Let's talk about tents.

[Dave Davenport]

We were thinking of replacing our Vango Halo 200 for this year, it's six years old and has been put up about 150 times. We checked it over last weekend and the only thing wrong is a couple of very small holes in the ground sheet so we decided to use it for at least one more year (if it's very wet we'll stick one of the plastic bike bags under it). It's been a good tent, stayed dry in some very heavy rain, openings both sides which make for better ventalation in hot weather (not such an issue in Scotland I know), pitches in one in under five minutes and is fairly roomy with good headroom. I reckon you've got to pay a lot more for anything remotely better.

 

[Crankarm]

I'm in the market for a tent. I don't know what to look out for and what to avoid. What tent do you own - and why?

Usually it is you who gives the information detailing your requirements and people then make recommendations rather than you saying tell us what you bought and why. Bizarre.

 

[classic33]

[QUOTE 5239665, member: 9609"]I have a green one, can't remember name or make!
super lightweight job (about 850g) super expensive and not very good in high winds, wonderful in good conditions though - great for wild camping on the tops

think a well known cyclist (can't remember his name either) used one for his first round the world record but it fell to bits in australia,
View attachment 408592 [/QUOTE]
Saunders Spacepacker?

 

[Howyadoinoutthere]

I think that tent is a Terra Nova Laser Competition 1. I had one for a cycle tour through France. It was excellent.

 

[Blue Hills]

I'm assuming this is for cycle touring as opposed to shoving in the back of a car?
I have a Coleman Avior X2. Bought it in 2012 because it was on discount at Amazon (£65). I also liked the weight (2.6kg) and the two door design. One at the front and another at the side. It also has a small porch area at the front for storing the panniers etc. High hydrostatic head of 5000 (I think) and small pack size make it ideal.
Why they stopped making it I'll never understand.
So good that I'm buying the 3 person version second hand at the weekend from another forum member.
I think Vango's Banshee is the closest tent to it in design terms.

And I've remembered the poles this time!
Lots of great camping and cycling stuff is discontinued.

 

[Blue Hills]

We were thinking of replacing our Vango Halo 200 for this year, it's six years old and has been put up about 150 times. We checked it over last weekend and the only thing wrong is a couple of very small holes in the ground sheet so we decided to use it for at least one more year (if it's very wet we'll stick one of the plastic bike bags under it). It's been a good tent, stayed dry in some very heavy rain, openings both sides which make for better ventalation in hot weather (not such an issue in Scotland I know), pitches in one in under five minutes and is fairly roomy with good headroom. I reckon you've got to pay a lot more for anything remotely better.

Yes, I would very likely have gone with this if I hadn't fallen in love with my Robens Lodge2.

By the by mickle, so that we can give best advice, can you say how many folk and how much stuff you hope to get in this tent?

 

[mickle]

Usually it is you who gives the information detailing your requirements and people then make recommendations rather than you saying tell us what you bought and why. Bizarre.

So sorry your highness.

I'm a human (cyclist) sleeping out doors on the earth's surface (?) during weather. I suppose I'll be wanting to carry the tent with me on the bike every day rather than, say, buy a new one at every destination. So I'm presuming it'll want to be opaque and not water soluble. It'll need to fit a large man and his gunt, uh, weigh less than a heavy thing and be able to repel spiders and zombies.

I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

 

[MichaelW2]

I have used a Gelhert Solo in mild conditions, cheap, small, lightweight, no headroom, glass fibre poles broke but Gelhert sent better replacement poles, so first class product support.
For a longer duration N European tour I bought a Hilleberg Akto. Expensive, strong, very good in storms and high winds, good enough headroom and porch space. Easy to put up and down with pegs. Possible on hard ground if you can find stones/logs to secure the guy lines. Poor ventilation in warmer conditions, porch flaps flap around so no porch cooking. By modern standards quite heavy for its size.

 

[classic33]

So sorry your highness.

I'm a human (cyclist) sleeping out doors on the earth's surface (?) during weather. I suppose I'll be wanting to carry the tent with me on the bike every day rather than, say, buy a new one at every destination. So I'm presuming it'll want to be opaque and not water soluble. It'll need to fit a large man and his gunt, uh, weigh less than a heavy thing and be able to repel spiders and zombies.

I don't know, that's why I'm asking.

Rules out the Icelandic then!

 

[Blue Hills]

Forgive me asking mickle, what's gunt? Typo, forum prude censor or something I need to/should know?

 

[Andy_R]

Forgive me asking mickle, what's gunt? Typo, forum prude censor or something I need to/should know?

It aint pretty...think of a beer belly gone south....

 

[User10119]

I'm in the market for a tent. I don't know what to look out for and what to avoid. What tent do you own - and why?

1. The Cub's Birthday Tent - I bought this second hand for a few quid as a birthday present for the Eldest - possibly his 10th? Anyway, it works for 2 campers, or 1 adult and 2 kids, reasonably well and is bike-transportable. Inner first pitching from memory, which is not my preference.
   
2. Sweaty Betty - a Black's Octane 3 of quite venerable age, who isn't perhaps as waterproof as she once was, bought from some mad cyclists on the Internet in Autumn 2011. I've shared her with 2 Cubs and had room enough, and she's just about small enough to be OK when solo camping but I think her days may be nearly done...
   
3. The TeenyTinyOne - a Laser Comp, very light but a touch snug and not great for claustrophobics. No headroom, even for a shortarse like me. I've camped solo in it at LEL Loughton and on Arran, but that was in days when I was thinner and bendier and I don't think I'd find it at all comfy at the moment. Made out of fairy fart and packs down tiny so it worked well for the teen as a pup tent when we went on a family mini cycle camping tour in the summer.
4. The Behemoth - a theoretical 6 berther, with one mahoosive bedroom and one smaller one and a living area in between, this is a tent you can stand up in and definitely one for car camping only. Currently residing in Cumbria!
   
5. A Vango-can't-remember-what... I acquired this, also second hand, as a better for me option that the TeenyTinyOne. Not yet tested!

All of the above (well, apart from the behemoth at the mo) are located not far from mickle-ville I suspect, so testing/loans entirely possible.

My favourite ever tent that I've used was a Vaude Mk 3*. Small enough for cycle camping, palatial for two people, dead easy to pitch, decent headroom, good access, vestibules for storage. I've had tent-lust about it ever since!


*that @Siclo's extraordinarily wonderful parents, Marj and the much missed Alan, brought to Mildenhall together with every camping luxury you could need when I attempted a few nights under canvas for a toddler's "My First Camping Trip" back in 2010. They also collected the SmallestCub and me from a mutually convenient train station and gave us a lift there (and back after!) and fed me umpteen cups of coffee and generally looked after the useless-camper extraordinarily well all weekend.

The Cub still remembers this "My First Power Tools" experience, and he was only three at the time! View attachment 408686

 

[mickle]

Thanks for the kind offer Crinkly :-)

 

[Blue Hills]

If, and i now get the feeling it is, just for you and some gear, and to go on the back of a bike mickle I would go for the Halo 2 as recommended above. Or the Lodge 2. Both as I understand it essentially geodesic and free standing.

 

[classic33]

From Vango's own site, on tent types.
http://www.vango.co.uk/gb/blog/45_which-tent-shape-is-right-for-you.html