Tent recommendations

[Crankarm]

For a tiny weight penalty, the TN Voyager Superlight (1.54kg) would seem like luxury compared to the Lasers;

http://www.terra-nov...lite_Green.html

If you buy any TN tent, did you know you can get a 30% trade in?

http://www.terra-nov...t_Trade_In.html

Wow!! A 30% trade in brings the prices of their tents back down near to earth.

For my money on a first tour it would be a Decathlon or Vaude tent. Good quality at affordable prices.

If the OP is touring in summer then she might well be ok with an £18 tent from Argos.

 

[Crankarm]

Blacks have a tent sale at the moment

http://www.blacks.co.uk/product/092611.html#bvReviewMain

Given that the holiday season is coming to an end there will be lots of good quality tents to be had cheaply. Get one now ready for next year would be my advice.

 

[rich p]

For 2 people this is a great tent and a good price

http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/Product_Type/Tents/Clearance_Tents/Laserlarge_3_GREEN_END_OF_LINE.html

 

[Ticktockmy]

My view is that in temperature Europe you can go down to about 13 kg without feeling deprived of important comforts. You could still have a spacious tent like the Helsport Ringstind 2 Light, a stove and pots/pans for cooking fresh food, clothing that is warm enough until late autumn and at some elevation in the summer. You would also have some decent looking clothing for when you are not cycling. Below 13 kg you will have to downsize to a much smaller tent, take a more Spartan cooking system, and leave home some of the clothing. If you do all that, 11 kg is quite easily achievable. However, I for one am not convinced I want to give up the comforts brought by those last 2 kg.
Willem

I normally for my European touring try to get my kit pannier start wieght at 10 kgs, which is the same as my backpacking kit wieght . Then I look at what extras I might want to include or if I want to take my Lazer or want to use my Hogan, which pushes the wieght up a little. but for sure I try to Keep the kit below 15 Kgs.

 

[Crankarm]

For 2 people this is a great tent and a good price

http://www.terra-nov...ND_OF_LINE.html

Blimey ................. £270 for a tent with only a single year of statutory rights as guarantee. The price is down from £450 mind. TN tents may be good, I don't know, but they are way over priced IMHO. TN expressly state that clearance items do not benefit from an extended warranty. Hmmmmm ............ a bit fishy.

 

[rich p]

Blimey ................. £270 for a tent with only a single year of statutory rights as guarantee. The price is down from £450 mind. TN tents may be good, I don't know, but they are way over priced IMHO. TN expressly state that clearance items do not benefit from an extended warranty. Hmmmmm ............ a bit fishy.

Pricey , I agree, but mine has been nothing but a success - light, spacious and a decent porch.

 

[smeg]

The Hilleberg tents are too expensive, seems the only ones that recommend them are the ones that own them seemingly justifying their expensive purchase. Some of the offerings from Vango aren't bad at all if you're on a budget. My new Sprite tent (Mountain Hardwear) only weighs around 1.5kg which I got for £100. Most of the unnecessary weight, whether backpacking or cycling (being similar) will likely be from elsewhere, too many and wrong choice of clothes being packed being the most common, too much and wrong sort of food on you is another. Synthetic sleeping bags are bulky and heavy funsters as well, a decent down bag is a must. You need to take into account the weight of everything not just the tent being my point.

Depending on how many of you are going, ie, if more than just yourself I would most definately consider a Hilleberg Nammatj GT. http://www.hilleberg.se/default-e.HTM

Very light weight, will sleep 2 with space to spare and has room for your bikes in the porch area. A BIG winner is the fact that it packs away amazingly easily, better than any other tent I have used.

They are not cheap, but you get what you pay for with tents. First time campers can be put off by a bad experience in a poor quality tent on their first trips. To a degree this tent is an investment.

Have fun !

 

[willem]

You are dead right that the tent is only a small part of the weight. Clothing is indeed far heavier, and people do not seem nearly as concerned. Perhaps the most annoying part is the panniers. Ortlieb classic backrollers for example are 1900 grams a set, which is ludicrous if you compare it to the about 1350 gram of the new special edition plus series offered by this German webshop: http://www.outdoorworks.de/index.php?site=index.html&prod=7337&vid=86748&function=set_lang&lang=en There are many other opportiunities to save weight (perhaps we should share our discoveries and tricks).

As for Hilleberg tents. Yes I agree they are too expensive, compare for example their EU prices with those in the States. On the other hand, the quality of design and execution is in a different league - I think I sometimes need that. I am prepared to pay for that.
Willem

 

[rich p]

You are dead right that the tent is only a small part of the weight. Clothing is indeed far heavier, and people do not seem nearly as concerned. Perhaps the most annoying part is the panniers. Ortlieb classic backrollers for example are 1900 grams a set, which is ludicrous if you compare it to the about 1350 gram of the new special edition plus series offered by this German webshop: http://www.outdoorwo...et_lang&lang=en There are many other opportiunities to save weight (perhaps we should share our discoveries and tricks).

As for Hilleberg tents. Yes I agree they are too expensive, compare for example their EU prices with those in the States. On the other hand, the quality of design and execution is in a different league - I think I sometimes need that. I am prepared to pay for that.
Willem

I may have misread that special edition weight but it says 29.65 ozs which converts to 1.7kg per pair?

 

[Aperitif]

I may have misread that special edition weight but it says 29.65 ozs which converts to 1.7kg per pair?

1.68459kg. This is an interesting thread. My Titanium tourer gets 'nearer'...

 

[willem]

The weight on that site is incorrect. They quote the weight for the normal Plus Series, and not for this cheaper and lighter no frills version.
Willem

 

[MontyVeda]

I've picked up some great advice today here... (spent the last 5 hours just reading!)

...as for the tent advice, I'm a tight fisted northerner and any tent that costs more than £50 is way over the odds.

How about the (currently named), Highlander Glen Orchy (they say 2 man it's a one man really), under 50 qwid, packs up to 45cm x 17cm (ish) wieght = not much, available at amazon, got one this summer and am happy with it (i'm 6'2"). Just be aware that the thicker your matress/mat, the less foot space yet get!

Quick to pitch and it opens at each side, so those hot summer mornings, instead of getting out of the tent at 6am coz the sun is too high, just open both sides a tad and a nice through draft you will have... tent bliss!

If money is tight or like me, you just begrudge spending loads of dosh on a couple of poles and some nylon and a few bits of string that you're going to use maybe twice a year for few nights, it's worth every penny.

BTW, Hello!

 

[MontyVeda]

...Also, if you're taking a 'standard' dome tent with longer poles, these can always be fastened to the frame rather than going in the pack bag; greatly reducing pack size.

 

[doog]

I've picked up some great advice today here... (spent the last 5 hours just reading!)

...as for the tent advice, I'm a tight fisted northerner and any tent that costs more than £50 is way over the odds.

How about the (currently named), Highlander Glen Orchy (they say 2 man it's a one man really), under 50 qwid, packs up to 45cm x 17cm (ish) wieght = not much, available at amazon, got one this summer and am happy with it (i'm 6'2"). Just be aware that the thicker your matress/mat, the less foot space yet get!

Quick to pitch and it opens at each side, so those hot summer mornings, instead of getting out of the tent at 6am coz the sun is too high, just open both sides a tad and a nice through draft you will have... tent bliss!

If money is tight or like me, you just begrudge spending loads of dosh on a couple of poles and some nylon and a few bits of string that you're going to use maybe twice a year for few nights, it's worth every penny.

BTW, Hello!

Im totally with you on this. My tent was slightly more and weighs in at over 3kg but hey ho! my bike is probably 3kg lighter than most. My tent has a massive porch, is luxurious and will last me years.....I could spend a few hundred pounds more and save 1.5kg on my tent...however any touring cyclist 'could' spend the same few hundred in making their bike lighter but would they hell!!!

I see people touring on 'tanks' yet fretting about the weight of the tent

Its swings and roundabouts...

 

[willem]

Why not have both a light tent and a light bike? Lighter bikes usually like to be loaded more lightly in any case. Of course there is a comfort level I would not want to go below (a Terra Nova Laser is not really for me), but 1.5-2 kg gets you a sufficiently roomy tent for one (Helsport Ringstind Light 1 or 2, MSR Hubba HP or Hubba Hubba HP, just to name some examples. If you take less, you do not need as large a porch. I need a porch for wet raingear, shoes, and maybe one bag. The other bag can go inside the tent.
Willem