it in a gale in Patagonia (he shoild have asked me to help), while I had no trouble de-pitching mine on my own.

The best tunnel tents are Hillebergs. Everything else is something slightly or much worse, inferior materials, design compromises. I recently bought a cheap copy as a Hilleberg purchase wasn't merited given the use it was likely to get, but I did at least insist on aluminium poles; we have better pegs we can use, and maybe I'll replace the guys, but its pretty serviceable and light, though we need to use a plastic sheet underneath to stay dry on damp ground.
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honesty
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by honesty »

I rather like the look of the Vango force 10 brand tents. The stratos 2 hits dead on your budget, though I would have thought you could get it cheaper than RRP. I personally liked having the perceived security in having my bike in the awning with me so would probably go for a different model though.
hamster
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by hamster »

Jimstar79 wrote:It's funny that you mention those two tents actually as they are also tents that I have been looking at quite closely - the Gossamer more for a walking tent that I could alsp take for short bike trips, whilst the Voyager does seem to tick a lot of boxes for long distance touring. In fact, I have found a Voyager (1.95kg) and a Voyager XL (2.4kg)for £266 and might just have to make either one mine! Which would you go for? Will I notice an extra 500g with the XL version?

Hmmm, I'm tempted to wrap this whole search up by buying one of these!


If on my own the Voyager is fine. If sharing the tent then you struggle to get two people's worth of stuff into the porch and still have space to cook - fine in settled weather, not so much fun if it's chucking it down. For a longer tour then I'd be tempted by the XL. After all, on a 1-3 month tour you probably take more stuff and so the small weight increase will be hard to notice.
hamster
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by hamster »

nirakaro wrote:
hamster wrote:
You cannot break the light, strong, cheap: pick two... wisdom.


Hamster may well be right, though my Seedhouse looks almost as flimsy as that, and isn't. It's almost disposable at that price, anyway.


My suspicion is that it will be a 'lookalike' - so highly-stressed alu poles are the same section but not heat treated, pegs thinner and flimsier, poor stitching and a cheaper cloth of the same weight with inferior proofing. Unfortunately these things are likely to be discovered at 3am in a storm on a mountainside.
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Bigdummysteve
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by Bigdummysteve »

If you can stretch to it the hilleburg Nallo 2 is great,one of the things I love about it is the ease of pitching. I use the footprint and fold the tent into the foot print then roll it length wise rolling fron entrance to foot. When it comes to pitching you just throw it out, peg the foot end, insert poles then peg and tension the entrance end. You then have the basic pitch and can throw your gear in before guy in out properly. Once you have pitched it a few times it really is quick, living wise it's good big enough porch to cook in, 4 season fly comes down to the floor so good in foul weather, I've sat out a 30mph storm on Dartmoor and it hardly moved. Plenty of room inside even with the inner zipped up in midge avoidance mode!

The negatives are the sloping foot end, it reduces weight but can lead to your bag touching the inner. Personally I've never found it a problem but I'm only 5'8".
You also hear reports that its condensation prone, I always pitch it with the foot end vents open but on damp mornings the fly is wet inside, not sure if it's any worse than other tents in this regard.

If your anywhere near Banbury,Oxfordshire your welcome to have a look.

Overall I've been very happy with it, it feels bombproof and although not freestanding I've always managed to get well pitched. It's a nice thing to have on the bike
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pjclinch
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by pjclinch »

iviehoff wrote:The best tunnel tents are Hillebergs. Everything else is something slightly or much worse, inferior materials, design compromises.


All tents are design compromises. The ideal tent is strong, light and spacious. But if it's really strong and spacious then you'll have to compromise on the weight. From Hilleberg's line, the Nammatj and Nallo are different versions of the same general 2-pole tunnel, but one is optimised towards toughness and the other towards lightness. Assuming you have a similar general level of Clue and care (and I think that e.g. Lightwave, amongst others, hit this) then its possible their choices of where to put the lines might suit any given user better than Hille's.

Bigdummysteve wrote:If you can stretch to it the hilleburg Nallo 2 is great...
The negatives are the sloping foot end,


I'm not a huge fan of the Nallo but that's because I prefer two-entrance designs, so I use the twin-entrance version, the Kaitum. This weighs a bit more but you avoid the sloping inner issue, the venting's better and you get a back door with associated porch.

As is well appreciated by now, the main downside with Hilles are you'll want to sit down before you look at the price, and have a stiff drink to hand if you part with the money. Excellent materials and attention to design detail, it's really a matter of can you afford it, does it do what you're actually looking for and can you do a perfectly acceptable job for a fraction of the money.

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shane
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by shane »

Jimstar79 wrote:I wild camped with a couple of German's that I met on Skye during the summer and one of them had an MSR dome tent and I was amazed at how much space he had inside. My hang up with MSR dome's is that they are to be light grey - which won't help much when wild camping! I was in touch with Cascade Designs last week to simply ask them why they decided to go with a colour that doesn't blend in with the natural environment but the guy I chatted with didn't seem to understand what I was getting at. A white/grey tent can be seen some 5 miles away. He did tell me that all newer models of the Hubba NX were going to be grey and that I should try and find one with a green flysheet soon as they were being discontinued.
.


Don't have any experience with the other tents you mentions but the MSR Hubba Hubba was my home for around 200 nights in Africa, it really is a roomy tent for the weight. I also now have a hubba for shorter trips nearer home.

Indeed the newer NX has a stupid colour and even worse, they've made it even lighter. For many folks a plus but I think the last generation of the green model was already pushing it if you want any kind of durability.

If you shop around a little I'm sure you can still find one of the green versions online and maybe even discounted (or ask for a discount) as its now officially an old model. I got lucky when I ordered my hubba in a sale last year as it was the older green version so still the slightly thicker material.

One advantage of MSR changing colour often is that you can fairly accurately guess which model of tent it is just by the colour :). (off the top of my head...Yellow 2011 and earlier, darkish green 2011 onwards, slightly lighter green (with re-inforcement patches here and there) 2012/3, silver 2014)
jacksonz
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by jacksonz »

What a decision with so many tents to choose from. I've had a lot of tents and like to go away for long cycling holidays. I came to a few conclusions.

Cheap tents are a lot of trouble and will disappoint. Mid priced tents for me are the go. I never had an expensive tent because I have a suspicion that the investment would not be compensated. In general I believe tents don't have a long life. After 120 nights many of the tents I've had are on the way out. UV degrades outers and tape seam sealing comes loose fairly quickly. I suspect that even if the tent is not used glues, materials and coatings are deteriorating. I certainly believe aluminium poles and free standing designs are the way to go. I like titanium pegs and use a plastic tarp as a foot print. The fewer pegs the better. A one man tent is best for very short trips only. Unfortunately it seems to be very hard to get tents in stealthy colours.

My last two tents were BIg Agnes brand. One was a Copper Spur ultralight. It was pretty good but too delicate. The outer seemed to be very UV susceptible.

Anyway, I just go for a bargain now and follow the above "principals". My current tent is a Lone Spring Big Agnes. I bought it on Amazon at a great sale price. It's been my favourite so far. Nevertheless, after 120 nights the outer zipper is broken, some seam sealing tape is just coming loose and in places the urethane coating has peeled off. My plan is to put it into a (donation) bin and get something else on sale...
nirakaro
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by nirakaro »

jacksonz wrote: In general I believe tents don't have a long life. After 120 nights many of the tents I've had are on the way out.


Crikey, what do you do to them? My Big Agnes Seedhouse has done about a hundred nights, and it's still like new, apart from the odd squashed insect. My laser must have done well over 120, and hasn't deteriorated significantly.
jacksonz
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by jacksonz »

Crikey, what do you do with them?

I use them for accommodation when I travel.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
You will find that synthetic materials (plastic based) deteriorate with age even when they are not used.

Tent manufactures are like software developers they do a lot of U turns and lightness at expense of robustness is classic with tents, so is technical details that don't measure up.
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andrew_s
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Re: Trouble deciding on a tent upgrade

Post by andrew_s »

120 nights would take many people 5 years or more to accumulate. Even with good tents like Hilleberg, expedition cycle campers find that the lighter models (like the Nallo) start to give problems after a year or so of continual use (Hilleberg recommend their heavier models for such use).

If a tent is left standing during the day, rather than packed away for the move to the next camp site, it will accumulate UV damage much faster. UV damage isn't something you can see happening; you just find that the material rips one day.
Zips suffer through being used when dirty, with dust or grit in the teeth/coil. You could take an old toothbrush head to clean them out regularly, but that would be unusual.
The only purely time-dependent degradation I've come across in tents is that PU coatings can start to go sticky and come away from the base fabric.

Tents with silicone coated fabric generally don't have tape seams (tape won't stick), so are sewn in a non-leak prone manner, and you put some seam sealant on if there are any leaks. This means there's no tape to fail.
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