I am a fairly experienced camper and own a number of tents. One of which is a Eurohike Severn dome tent which is great, I can pitch it myself in about 10 minutes and has the perfect space for one of me.

As I am a Scout leader and planning a number of expeditions I thought it about time I invested in a light weight tent. I am looking at the Vango Banshee 300 as its pack weight is 2.6kg and looks nice and roomy for one.

I know there are a few campers on here so anybody had any experience of this or can recommend another tent?

have a look at the BIG AGNES range of tents i have a seedhouse two sl which is great for one for touring or two for a weekend

We took a Vango Spirit 200+ on a long distance cycle tour. It was excellent – under 3kg, room enough for 2 and a massive porch for all your bags etc.

Vango Helium 200 is roomy for one – cosy for two and weighs 1.2kg.

Pitches in 5 mins

Packs small – ideal for backpacking. There was someone on here selling one the other day – might be worth a search?

cheers

What's your budget? Ultralight tents like the Big Agnes Fly Creek/Seedhouse or the Terra Nova Laser Comp tend to cost £200+, though for that you're looking at something that can come in around 1kg. The Hilleberg Akto is well proven in all conditions for a few hundred grams more (and a few quid). You do give up space of course with the really light tents, depends on how important the weight (or lack of) is I guess.

Depending on conditions, you might want to look at some of the Tarptent offerings as well.

Funnily enough, I just unpacked 12 tents today…

Vango Banshee is a fab wee tent, we went for 200 (bought 2) and it is more than fine for one of you for a few days, tight squeeze for two but OK as mountain tent. We picked ours up for £62. Yes that is the right price. The Banshee's are for staff use (bought 2)

We also ordered some Halo 200's (4no.) for guest use, and I have not yet seen them up on the hill / in bad weather, but for a tad more room they seem the shizzle – good porch space, pretty good head room and a nice roomy feel.

Shame Vango insist on the stoopid orange inner colour mind. Horrid to live with.

I could not go with the Terra Nova's that we have bought before or the Vaude's I wanted or the macpacs – they are same weight, similar designs, similar peformance and materials. All these were £100-£200 more…

The Vango's seem as well made, and being an outdoor centre, most of the tents end up trashed through abuse before the longevity of fabrics comes in to play.

I have returned 2 out of 4 of our Terra Nova tents from last month due to seams bursting / not sewn properly in the inner. Crap quality compared to previous years.

love my vango banshee

vango banshee 200.
great for 1, tight for 2 though 😕

When I went looking for a tent in the spring, my local Go Outdoors had the Banshee 200 on sale for £39.99 and for some reason I walked away. Still not sure why. Maybe it was the orange inner tent.

…….terra nova ultra quasar….need i say more?

Blacks (& Millets) have sale on at the moment. Banshee 200 for £60. Code bRWqCh gets another 20% off to £48 but I don't know how long it'll last for, vague recollection it's valid till Sept 9th (still works 11.40 Wed)

Edit – see here for codes, valid till 30th Sept.

I've a Hilleberg Akto that I bought in 1999, it has been back for a new groundsheet since after fairly regular use. Point is, if you envisage being into the outdoors for the long term, no point in buying cheap. A quality tent is the way forward, and is cheaper in the long term.

What about this one from Blacks?

Quite tempted at £75 even though I really don't need another tent. Used to have a (very similar) Coleman Viper and there was plenty of room for me. Good headroom too.

Vango Apex is a similar style of tent (bit bigger though) and also comes in under 2kg. I did have a look at the pegs though when I was in Cotswold and they looked a bit rubbish – far too short.

North Face Tadpole 23 nice and roomy packs very small and not that heavy

Decathlon were selling an ultralight tent for £60 recently. Don't know if the offer's still on.

MSR Hubba Bubba… Awesome bit of kit, light, small packed weight.. All in all bob on IMHO..

have a look at the BIG AGNES range of tents i have a seedhouse two sl which is great for one for touring or two for a weekend

I have the Seedhouse SL1 which is very roomy for a one person tent and only just over a kilo in weight.

If you want something bullet proof that will last forever the Hilleberg Nallo 2 is relatively roomy for 2 and has a good sized porch. Total weight 2.1kg including poles, pegs and stuffsack. Cheapest I have seen is £420 HERE

As it happens I am just about to sell mine which has genuinely been used 3 times so is effectively new. Was going to put it in the classifieds at £250. Mail in profile if you are interested

I have a lot of tents. They are all easy to put up by one person (me):

Bivi bag (tent type thing) : Snugpak Stratosphere Bivi : Great for Bivi rides, light weight, Warm, and there is a bit of stroage around the head area to keep things dry and safe.

Small 2 man tent (more a 1.5 man really) : Vango tbs Micro 200 : Great for more than single day rides, very light and loads of room for 1 man and kit (with out bik in tent.

2 man tent (can sleep 2 people with a squeeze with all kit) : mountain hardwear spear 2 : Top tent, Very warm, light, easy to pitch, can also fit a bike in the porch with the wheels off etc…

We are looking for another medium tent for weekends away : maybe the Vango Orchy 400.

6 man tent : Wynnster Saturn 6 : for week(s) camping trips, loads of room, just big, easy to put up on my own.

Small 2 man tent (more a 1.5 man really) : Vango tbs Micro 200 : Great for more than single day rides, very light and loads of room for 1 man and kit (with out bik in tent.

I've got one of the TBS Micro 200's as well. Pretty decent tent for the cash, although a little on the weighty side to be classed as lightweight IMHO. It must be about 2.5Kg or so. I've also got one of the TBS Micro 100's which is also a good little tent and a shade under 2Kg if I recall correctly. Both tents can be pitched outer first or all-in-one, which is very useful in bad weather.

Argos used to do a very decent one-man tent that was about 1.5Kg or so and quite roomy. I've got a couple of those as well. Haven't used them enough to prove durability but they cost next to nothing.

I've got loads of tents – I really must get round to selling some!

…terra nova ultra quasar….need i say more?

Yeah, overwieght, overpriced and not as bombproof as the legend has it (I just chucked out the remains of 6 of them today)

Go for the Hilleberg Akto, they really are bombproof. The Terra Novas are tempting due to the weight but as has been mentioned, the quality is awful. Be a real man and get a bivi instead.

I've had a few Macpac, Saunders, Little Agnes, Terra Nova etc.

My cuurent one is a MSR Hubba Hubba HP, luxurious for one, room for 2 weight 1.7kg

vango tempest 200

ace tent, strong light and proper porch!!! Wicked Tent

i had an AKTO and sold it as i found it just too short and i'm a short@rse, i have a nallo two which i must admit is a cracking tent but really quite expensive now on the plus side the hillebergs pitch outer first but i just bought a freestanding tent( the big agnes string ridge two) because on my last major tour it was sometimes difficult to pitch the nallo properly

Hello again everybody; Just bought tempests for the DoE group we run.Roomy,decent shared weight and bombproof.I recently sold a TN Laser comp for a seedhouse sl1 and would never go back,so would pick a big aggie over tn any day for personal.At 6"3" I was too big for a lot of the lightweights,something you may wish to consider. The TN laser does not like the wind either.There is a seedhouse on ebay being sold by a guy who posts reg on outdoor magic.

Almost made up my mind. Its either the Banshee 200 or the Tempest 200. A mate has the Tempest and bought the Banshee for his son, he says he cannot sit up right in the Banshee although the Vango site says they are the same height (85cm) he is over 6ft though and I'm a short arse (5'6").

Bought a Vango Tempest 200 recently and very impressed, good size weight etc
and dead easy to pitch!

How about a Golite Shangri-La. My brother has one, and it's incredible how small it packs up, yet it's pretty big once up. He has the 1 pole tee-pee type one. Not too dear either as I recall.

selling my vango tempest 200 on ebay at the mo if you are interested..

Ebay Link

cracking little tent but i want something a little bit bigger..

spacehopper – Member

selling my vango tempest 200 on ebay at the mo if you are interested..

I'd give you £50.00 now!

£55 including postage? 🙂

Think I could stretch to £55 8)

ive emailed you shakey 🙂

Well just back from 5 days wildcamping along the Cornish SW coastal path…

Took a North Face tadpole…which for the money £140 incl footprint seems to have handled it all pretty well.

Shame about the the crap door design though