weight of tent

[Cockney Scot]

just returning to cycling after a gap of 7 years. Have got my weekend rides up to around 45 miles each day at weekends. I fancy having a cycling holiday this summer in New Forest. Bike has front and rear panniers and have been looking at a small tent 6.5kg, questiom is this weight OK for touring.

 

[JackE]

I've recently reduced my tent weight from 2.1kg (Hilleberg Nallo 2) to 1.44kg (Lightwave t0 Ultra) and I've noticed the reduced "volume" as well as weight. 6.5kgs is way too heavy IMO.

 

[vernon]

just returning to cycling after a gap of 7 years. Have got my weekend rides up to around 45 miles each day at weekends. I fancy having a cycling holiday this summer in New Forest. Bike has front and rear panniers and have been looking at a small tent 6.5kg, questiom is this weight OK for touring.

I'd expect to get four people and their bikes into a tent weighing that much

I use a couple of two man tents (one at a time!) that weigh 2.5 - 3.0 kg.

There's plenty of two mant tents in the £70-80 price range that are this light. Look at the Vango and Coleman ranges for value for money camping.

You can go lighter still but at a price.

 

[tapan]

My new tent for this year is just over 3kg --- a Vaude Hogan XT. 2 man tent. I have tried it out and it seems fine. I reckon I can have it set up and in the dry in 3 minutes.

Got it at £260 at Christmas. It has a huge porch which I find essential on my long spring/dummer european tours.

I used a Vango Microlite200 successfully for 3 years but the TBS Spirit 300 which I had new last year was a total disaster on my French tour. Every one of the 3 poles broke twice at similar points, on different occasions ( twice in the middle of the night). The last time it tore through the sleeve and I dumped it alongside the Loire!

The Microlite I could have up with 4 pegs and in the dry in 2 mins but the Spirit was a 20 minute job.

 

[Brains]

Blimey, 6.5KG ! for a 'small' tent.

We have 3 man Wild Countries we use for cycle touring, they have a vast vestibule where you can fit all 6 panniers and 3 top bags and still have room to cook, and if you really needed to you could fit all 3 bikes. They weigh in at just over 5kg (split between 3 riders).

A state of the art high altitude 3 man dome tent comes in at under 4kg and super lightweight 2 man tents start at about 1.5kg

I'm not saying you can't tour with a 6.5kg tent, my first tours were with a 3 man Force 10 MkV, not sure of the weight, but must be close. We were fine, but we were young and did not know any better (or have the money for any other option)

 

[jay clock]

6.5kg is massively heavy

I have a North Face 2-3 person (ie fine for 2) at 2.3kg and a great new Decathlon T2 Ultralight Pro at 1.8kg. See here for some more discussion about camping kit http://cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=30252

 

[JackE]

If you let us know a bit more about the type of touring you might want to do longer term, your budget, how tall you are etc then we might be able to advise you further. There are some very good tents out there at the moment at decent prices.
I've made a number of mistakes re buying tents over the years and wish I'd had a forum like this to bounce ideas off other like-minded people.

 

[Cockney Scot]

Thanks for all the feed back. Glad I didnt go out and buy the tent.
Initialy I intend to use the train (with my bike) to Brockenhurst then tour the New Forest for about a week.
My bike is a Real Eco 21 speed touring bike, which although 10 years old is in very good condition.
I have front and rear pannier racks fitted and have a pair of rear panniers (just got to get the fronts).
Whilst I intend to tour solo I would like a decent sized tent (3 person) preferably tunnel and with a seperate front porch area. Budget is around £100. Reason for the size of the tent is that I like to have space to keep everything in the tent without being crowded. I have seen a few tents where the front porch is big enough (just) for the bike to fit in.
I have the single burner stove , but will have to get a small kettle, pot and frying pan, also need to get a lightweight (but warm) sleeping bag and bed roll

 

[Brains]

I don't store the bike in the tent

If you want to protect it get 'bike pyjamas' or a similar cover, that way the bike has its own tent and does not share yours. The cover also doubles up as a picnic cloth and emergency shelter when caugt in a sudden summer downpoor in the middle of no-where

Re cooking in the tent. Don't. Ever.

Tents burn very fast - 5 seconds will reduce a tent to the poles and groundsheet

 

[andym]

Can I make a suggestion? The New Forest is really not a very big area: it would be well worth considering jumping on the Lymington-Yarmouth ferry and having a troll round the Isle of Wight for a day or two.

Oh, and as well as worrying about burning down the tent you also need to worry about carbon monoxide poisoning.

I have the single burner stove , but will have to get a small kettle, pot and frying pan, also need to get a lightweight (but warm) sleeping bag and bed roll

Forget the kettle: boil the water in the pot.

 

[Cockney Scot]

Been to the New Forest many times with the caravan so know the area well, do intend visiting the IOW, I know the problems of cooking and tents so have wont be cooking in the tent.
Been looking at the Vango Spectre 300, seems to tick all the right boxes, light weight and reasonably priced.
Any recomendations on a decent bed roll and light weight warm sleeping bag?

 

[andym]

Alpkit are good. If you live near a Decathlon their own brand kit is very good.

 

[Amanda P]

There's really no need to put your bike in the tent. Harden your heart and leave it outside - even if it whimpers. Do that and you can easily get your tent weight under 3kg. Ours weighs about 2kg.

If you're trimming the weight down, remember too that if you're packing the tent inside a pannier, you won't need the bag it came in, so leave that behind. Ditto the bag the poles came in.

 

[andym]

If you're trimming the weight down, remember too that if you're packing the tent inside a pannier, you won't need the bag it came in, so leave that behind. Ditto the bag the poles came in.

I usually carry my tent on the top of the rack - but surely the bag would come in handy if the tent is wet?

 

[Brains]

If you're trimming the weight down, remember too that if you're packing the tent inside a pannier, you won't need the bag it came in, so leave that behind. Ditto the bag the poles came in.

I find if lone touring then I need to put the tent and/or sleeping bag on the back rack (and have two panniers for clothing, stove, food etc). So I tend to keep the tent bag (also tents are often wet - you don't want that in the panniers

Poles - I also keep in the bag and use a bungee to attach them to the top tube, so no need to squuze them into the panniers