UKC

Unfortunately my tent is really starting to leak the water and I'm looking into getting a new one.

However, finding a replacement suitable for what I want is a task I'm finding quite difficult.

I'm moving up to Aberdeen next year so ideally I want something that could deal with the worst the Scottish winter could throw at me but not too heavy (say 3kg max) so I can still lug it around when I'm walking.

So far I have considered the Marmot Grid 2P but I'm not sure how it would potentially cope with a load of snow, but then I've been looking at Hilleberg tents like the Jannu or the Nallo but they're really really expensive.

Any advice on a two person tent that can deal with snow and rain but still be reasonably light?

Cheers in advance!

In reply to samwillo: Anything from MacPac suit? The Olympus, perhaps? Can't remember the weight offhand, mind.

But as usual, light, tough, cheap; choose any two. But provided you aren't planning to sleep high in the very worst excesses of the Scottish winter there should be something to suit. I would add 'strong winds' to your list of 'must be able to cope with's as well, of course.

T.

In reply to samwillo:
i was looking at getting the marmot grid aswell ive heard their really well made and i liked the 3 pole design but i pitched it in the shop and found theres really not that much space in the sleeping area and the fly sheet sits high off the ground especially at the back (coupe of inches maybe) - no matter what we did we couldnt fix this. So that put me off it.
Tried my mates Macpac Minaret seems like the best option since it can be pitched outer first or inner and outer together the fly isnt as close to the ground as maybe the Nallo but its much closer than the Marmot. also its light, i think its probably lighter than the marmot.

In reply to samwillo:
also i was looking at the Ortik Approach 2 seems pretty well built havent seen it pitched though.
let us know what u decide.
Andy

In reply to samwillo:

This is lighter and more useful in Scottish winter than any tent:

http://www.needlesports.com/Catalogue/Winter-Climbing-Equipment/Snow-Equipm...

In reply to samwillo:
http://www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/acatalog/Jamet_Aneto_4000_Camping_Tent.ht...

no experience of it, though, sorry!

In reply to samwillo: I've got a macpac minaret. I 've used it in winter in scotland and cycle touring it is really good. It is very quick to put up and can cope with a lot of rain and wind.

In reply to samwillo:

Personally i have found a Mountain Equipment DRagonfly 2 (xt if you want more storage space) to be one of the best light enough, cheap enough, strong enough, big enough tents i have ever found.

Spacious for one, comfy for two, light enough for one, light light for two, would handle 4 season in the UK (assuming appropriate pitch site). have a look around i have picked one up for £200 before a few years back, more recently £300.

In reply to samwillo:

Or a Quasar Voyager (but pitching inner first is a weakness in my opinion)

In reply to josephgrimwade: I've checked out the Dragonfly 2XT, looks pretty interesting actually, extra storage space could be really useful. Have you any experience with this in snow, high winds or rain?

In reply to samwillo:
I'm sure I've said this before but...
Dragonfly 2 and Voyager are rated as 3 season tents for a reason: they both feature a flat section at the top of the tent where the poles cross over. This can gather a quantity of heavy snow if it starts coming down and either means a) you spend all night pushing snow off the top of the tent or
b) you get squashed...
I had an experience of this where a mate left his voyager to come and sleep in my minaret for exactly that reason.
Minaret is a great tent for your purposes - I replaced mine with a Jannu because the Minaret can be difficult to pitch effectively if there are no good pegging spots (it is not self supporting) and it is very small for two.
Have you looked at anything by Vango? Can be good on a budget (but heavier).

In reply to SFar: Thanks for the advice. Could you tell me a bit more about how your Jannu is?

In reply to samwillo: This is the tent that my brother has, he really rates it if you were looking for something on more of a budget

http://www.towsure.com/product/Vango_Tempest_200_2_Person_Tent

In reply to Jay C: Cheers Jay!

In reply to samwillo:
It's great-easy to pitch in bad weather, relatively spacious (although the sloping porch is odd), good ventilation even in prolonged rain and when cooking, bit heavy for one,but fine for two.
I would never have bought it were it not near enough half price in a sale-they're so expensive! But I'd find it difficult to move to a lesser tent now. If you can find decent pegging points, I'd say the minaret has maybe 75% of the performance for 1/3 of the price....
The big thing for me is always speed of pitching, knowing British weather, so the fact that they both pitch simultaneously is a huge bonus.
HTH

In reply to SFar: Thanks for advice, its really helpful. Have been searching around for a deal on the Jannu but have eventually realised it would actually cost about £650!

Two more quick questions if you've got the time? How spacious is the Minaret, would considering what looks to be its big brother the Olympus be overkill? And how would you compare the Minaret/Olympus to the Hilleberg Nallo?

Thanks very much

In reply to samwillo: Don't know about Minaret or Hilleberg, but i recently bought an MSR Fury. Just under 3kg and sturdy as a rock even without being guyed out. Feels pretty spacious inside due to the long length and has a decent sized porch for rucksacks and cooking. I was worried about ventilation when looking at this tent originally, but the whole back and front panels on the inner can be zipped off to leave mesh and there is a vent on the outer that can be opened from inside.

Sorry for the essay, but i hope it helps.

In reply to samwillo:

I own a Mac pac tent, would never buy another. They are manufactured in Malaysia now, the fabric quality just isn't that good. I was told that the best mountain tent is a Quasar, unsure what the build quality is like these days. Have you considered looking at the Hilleberg tent range?

In reply to samwillo: I own The North Face Tadpole 23 DL and it's perfect for the job used mine for the last few months and had no problem. I rate it high and has a high water level of protection per to some others like the vango banshee. If not the MSR Hubba or Hubba Hubba are amazing tents and will not fail.

In reply to samwillo:

I have just bought a Vaude Power Odyssee, but haven't used it in anger yet.
First impressions - easy to put up, even in strong wind.
Roomy inside for two people - both can sit up easily at the same time - though a bit short for an over six footer to sleep.
Porch is small.
Reasonably light (under 3kg)
It doesn't come with guys for all the guying points, nor pegs for all the pegging points plus guys (a common problem these days: MSR are the same).

In reply to Plan Airborne:
I have had my Hubba HP in very strong winds, and it didn't like it. I ended up bailing at 3am as I was fearing for the survival of my tent. Winds were strong though (pushing me about, and I am 15 stone). Otherwise it has been a great wee tent.

In reply to samwillo: the macpac minaret is bombproof but too small for 2 people and gear, its an old outdated design now to be honest, i wouldnt get another.

I would get one of these though!

http://www.nemoequipment.com/nemo2011-morpho2p-tent

I have a bigger Marmot tent which is outstanding, so I would imagine their 2p tents are great

In reply to samwillo:


Getting a tent that will withstand the WORST of Scottish winter requires some serious consideration which I see you are doing and to be honest I would be impressed if 3 season tents would be consistently up for the job.

Personally I would only look at 4 season tents although they are heavier and more expensive

You have loads of time so my advice would be keep looking around for good deals or even on the for sale thread on here.

good luck with whatever you choose


G

In reply to samwillo: The marmot Asgard is on sale on amazon at the moment. Not used one but I hear there bomber.

The Grid is good, I've not tried it in the snow but it's stood up to the wind well. I've read reviews that say it handles the snow ok, not sure how it would do with continual 4 season use though.

In reply to jdawg_85:
I have used the Marmot Asgard.
It is a good, tough tent, easy to put up for an inner first tent. But it is heavy!

In reply to Erik B:


Totally agree with Erik on this. We bike toured for 4 weeks in Newfoundland using our Minaret and whilst it is indeed bombproof I came to hate it. Very small inside and a tiny porch. Fine for the odd night and good in crap weather but if you intend to do longer trips with 2 of you then get something a bit bigger.

In reply to All: Thanks for all the advice everyone! Its a pretty tricky decision actually.

The Asgard is simply to heavy for the stuff I have in mind.
More and more I'm leaning towards the Macpac Olympus because of its extra space and relatively low weight. Anyone out there tried it?

In reply to samwillo:

I have a Marmot Grid Plus (with the extra pole and porch on the front). I've only had it in heavy rain but it stood up extremely well. An early poster mentioned the fly sheet sitting high - I haven't experienced this. When it's pegged nicely the fly sheet tensions all the way to the ground.

Best feature - the pole sleeves are sealed at one end, so you can lob the pole straight in and not worry about an eyelet at both ends. Very, very quick to pitch.

Worst feature - I agree with the early poster that the interior space is small. I think I would genuinely struggle to sleep two bodies in it.

In reply to Gazlynn:




Some good advice there. For the OP, you really need to have a long think about what you're likely to be doing with this tent in order to get the one best suited. We all end up camping in the rain, so being able to cope with that is a given and for that reason, pitch 'as one' or flysheet-first models will be better than inner-first. We almost all end up camping in winds that can give us pause for thought about just how securely the pegs are in, and since it's your intention to pitch on the hills you may accidently end up experiencing stronger winds than you anticipate; this means that something that's robust with lots of pegging points and guylines will be better than something that's light and has sacrificed some pegging points to gain that lightness. We only sometimes end up camping in snow, or when a decent snowfall happens overnight, and so you need to think about how likely this is for you; some tents have a design that makes them more likely to collect and hold snow on the top than others, and this may colour your view about them.

So you need to have a serious think about exactly what sort of conditions you'll be out in; it it's *that* extreme, will you be on the hill or in the pub? Having done that, have a think about how far you're likely to be carrying this and what factors other than weight will play a part; packed size, for example, or whether you'll be doing that walk alone or with someone else who can share the burden.

Then there's the usual stuff germane to any tent purchase; how tall are you (how long does the tent need to be)? What's your height when sitting with your bum on the floor (what does the inner height of the tent have to be)? How often will the tent be used by two people (how wide does the tent have to be)? Plus the general points relating to tent design: geodesic tents are stronger but generally pitch inner-first; tunnel tents are lighter and properly pitched can be just about as robust as geodesics, but get a lot of that robustness from the way they're pitched which, in the UK in the hills, may well be less than ideal.

The pointers you get here and from forums such as outdoors magic will help, but you need to temper what people say with a dose of psychology; having paid their money, people are often keen to promote their choice as the best one. Having settled on a shortlist, and you're some way towards that, you'd get a nadge more insight from asking people putting forward a particular model what they don't like about it or would change rather than what they especially like.

For what it's worth, if I were after what you're looking for I'd rule out anything with 'lightweight' or similar in its name and anything with an extended porch and look for a pitch 'as one' design as they're easier to deal with in the wind when your only light is that from a headtorch, and then I'd use your other criteria (price, weight and inner size, packed size etc) to get to a shortlist.

T.

In reply to samwillo: Swear by my Vaude Hogan. Been in a winter hoolie in Glen Coe. 2.6 kg give or take.... good luck.

In reply to samwillo: What's your budget?

In reply to samwillo: Have you looked at the lightweight quasars? The ultra quasar uses the same fabrics and and nearly the same poles as the voyager bu being a geodesic design means that it will be inherently stronger and will deal with snow much better than the voyager. The main downside is that they pitch inner first (to give better stability) but with practice you'll have it up in no time plus the inner is water resistant anyway. It is also a little over your weight limit 3.12kg but I think it fits the bill

In reply to samwillo: Last time I went up Scotland I took my girlfriend's dad's Black Diamond Bombshelter. Sturdy as hell and wasn't too heavy. Not sure about the price though. It was nice.

In reply to samwillo:

Another vote for The North face Tadpole 2 man. Excellent tent and can withstand any weather! Only 2.37kg also!

In reply to samwillo: It's that lightness requirement that will give you problems keeping the cost down. Plenty of good but heavier geodesic designs out there that would suit (you could do a lot worse than a Vango Vortex, for example) but sub 3kg for proper Scottish Winter brings you into Hillerberg-esque type territory.

The North Face Westwind has a good reputation and I think Lightwave tents are very well made (I have a very light summer one).

So far as I'm concerned the 'worst of Scottish Winter' can happen almost anywhere in Scotland in Winter so best to have a tent you really trust.

In reply to Siward:

I'd second the North Face Westwnd.

Light, sturdy (a proper 4 season), suprisingly spacious for two and realistically priced. I've done a lot of backpacking with mine.

In reply to samwillo:
I took ages to decide on a tent (with similar criteria to yours) but eventually chose an Ultra Quasar - great stability, loads of room (for a 2 person tent)and just over 3kg.

Like other's have suggested, put the tents up, have a look at all the parts, sit inside it, lie down, look for storage space, size of doors and configuarion of zips, single or double entrances etc - there are lots of nuances that you can't pick up from photos but make quite a difference on the hill. Some feaures you'll probably love and others you'll hate.

One thing I didn't spot (before I bought the Quasar) was the pin like pegs but I eventually replaced them with some titanium V pegs from Alpkit. This has probably pushed the weight up a little, though. All other things considered, a great tent.