UKC

I'm looking for a good two person tent which is mostly free standing for camping out in the hills. If anybody knows of a sturdy tent around 2kg which can take a beating (40-50mph winds at worst and a good Scottish style downpour) I'd love to hear about it. It also needs to fit 2 MAX size sleeping pads so 130cm inner width.

So far I'm looking at:

Exped Venus II UL

MSR Access 2

Nemo Kunai 2 person

If anybody has experience with any of these tents It would be great to hear your thoughts.

Cheers!

I’ve been pretty happy with the Access 2, roomy, will take a bit of weather and is light enough. It’s not a absolute fortress but it doesn’t pretend to be.

Also interested in this - I was going to post something similar after a windy night on Saturday flattened my Alpkit Ordos 2. Utterly useless in the wind.

Around 2kg and 40-50mph winds don't sound like they go together well. To be honest, wind that strong is hard to walk in, let alone camp. Not many light tents would really be up to it.

You probably wouldn't head out to camp on a forecast that windy, and would certainly be looking for a sheltered spot if you did. So do you really need a tent that can handle that?

If space and sturdiness are priorities then you may have to sacrifice lightness. And I doubt there are any cheap options.

Except for your mostly free standing stipulation (why?) and the c.2kg requirement, one strong contender might be the MSR Tindheim. This does need pegged out to stand up (rarely an issue if camping in grassy UK hills) but is really very good in wilder weather, and also more spacious than a lot of 2-person backpacking tents.

We'll be publishing a review in a few days, but the general gist is that I'm pretty impressed. 

You could have a look at the Henry Shires Scarp 2 with solid inner and optional cross-poles. The latter turn it into a pretty solid free-standing tent but you can leave them at home in good weather, plus it has a porch either side which is great for storage / access for two. 

It ain't cheap, plus there'll be import tax, but I haven't looked at another tent since I got my Scarp 1.

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the input!

I'm not looking for a tent to purposefully camp in 40-50mph winds however in the Uk (especially Scotland in the Cairngorm's) Its possible for the forecast to be 20-30's then turn out to be updated 30 mins before to storm conditions (MWIS is usually quite accurate). I'd be looking for a tent that can survive a night of it at most but only if needed/in an emergency.

If you know of any tents that fit the bill in the higher price brackets definitely let me know!

I've looked into the MSR Tindheim 2 and for a tent that has a hydrostatic head of 3000mm on the base with a weight of 3.2 kg in a tunnel design is on the heavier/more durable side of the scale but the waterproofness is a tad low. Its a good deal for the price if you don't mind hauling a bit more weight. If you ever get the chance, check out the Fjallraven Abisko Shape 2 or 3 they're pretty amazing tunnel tents with a nice balance of weight/durability and waterproofness however, they are quite expensive.