UKC

I'm thinking about one of these as a family tent for 3. Basically something that's is still carry-able for canoe camping, taking on a plane or pseudo- wild camping a few hundred meters from the car for instance.

The boy is currently sleeping in a tent style cot thing that occupies a space about the size of a short thermarest, slightly wider perhaps. He'll eventually be in a mini sleeping bag and short mat I guess. I'm thinking that leaves enough space for 2 adult mats and our gear.

I thought about something with 2 bedrooms but this seems to be very inefficient in terms of weight. I don't want a beast that you can only just heave out of the car.

Has anybody used one of these tents for a while and/or for a similar purpose? Does it seem suitable? How is it holding up to use? Can anyone give a comparison to a TN Hyperspace? Apart from being half the price... Other options?

Thanks

In reply to George Fisher:

We've got the Heksa as a comfy camping/car/very short walk tent.
It's had a good few weeks' use now and is holding up well, I'm a big fan.

In reply to George Fisher:
I was in the same boat last year so hired one. Decided that the porch was too small to cook and eat in.

In reply to George Fisher:

I've owned the Zhota for a year or so and have nothing but praise for it.
I paid full price (which I thought was good value) but I think you can pick it up for the discounted price of £350 at the moment which seems like great value compared to other similar specification tents.

I've used it for various trips from canoe camping with 2 adults (very luxurious!) to having 4 adults in it for a solid week on Elbrus with full winter mountaineering gear (a bit tight but still OK with the storage space in the porches).

The spreader bar makes the tent feel really spacious and Alpkit have incorporated loads of pockets in the sides and roof and hanging hooks which make the space very usable. The tent seems very robust with the poles especially feeling very high quality.

I can't compare with the TN Hyperspace as I've never used it but I would thoroughly recommend the Zhota.

You used to be able to rent the tent from Alpkit for a week and then if you went on to buy the tent you would get this money off the purchase price but I'm not sure if they still offer this.

In reply to George Fisher:

I've got a Zhota and use it for me and my two kids. now aged 9 and 6. It's a great size/weight. and bags fo space for kit. We had a little life tent cot thing for a while, and used a TN Family Khamsin over that period, but now we've downsized to this Zhota, it's near perfect for what I need. Presuming that you won't be using the tent much over winter and the little 'un will move into a bag for Spring I think it would make a great tent come Spring. as an earlier post says, not much space for cooking in the porches, but I don't do that anyway, whatever the weather. Tent itself is bombproof, and design and build quality is excellent. For £350 you wont go far wrong. (I was looking at the Hyperspace also)

In reply to 999thAndy:
George, I have a Zhota. For me it performs well, is easy to pitch and is very well designed. There are plenty of storage pockets and points to hang gear so I'd say plenty of room for three when canoe camping. My only issue is with the base fabric. It ‘wets out’ in small patches under pressure points (e.g. under a sleeping mat, rucksack). To be clear, it is not leaking. Alpkit tell me this is normal and that it has been raised by other purchasers.

In reply to George Fisher:

Wow, a lot of love for the Zhota!

Thanks for the feedback, exactly what I was looking for.

G

In reply to monkeytennis:

You can buy a footprint for £60 which should help with the wetting out issue although it looks like this is currently out of stock.

Adds some extra weight but this wouldn't be an an issue for canoe camping or camping relatively close to the car.

In reply to michaelmurray:

My TN voyager floor wets out in a similar way after about 8 years of occasional use, this may be down to age more than use. I'd use a tarp if car camping and save the weight if carrying it any distance and accept some wear and tear.

In reply to George Fisher:

George, I have a North Face Tadpole 23, that took over 10 years (~20 days use per year) to start wetting out in a similar way as the Zhota does from new, though different fabric so perhaps an unfair comparison.

In reply to monkeytennis:

Does sound less than ideal. In my (obviously different) universe groundsheet fabric is 100% waterproof, pressure points notwithstanding.
Surely every time you kneel on the floor you're creating such a pressure point.

Put a bit of pvc underneath as a footprint maybe...

In reply to George Fisher:

Demo tent is on the way from Alpkit. A great idea rom AK to let you try before you buy.

First time family camping for the 3 of us. Can't wait.