Buying a tent - and other camping equipment.

Looking to buy a new tent, 2 or 3 man.

I've used a Vango before and found it to be great. Any alternative suggestions?

Something that'll pack up nice and small/light.

MO

 

I bought one from Netto for £10. I shall report after next weekend how crap it was But I figured after 10 pints and setting fire to the camp site a leaking tent would be the least of our worries

 

MO, you give no indication of budget or type of use.

I brought a cotton Vango MK2 ? many, many years ago and it came to almost two weeks wages from my first job. It lasted ages and held together from Land's End to John O'Groats with a few winter trips to the Peak district, Lake dstrict plus a couple of summers in the Dolomites. It was robust, heavy, bright orange and one of the best bits of kit I have ever used.

The next one I brought was a ultra quasar from the Terra Nova range. This was lighter and because of construction could be pitched right on to flat surfaces (no need to hammer spikes into the ground) if needed but you need to remember to keep the tent full of your kit or a user otherwise it might blow away. This tent has been used on summer trips up through Costal Alaska, the west coast of Canada and the far north of Scotland.

So, you pays your money and makes your choice.

 

Hi auric and thanks for the reply.

Budget of around £100 or so. Flexible if it's worth it.

Usage... erm... I've not been camping for ages and recently found out my girlfriend's never been! So, something for a few weekends/weeks away. General use I guess, but something half decent.

Vango are about the only make I can think of/had experience with

The Hydra 200+ seems to go for £100 ish on ebay.

 

If you want to carry it between campsites .....weight needs to be a priority ...

If its a pitch it and leave ie a base camp ....durability and ease of pitching.

companies to look at for the first type include
nomad
terra nova....very good, we have the solar [lightweight 2.55kg !]


the second type
kyam....one touch pitches in under a minute, wev'e had three now all been excellent and stood up to the worst weather ...were many other tents on the site were destroyed...!
marachel......
Gelert fusion
force10

 

MO, also see if you can manage to get along to an outdoors shop and give the Hydra 200+ or whatever a test drive, most if not all will let you and your girlfriend give their kit a try before you buy, just don't expect to make the beast with two backs in one of their nice new demo tents. Another point to remember that as it rains quite a bit in the UK you might be spending a bit of time in your new tent then size, headroom and internal layout will matter quite a bit.

 

my girlfriend bought a simular one - except it was 12.99 (halkf price) - but i expect it to be equally as cr*p...there only seems to be a single layer...sigh...

 

I bought a VauDe Hogan tent about 12 years ago..
Still going now, after hundreds of miles of backpacking, and winter camping at 3000m in the Alps! Worked beautifully in all weathers too..
Nearest model now is the Taurus Ultralight (at 2Kgs!), but the Taurus 2 is nearer to your budget at £150, and will fit 3 at a push, and weighs under 3Kgs.
http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/Cat/110124?history=search results

 

My tend ended up in the bin, it was perfectly water proof, but it was cold and there was a major problem with condensation.

 

MO! you want to try and get one of those six men scout tents. Light oak poles, triple thickness canvas. Easy to put up (four nman job), easy to store (scout hut) and easy to transport (just needs a medium sized car trailer + roof rack).

 

I can second VauDe, I have used a space explorer for a good few years, they are light and robust tents.

 

Thanks for the replies.

We've had a bit MOre time to think about what we want, and took in a bit MOre of what's available.

Considering my girlfriend's all of 4'11, size seems to matter! When trying to explain getting the castle she's after would mean a lot of weight, her response was "well, you'll be carrying it!
I agree though, size is important, both for the "sleeping" area, and for storage.

Ideally, a sleeping area of at least 220cm x 150cm+

She seems to want something she'll be able to stand up in, but really anything 120cm+ would do.

Storage. Neither of us drive, though both learning. So storage would all be in the tent rather than also using a car. Room for bikes would be a bonus, but not a high priority.

I'd been watching a Vango TBS Equinox 350 on ebay. RRP £250. It had been on £70ish for a while, but as usual, shot up to £150 in the last few minutes. http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Vango-TBS-Equinox-350---SS06.html

There's a few others that seem to meet the criteria. But the cheaper ones seem to either be too heavy (as close to 5kg as possible would be great), or don't seem very convincing.

I've spotted these on ebay, which on spec seem great, and aprt from being over the ideal weight meet the criteria. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8820517385&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1
However despite the impressive spec (take a look for yourself), buying from an unknown brand (and unable to find anything about them online), puts me off. If anyone knows anything about them, or has an opinion.... much appreciated.

So, plenty of sleeping/storage space, easy to pitch and pack, reasonable weight, and also of high quality.

Thanks again.

Should also mention I'm happy to go second hand.

 

The porch can keep your stored gear dry, allow you a space to change out of wet outer clothing without bringing mud and worse into the sleeping area and can go a bit towards fighting that clostrophobic feeling that sometmes creeps up on two people sharing a confined space for any lenght of time. It will also allow farts enough room to dispurse after an evening of campfire cooking.

 

OOPS! Forgot to add the link.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8820517385&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

The spec looks impressive for the price, but worried it'll be a cheap and nasty one... despite it seeming to indicate it's not.

 

MO,
I can't seem to recogonise the tent in the link even though image looks to be borrowed from an existing site and why have all the maker's labels and badges all been removed? A quick browse via Google makes this look like an E-bay only bit of kit so do you have a chance to contact others who have brought this kit via E-Bay and see what they think of it? As you mentioned 9kg is at the top of your weight range plus I feel that the price may not quite reflect the quality of kit you are searching for.

After another search it looks like the seller Vortigern Ltd Ebay Shop might be an IOM based box mover.

 

I'd go for a Vaude every time - unless you want a family tent then it has to be Khyam.

I've done a lot of camping, from adventurous solo stuff onwards... try ebay or gearzone.

 

The Vaude's that meet my criteria, are MOre than I'm looking to spend. The Opera, and Sly Fox look ideal though, and possibly worth stretching the budget for within reason.

I'm looking at what Khyam have to offer now.

What sort of HH rating should I be looking for? I've heard 1500mm suggested as minimum for UK use. I'd want something which is going to last.

Also, HH and weight seem to dictate the differences in price between similarly sized tents. What other features justify the prices between similar looking MOdels?

 

why didn;t you chose this one..??

just curious as I'm after a tent at some point too...

 

Because I'm in no great rush, and they seem pop up quite often and go for the starting price.

The spec looks good but i'm always iffy about buying from an unknown brand.

This from the Terms & Conditions isn't very reassuring either...

 

blimey...

I guess what they're saying is that you're buying a crock of sh*te...

I'll stay away from those then...