UKC

Hi,

Camping season is approaching and we are looking at our tents. We want a lightweight tent that our family of four can sleep in which is robust and spacious.

I've looked at the Hilleberg tents eg Keron 4GT but the price seems steep at £1000!!!

Anyone got an alternative?

In reply to Dave-the-leg:


If for you camping season is the summer, then I don't see why you would want a tent crazy expensive like the Kerron - people ski to S. Pole with them!

My family of 4 (kids 7 and 9) fit fine in this: http://www.decathlon.co.uk/t3-3-man-hiking-tent-blue--id_8057313.html it's stayed up fine in some horrible weather, and is light enough to carry if you really need to.

Mid-range, Marmot do some reasonably priced nice looking bigger tents.

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

1.85kg light enough
http://www.tarptent.com/hogback.html

In reply to Dave-the-leg: http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/tents-and-spares/all-tents/monsoon-4-tent/

In reply to TobyA: Cheers, we could get 20 of these for the one Hilleberg but carrying it is the big issue as we canoe camp and also cycle camp so we are looking at weight.

We already have a couple of smaller tents and can mange with those but all together is good especially if we are hunkering down for bad weather.

In reply to mikehike:

Wow that's light for a 4 person tent. Who sells these in the UK?

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-gb/shop/mountain/shelters/mega-ligh...

Expensive but you can get them cheap sometimes, if you can rig without a pole even better.

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

No one. Ad import Duty and Carriage and you need to seal the seams yourself. Not used one of the bigger ones but the Big Agnes tents are very well made and light.

D

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

MSR twin brothers.

A single skin and floor is extra, but light and huge (can stand up inside).
Not bad in wind if you stake out all flys and maybe add walking poles for really bad stuff.

In reply to Dave-the-leg: Vango Halo 400 - less than £150 4.9kg strong and spacious

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

Tarp-tents or teepee/pyramide style tents are really good for weight and space.

Golite do a bunch, and a few options can be bought here:
http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/eureka_wikiup_4_sul.html
http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/nemo_pentalite_4p_tent.html
http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/msr_twin_brothers_single_skin_46_per...

If it doesn't come with a (bathtub) floor, at least get one. And if you are camping in mosquito terrain, well get one with the inner mesh tent (I think Eureka comes with one, and for Nemo you can buy one).

I've been rather happy with my Golite Shangri-La 4+ (now sold as 5, but somewhat modified inner tent. http://www.golite.com/Shangri-La-5-Tent-P46714.aspx

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

Wild Country Monsoon is a good reasonable budget option (Sports Direct had them on offer, too) - although may not be quite big enough (squash for 4 adults, although they now do a 6 man version) or pack quite small enough (poles sections are fairly long). But stands up to British weather - we've used them with DofE groups in the past, and now for lightweight camping with 2 small kids and 2 adults.

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

Oh, what I meant to say is the monsoon has decent aluminium poles, which I far prefer to fibreglass ones - I had too many broken fibreglass poles on cheap tents as a student to ever really trust them again! Plus, it benefits from all Terra Nova/Wild Country's design experience. Obviously it's not quite as good as the Terra Nova range, but the price reflects this....

In reply to Dave-the-leg:
Thanks for all the ideas. I particularly like the tipi style tents for weight and simplicity.

The Hogs back looks interesting but can't seem to find a UK retailer.

Main consideration now is durability. (I know lightweight and durable don't always go together but I can wish...)

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

The GoLite and from what I've seen BDs MegaMid/-Lite are actually rather durable. The wind profile is not that bad, and by tying guylines from the top you can make it rather stable in quite foul weather.

They are actually rather common on expeditions as cooking or lounge tents as well, as you can easily use them without the inner tent and perhaps dig a nice platform for cooking or build sofas.

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

Sorry for the late reply.

Yes its made in USA and we are in the UK, yes import duty and carriage are involved. Yes you have to seam seal with silicone.

I stuck my neck out to buck the trend of double skinned tents in the uk.
I was prepared to seam seal.
I purchased twice from Henry Shires Tarptent, Contrail and Double Rainbow.

After sales service is second to none. My Double Rainbow had a manufacturing issue (it was an early one). They sent me a second Double Rainbow FOC.

Do some research on Tarptent and sil nylon to satisfy yourself re durability.

Im a happy camper
https://plus.google.com/photos/117542672402472670569/albums/546789033088563...

In reply to Dave-the-leg: Having followed your kind recommendations I have shown these tents to my wife and we have a short list of three:

http://www.golite.com/Shangri-La-5-Tent-P46714.aspx

http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/tents-and-spares/all-tents/laser-space-5-tent/

http://www.tarptent.com/hogback.html

Unfortunately the Shangri La 5 2.6kg and Tarptent Hogback 1.85kg need to be imported so another layer of research required re: taxes, VAT etc.but they are incredibly light for the space and at $300 or $400 they seem like just the right thing.

The Laser 5 is incredible too - so much space and height in a 5 kg tent and I saw it on amazon for about £795

From my info trawl the Vango Halo 400 is good as a budget option £160 and 4.9kg



So if anyone is planning a trip to the states soon and can fetch us a tent...

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

The Quechqua pop-up tents are the most brilliantly designed, well-made and good value tents I've ever come across in 50 years of camping.

In reply to Dave-the-leg:
You could maybe get the Hogback through this Danish website:
http://www.backpackinglight.dk/product_info.php?cPath=38_54&products_id...

or this German one also stocks some Tarptent models:
http://www.trekking-lite-store.com/trekkingshop/Zelte/TarpTent-StratoSpire-...
or this one:
http://www.sackundpack.de/index.php?cPath=77_191&osCsid=5875fe80299e28d...

Bearpaw Designs in the US has some large pyramids as well, probably lighter than the Golites, but more expensive as well.

In reply to Dave-the-leg:

Or you could ask UKs GoLite retailer http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/ if they'll be having that in stock and at what price.


As for VAT, customs and whotnot. A rough guess is aroudn 5-10% customs toll on the tent (multiply the price of the tent by 1.1), then add the P&P (tent pirce * 1.1 + P&P) before adding VAT on top of everything (is it somethign like 25% in UK?) (so (tent*1.1+P&P)*1.25 and perhaps some brokerage fees on top of everything, UPS has been free here in Finland but I seem to recall FedEx wanted around 25 Eur for customs declarations).

In reply to Gordon Stainforth:


Packed, they might be a bit unwieldy for bike or canoe use...

For maximum space vs weight, I'd look at a tunnel tent. One with two sleeping compartments; one for you, one for the kids. I guess the other issue is how much 'non-sleeping' space you want. The alternative to such space is a large tarp for day use.