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alpkit ordos 2 here.
light, roomy for 1, cheapish, from the best outdoor folk. proper nice to deal with.
Nothing useful to contribute..............
Behold the meat tent
Don't know enough about what's on the market to make a solid recommendation, but have had some experience of high (UK) altitude camping. I found that tents that required tension to stay upright (tunnel tents or single-hoop ones) were a bit of a pain to pitch well in the rockier hills. I'd seriously think about something that can be free-standing. The TNF tadpole springs to mind as a good example, as does the MSR hubba range.
I found that tents that required tension to stay upright (tunnel tents or single-hoop ones) were a bit of a pain to pitch well in the rockier hills. I’d seriously think about something that can be free-standing.
Cobblers or something is lost in translation. A macpac tunnel tent is probably the easiest and fastest to pitch out of all the full on 4 season expedition tents. Geodistic tents are more of a pain to thread together than simple hoop IME. If you mean "siting" them, then fair enough, but i never found it any more of an issue than the flysheet being a bit flappy during the night.
I think the point was that on rocky ground like you get on the top of mountains pegs can be tricky to put in so a self supporting tent might be better.
I reckon it's about the need to have pegging points exactly where you need them when it's rocky. A geodesic tent can have minimal pegging and be upright. A tunnel or single pole design needs pegs to do so - at the right places. It just depends on how rocky your pitch is.
Of course, a bivvy bag needs no pegs at all.....
I'd have given my left foot for a geodesic in Canada.
The tunnel tent was hopeless for the reasons above. I think we pitched on a surface that took pegs about 3 times in 3 weeks
Mostly it was rocks/hrdcore/gravel pits in the campgrounds i
Here's our Akto Hilleberg and TN Laser Competition 1 tents up on Dartmoor last weekend.
Both are considered light, but the Laser is on another level compared to the Akto, and packs down a lot smaller too. It's certainly noticeable.
Both have enough space for kit and a bit of cooking.
The Akto is meant to be more durable, but I've not had any issues with the Laser.
Both suffer from some condensation depending on weather, but the newer Laser has some features which help this. You can see the the large option section on the Akto at the front - this can actually be shut right down (so it's flat) which is pretty cool.
Setup / teardown time is about the same.
I'm 6'2 and can sleep in the Laser without any issues (flat). I can't quite sit up straight without my head touching the top. The head and foot sections are quite small - not much room for movement, and in windy weather the inner might touch your sleeping bag.
The most annoying part of the Laser (at least last weekend) was the wind pushing the wet outer onto the inner - it wasn't dripping through, but became a little wet to touch.
Now I'm just confused again 🙁
Doesn’t look like the outer on that Laser is tensioned very well which can’t help 😀
I have the F10 Helium UL 2, super roomy for 1, very pleased with it for the money (got a good price match deal @ go outdoors). The only negative for me is that the poles for the front/back vents are quite long so I have to Velcro them to my top tube rather than stick them in my bar bag with the others. Not the end of the world though!
@trail_rat - in Iceland we had the same problem. At Landmannalaugar the campsite might as well have been a floor of concrete! There were lots of stones and boulders around so you used those rather than pegs - simply slide the tensioner on the guy-line back until you could put a rock in to it, tension as normal then pile a bigger rock or two on top of it and hope that the weight of them all was enough!
we did the same - including using the bikes and nearby picnic benches/BBQ/Firepits/trees I was glad i packed a ball of thin cord for such occasions to extend lines as i did not fancy a windy night with the tent held up solely by rocks as rarely was there sufficient quantities of movable but heavy rocks near by.
it just showed me why many USA designed tents are Geodesic or at least semi geodesic by design.
Looking for a tent for few trips in New Year but inner pitch first seems a bit silly as the weather in UK especially Scotland not being super dry. If it’s lashing down on your first night the inners wet and that’s it. Am I missing something as I’d see this as a bit of a problem.
Not missing anything. Inner first pitching isn't ideal for a UK tent, but plenty of people manage. if you're quick/efficient you can be OK
I think inner first tents often come up a bit lighter or cheaper, not sure why. I have no evidence to base that statement on either!
I like tents that pitch inner and outer together, but can be outer first too.
The MSR hubba NX is a great light tent that is freestanding but it's inner first which I don't like as much
Not missing anything. Inner first pitching isn’t ideal for a UK tent, but plenty of people manage. if you’re quick/efficient you can be OK
I think inner first tents often come up a bit lighter or cheaper, not sure why. I have no evidence to base that statement on either!
I like tents that pitch inner and outer together, but can be outer first too.
The MSR hubba NX is a great light tent that is freestanding but it’s inner first which I don’t like as much
Whilst is it a couple of minutes faster to pitch inner first hubbas can be pitched outer first if you wish. The tour variant I recommended on the first page is a outer first tent (where you can leave the inner clipped to the outer for faster pitching if you wish).
Now I’m just confused again
That's because there is no one simple answer (currently owner of 5 tents and 3 tarps. .)
Inner first tends to be better at resisting wind as well I think. Mine is inner first but if its raining I simply lay the outer over it loosely while pitching it to protect the inner. The inner on mine is also water repellent so does not soak thru easily
Its again about what compromises you prefer. Not something I feel strongly about either way but having seen tents collapse in the wind I want as robust a tent as possible
Macpac tents pitch outer first and you then clip the inner to the outer - so work well with UK weather. You can pitch all in one if you de-pitch it without separating the inner first.
waking up to a great view of Snowdon:
That's the objective 🙂
I have a TN Laser Competition 1 - it's *extraordinarily* lightweight. Truly amazing how little it weighs and how little space it takes up in the bag. It's fairly strong, too. I would be happy out in some pretty miserable UK weather in it.
Would I want to spend many days in it, though? No. It's just too cramped. It's not a pleasant place to hang out. For that, I still have my old Mountain Hardwear Nightview. Weighs a lot more but I know which one I'd take on a RTW trip on the motorbike...
Rachel
The old Wild Country quality tents are now branded as Terra Nova. They are still good but no idea about customer service.
The current Wild Country tents are similar designs to some of the TN ones but made to a price with much cheaper materials.
I’d look at Alpkit for decent quality and good value tents. Good customer service too