UKC

Im sure this has been covered before somewhere.... I am after a year round tent for UK use in Wales/Scotland/Peak in typical crappy weather and have narrowed down to these two:

Alpkit Kangri is £350, attention to detail/perceived quality looks good from images. I'm not fussed by the weight - value build quality & longevity foremost, and wont be backpacking with it too often.

Terra Nova Quasar I can find online for £450 (this is the standard version, not the 'super' or 'heavy duty'). I understand they have been making them for many years and have a good reputation.

Is the Terra Nova worth spending extra £100 on?

Would welcome any input from owners of either Thanks.

In reply to olliehales:
I've had very few problems with the Terra Nova tents I've had, including an Ultra Quasar, and none of them have been serious threats to the integrity of the tents. However, when problems have cropped up TN's customer service has been very patchy — very helpful a couple of times, completely dismissive another. Alpkit, on the other hand, are always great to deal with and sort problems straight away.

In reply to olliehales:

i'm an owner of both...

quasar first, then - after a decade - replaced with a Kangri. i will start by saying that i took the Quasar to places i won't take the Kangri, but thats because when i had the Quasar i was young, adventurous and not a bit stupid, whereas now i'm married, have three kids and think that discomfort is for the witless.

that said, i've used the Kangri pretty much everywhere in the UK in all seasons, and in the Falklands in Winter. for me the Alpkit materials and build quality match the Quasar, and the design of the Kangri is better than the Quasar for those long winter nights while trying to read, eat, cook or get changed - i also think its more horizontal rainproof.

the other issue is the after sales service - with my Quasar, at perhaps 8 years old, a pole snapped on a warm spring day in an utterly still Langdale (TN had a long running problem with poles snapping - it was moaned about on here endlessly - no idea if they've solved it..), and when i rang up TN had no interest apart from whatever outraguous sum they wanted for a new pole. Alpkit, and i hasten to say i've never had a problem with the Kangri, have a markedly better reputation...

if mine got knicked i'd buy another, probably witout looking at what else was on offer. if they didn't exist i'd probably look at half a dozen tents before considering another Quasar.

In reply to olliehales:
Seam tape failed on my Super Quasar after about 6 years moderate use another common problem with these tents. I always without fail dried the tent before packing it away. TN (very) reluctantly redid the tape with a proviso they wouldn't guarantee the work. It must have been done badly as they started peeling again almost immediately.

They offered to sell me a new outer at 2/3 retail but given the price of the outer (still 200 notes) and other replacement parts I didn't consider that value.

Bare in mind this was after I had already returned the outer to them once soon after it was bought (at their cost) for them to restitch the zip as it came apart.

I've also had issues with the outer touching the inner and condensation then dripping on to bags. Careful pitching can help with the issue but can not reliably solve it (as the outer gets baggy when wet).

I do still have the tent as I bought a second hand unused outer to a normal quasar on here for a very good price.

My poles were fine but many people with quasars of the same vintage (bought about a decade ago now) had a lot of issues with these too.

All in I wouldn't buy TN again as the price tag is high for average quality. Extremities gloves (same group of companies) I would also never buy again - for winter use anyways, they fall apart at the first sign of proper ice.

In reply to ballsac:

Thanks for the responses both - think will go with the cheaper one based on your recommendations, still not a small amount of cash however I am hoping for at least 5 years of reasonable use, with the additional space over my cramped zephros while still being able to carry the thing.

I'm sure would be happy with either, however if there are no significant quality gains/after sales support gains then sure the alpkit will be more than suitable

In reply to olliehales:

I didn't pay full price for my quasar but for a £700 2 man tent I'd be pretty unhappy with 5 years of my typical use of it maybe sleeping in it average of 20 days per year in mostly pretty low UV environments.

In reply to olliehales:

I'd echo the comments above. My Voyager did last 20 years before the flysheet finally failed to keep rain out but the groundsheet leaked from the get go and Terra Nova's after sales was sadly lacking.

In reply to olliehales:

Try this from Rock & Run, I wish I was in the market for one of these just now -

http://www.rockrun.com/deals/msr-tent-sale/msr-asgard

In reply to olliehales:

Had a quasar for ages (and several broken pole incidents, but I'd really hope they've sorted that particular issue by now). Replaced it with a kangri when it wore out. There isn't a lot to choose between them, imho, other than the kangri being cheaper, which is why I went for that rather than getting another quasar.