Bikepacking Tents?

[AlanW]

What tent did you decide on???

Ive narrowed down to two, both Vango F10 models and both two man.

The Helium or the Nexus, both of which are great tents and tick all my requirements.

But both offer slightly different advantages, in simple terms one is lighter albeit by only 1lb and one is more study but the pack size is bigger, but only by 10cm.

I really wish that l could see and feel them both side by side and do a direct comparison.

 

[wakemalcolm]

Ive narrowed down to two, both Vango F10 models and both two man.

The Helium or the Nexus, both of which are great tents and tick all my requirements.

But both offer slightly different advantages, in simple terms one is lighter albeit by only 1lb and one is more study but the pack size is bigger, but only by 10cm.

I really wish that l could see and feel them both side by side and do a direct comparison.

Order them both, pitch them in your lounge then send one back: it's what I did.

 

[AlanW]

Order them both, pitch them in your lounge then send one back: it's what I did.

Funny you should say that, thats exactly what lve done......

 

[AlanW]

Oddly, but Vango do a ground sheet for the Helium but not one for the Nexus

 

[8mph]

I'm currently using a 3FUL Gear Taiji 1 tent on a tour and it's been great. It's a large 1 person tent, with exoskeleton pole system, vestibule and footprint.

It's 1.8kg with footprint and costs £127

 

[Aston]

One of the Alpkit tents I wished I'd considered more closely is the tarpstar 1. It's the same size as their 2 man tent but the inner takes up half the floor space leaving a huge area for your kit....and it's outer first.

I've a Tarpstar 1, lovely little tent, not used it for cycle camping yet, that was the intention, but used on a multi-stop motorcycle trip in Europe in the last few weeks... it can get warm, but then Europe was a bit warm! 1.2kg - inner, outer, small footprint and extra pegs

 

[Oldhippy]

Very nice @Aston I have a taller version and am currently looking at a Robens lightweight teepee tent that I can stand in and get the bike inside as well.

 

[KuroSan]

I'm going to be falling into this particular rabbit hole soon when I start planning some short trips next year. Still not sure if I'll be doing it with everything mounted to the bike or on a trailer if I've managed to sort out an e-bike by then, which will dictate the type I go for. I do need to keep reminding myself that I'm not 20 anymore and so an army surplus basha isn't going to cut it lol!

 

[Oldhippy]

Robens 4 man teepee tent. Loads of space, full standing height inside and room for the bike. Single pole and about 3kg. Well worth the weight in my opinion.

 

[mikeIow]

I've a Tarpstar 1, lovely little tent, not used it for cycle camping yet, that was the intention, but used on a multi-stop motorcycle trip in Europe in the last few weeks... it can get warm, but then Europe was a bit warm! 1.2kg - inner, outer, small footprint and extra pegs

View attachment 814838

Quite tempted by one of these….less than half the weight of my Vango Xenon UL2+ 😜
I do like the Vango: several fun trips with it, but losing 1½ kg in load is a nice idea…..
How was getting in & out with the pole in the middle? The pictures I showed kind of suggested the main opening was behind the pole, which sounds tricker…

 

[Aston]

Quite tempted by one of these….less than half the weight of my Vango Xenon UL2+ 😜
I do like the Vango: several fun trips with it, but losing 1½ kg in load is a nice idea…..
How was getting in & out with the pole in the middle? The pictures I showed kind of suggested the main opening was behind the pole, which sounds tricker…

Getting in and out was fine, though I've not used it in wet weather yet, I haven't found the pole position to be a problem at all, the only issue I have is that usually I like to spread out when camping, which is tricky in a one person tent!

 

[mikeIow]

Yeah, I know what you mean. The UL2+ has acres of space for one person….but does weight in around 2.6kg with my footprint…..just aware every kg counts….not that I am on monster expeditions all the time!