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Randomnerd
Bimbleur
- Location
- North Yorkshire
The Helsport tents are really well made. I think wind is your enemy when camping light. I'd rather be damp inside a functioning tent than sat wrapped in the remains of a very waterproof tent. In the rain.
OP
OP
jay clock
Massive member
- Location
- Hampshire UK
I am sure the Helsport are lovely. But £740 I am not spending on a tent!
Low Roller
Well-Known Member
- Location
- East Yorkshire
Also have a Zephyros but much prefer my Voyager. Its bomb proof and now quite ancient, like me.
Yup - a great if very crude way of measuring water resistance but anything above a 1000 is effectively impermeable - how high are the turn ups on a tent groundsheet? and when i Iast looked out of a tent the rain was going down not up - more important is the durability of the material and the quality of the sealing both for flysheets and ground sheets - HH measures neither
- Location
- London
is it freestanding?
froze
Über Member
- Location
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
I think if you plan on doing a lot of touring and or camping with your tent you should get a 4 season tent, 4 season tent will hold up better in the event of a severe wind hail rain storm that could tear a 3 season tent to shreds.
Terra Nova makes a 4 season tent called the Blizzard 2 tent (2 meaning for 2 people); pack weight is 4 pounds 8 ounces, and the price isn't bad at $335. The tent may be a bit heavier than some 3 season but you can make up for that weight by going with a very light weight SOL sleeping bag like the Escape Bivvy bag, or the better Survive Outdoors Longer Escape Bivvy 8.5 ounce bag both of which pack down smaller than any other sleeping bag, the Outdoor one is made more rugged so a person could sleep outdoors by itself for longer periods of time, these bags can't absorb water either like filled bags, and the most expensive one is just $60. And a nice lightweight highly packable mattress like the Thermarest Neoair Camper which only weighs 30 ounces.
Anyway all of that is just my opinion of course; I do use the tent, and the Escape bag, as well as the Neoair mattress and so far after 3 years of weekend tours they're holding up fine.
Terra Nova makes a 4 season tent called the Blizzard 2 tent (2 meaning for 2 people); pack weight is 4 pounds 8 ounces, and the price isn't bad at $335. The tent may be a bit heavier than some 3 season but you can make up for that weight by going with a very light weight SOL sleeping bag like the Escape Bivvy bag, or the better Survive Outdoors Longer Escape Bivvy 8.5 ounce bag both of which pack down smaller than any other sleeping bag, the Outdoor one is made more rugged so a person could sleep outdoors by itself for longer periods of time, these bags can't absorb water either like filled bags, and the most expensive one is just $60. And a nice lightweight highly packable mattress like the Thermarest Neoair Camper which only weighs 30 ounces.
Anyway all of that is just my opinion of course; I do use the tent, and the Escape bag, as well as the Neoair mattress and so far after 3 years of weekend tours they're holding up fine.
KneesUp
Guru
What are you going to use the tent for? There are lots of lovely tents suggested, but some of them stray into 'price of a bike' territory, which may be fine if you are planning on going around the world for a few years or something. If you're just planning on doing the odd 24 hour overnighter they're probably overkill.
I have a tent which exactly matches your stated needs, and it cost £6 in the closing down sale at Netto. I left it up in the garden for a fortnight in summer, and can conclude that it is perfectly fine for summer use. I wouldn't fancy it in any other season though - and I doubt it will see me through to retirement, but it's waterproof (at the moment), weighs not much, goes up in about a minute (it's got two poles that make an x shape, that's it) and it was dead cheap. There are loads of places with the odd tent left over from summer at the moment - there are some in my local Tesco. If you just want to use it occasionally I'd get one of those and spend the rest of the money on train fares near to places nice to camp
I have a tent which exactly matches your stated needs, and it cost £6 in the closing down sale at Netto. I left it up in the garden for a fortnight in summer, and can conclude that it is perfectly fine for summer use. I wouldn't fancy it in any other season though - and I doubt it will see me through to retirement, but it's waterproof (at the moment), weighs not much, goes up in about a minute (it's got two poles that make an x shape, that's it) and it was dead cheap. There are loads of places with the odd tent left over from summer at the moment - there are some in my local Tesco. If you just want to use it occasionally I'd get one of those and spend the rest of the money on train fares near to places nice to camp
Low Roller
Well-Known Member
- Location
- East Yorkshire
Something that deals with ruat caelum
