UKC

Whats the best, Mountain Hardwear Trango, Vango Hurricane, Force 10 Vortex or Alpkit Kangri.
Its down to these 4. Anyone used them.

Why is it down to those 4 in particular? What criteria should we be using for 'best'? Colour? Weight?

Will anyone who suggests other tents that might be better get in trouble?

In reply to Aigen: The Mountain Hardwear hasn't got the best groundsheet for wet british camping, I routinely get damp knees when the ground's sodden. Next time - I'll make sure it's got a higher HH number.

In reply to Aigen: Only got experience of the Kangri, its an inner pitch first which may influence your choice if only really using it in the UK, but goes up v.fast (after a bit of practice). Very spacious inside. porch easily handles a full ruscksack and boots. Plenty of little places inside for securing small items, hanging stuff (whatever takes your fancy).

In reply to benghull:

They're all very similar, very conventional 2-porch, inner-first, 4-pole geodesics.

Personally, I don't buy into the 'outer first is best for rain!' argument... its a bonus, but if your inner tent isn't made of mesh (and if it isn't actually epic monsoon rain) then it'll keep the rain out long enough for you to pitch the whole thing. You can cover the inner with the fly when you're threading the poles, with a bit of practise.

For me, outer first is a *huge* benefit when dealing with strong wind, because you don't have to fight with an enormous flappy sail. Means you can pitch tents singlehanded even in really nasty conditions, which is a potential lifesaver.

If there's two of you, and you're practised, inner-first geos will have a really nice stable pitch whch is what these four are aiming at, right?

In reply to Aigen:
spent a couple of nights in the Kangri earlier this summer and found that it had no ventilation other than the main doors. It suffered slightly more condensation than I would have thought. Generally an O.K tent but can't compare it to your others as haven't used any of them. Heard good things about the MH Trango.

In reply to Aigen:

i'm really happy with my Kangri, i judge it against my old TN Ultra Quasar, and i think its better in pretty much every regard - its certainly a damn sight easier to live in: bigger doors, more, and better internal pockets, much easier to sit-up in...

if they are all much-of-a-muchness - which i think they are - then i'd think that the £150 you'd save by buying a Kangri rather than one of the others would be the swinger: 4 season mountain tent + flights to the Alps, or a couple of Tanks of Petrol or a pair of ice axes vs 4 season mountain tent...

In reply to Indy: Thanks everyone for your responce except Sharewater who seems to be pissed off over something.

Er, what? Should I not have asked a question?

In reply to Shearwater: after the last 36 hours in the lakes, I have no hesitation recommending alpkit.

In reply to Aigen: hire an alpkit one, try it out and see what you think!

In reply to Aigen: harsh and unfair