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Terra Nova Ultra Quasar

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HighlandStu 21 Sep 2017
I am possibly going to buy a Terra Nova Ultra Quasar on a second hand website, it is the version with the yellow inner and the seller says that it is 6 years old.
Can anybody tell me when Terra Nova changed from the white to the yellow inner and also when they started to use the colour coded poles as the pictures of the poles on the tent that I may be buying are a gold in colour.
Thanks in advance
 MarkR 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

Mine is around 10 years old and has yellow inner and coloured coded poles. ( Blue and pink ).
 More-On 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

I don't know the answers, but my ultra has a yellow inner and gold poles and was bought in 1994...
I say gold poles - they are a mix now as they all failed under what I'd call normal use.
I would look at other brands if I needed something of that ilk.
 Mark Collins 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

Haven't got an ultra but a normal Quazar, don't think it matters in this regard. Again, I don't know the exact answer to your question, but perhaps in the end you can take a judgement call via the weight of anecdotal evidence. Like the poster directly above I bought one around 1994 and that had yellow inner with gold poles. I bought another in the noughties when a pole snapped and went through the fly sheet. Not sure what the cause was, but it was well used by that stage and I'd already duck taped the fly back together which was remarkably effective. The new one had a yellow inner with coloured poles. Don't ever remember seeing one with a white inner, but that's not to say there never was one. If I were you, I'd be interested to know what shade of green the fly is versus new, as that was the first thing to go on mine. I think eventually the UV causes irreversible damage. When I came to look at a replacement, as ever spares seemed expensive, so thought a better option would be to buy new and use the old one for spares, as and when required.
 ballsac 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

i bought mine in 98 or so, it had gold poles and a yellow inner.

personally i'd not buy one again - i had the standard poles problem with TN and they were well arsey - mine started to fall apart after about a decade and i eventually replaced it with an Alpkit Kangri.

not only does the Kangri look better than the Quasar did after 5 years of use, but Alpkit customer service is excellent.

its a better tent, its much cheaper, and if something goes wrong you deal with Alpkit, not the-world-owes-us-money-for-crap-products Terra Nova....
Deadeye 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

Unlike others here I would get another... if my current one ever failed but it shows no sign of doing so despite knocking on 1000 pitches. Gold poles and yellow inner; 1990s. One pole has a split end (my fault, but a small pipe clip has fixed.
 Simon Caldwell 22 Sep 2017
In reply to Deadeye:
I fear you may be disappointed - the quality of their tents in recent years is way below what it used to be in the 90s and before. My last one only lasted for 4 or 5 years, I then switched to Hilleberg.
Post edited at 13:46
 kipman725 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

Have 3 of them here purchased around 2009 and they have colour coded poles. Wouldn't recommend them unless cheap for the following reasons:
1. Thin groundsheet lets water through on snow and gets damaged on any other surface
2. Tent outer walls are not low enough and let spin drift blow between inner and outer
3. Zips and tabs not very durable
4. Quite hard to avoid outer and inner sticking together in extreme conditions which causes leaks due to guys loosing tension.
5. Big footprint can be a problem in the alps as it doesn't fit in many pre-made bivvi spots (double porch design)
They are the lightest tent I am aware of their type but sacrifice too much durability and the design has not been improved in a very long time even though there are obvious minor issues.
 jim jones 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

Bought mine in 1997 or 1998 with the yellow inner and gold poles. If that's of some more help, mines the ETC version.
 olddirtydoggy 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

I've got a 5 year old ultra quasar and I'm on my second set of poles after gettng flattened in a storm. It was a bad one.
 drgrange 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

Mine has a yellow inner and gold poles. Bought in 1992!
 TMM 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

It’s more likely to be at least twice that age.
I’ve had a few Quasars and I think they switched to the coloured ‘reflex’ poles in the early 2000’s.
 peebles boy 22 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:
Green normal Quasar, 1999, yellow inner, blue and red poles.

Fly seams disintegrated after two years, replacement has been fine since.
Poles started falling apart about 5yrs ago, replacement set doing fine (but I also bought a van about 5yrs ago and have hardly camped since!)
Post edited at 23:58
 Forester3 23 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:
Bought my 'Ultra Quasar' around this time last year; blue and red poles and white inner. I'd tend to agree with the suggestion above that the tent you're looking at is more than likely twice the claimed age. My previous 'Ultra Quasar' was branded 'Wild Country', sported gold poles and yellow inner - I bought this around 20 years ago!

For the record, I've just returned from a week in Langdale; Wednesday night was particularly stormy - high winds and lashing rain. My 'new' Ultra was rock solid and the inner remained completely dry inside (unlike some other tents on the campsite that were pretty well wrecked come Thursday morning!) - the noise of the rain drumming on the fly did keep me awake though...
Post edited at 00:29
HighlandStu 23 Sep 2017
In reply to HighlandStu:

Thank you very much for all your very informative replies - You have helped me make up my mind

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