UKC

Ayup, good evening

My daughter with an 18 month year old toddler, is keen to take him camping in the hills.

She is after a tent and they are not borrowing mine. 
It needs to be 3 person, fairly light and up to a night on the hills of the lakes. Sheltered tarns etc, not summits. Late spring to early autumn use with a good forecast.

What would you recommend? She’s looking at an MSR Mutha Hubba 3. 
ta

dave

I'd maybe have a look at a tipi style backpacking tent as well - something like the Wikiup. Some friends had the original version (can't remember the name of the company that made them) and it was a super tent for the two of them and their dog. Decent headspace in the middle. They'd take down the whole inner and pack everything apart from the outer and pole in bad weather whilst they were still warm and dry inside.

Thanks Kate. We will have a look at hose

dave

Those MSR tents are excellent on paper in terms of space to weight, but I'd consider them good weather tents only. Several friends have owned them and I've seen or heard about 4 of them breaking in the wind. If you're lucky the pole just snaps, but in 2 of the 4 cases the broken pole went on to rip through the fly and cause a lot more damage.

Great up to that point though.

Used my Hubba Hubba 2 person in the High Andes (for BC), Patagonia (valley hikes) and the Karakoram (BC again) and it's survived. Flexes quite a bit in strong winds but I've never experienced problems with the poles or fabric, provided it is pegged out with good tension. I would sleep better with a more stable tent due to less flapping fabric, but I like the low weight. The tent is generally ok so long as I have the narrow side into the wind. I personally think the tents are perfect for hiking/backpacking etc due to the their light weight. No experience with a 3 man version though. 

Can vouch for MSR Mutha Hubba NX 3, a bit lighter in the same price range is Big Agnes Copper Spur UL3 

Seems quite expensive if it turned out unsuccessful...

Is there no way you can lend a tent for just 1 night or persuade someone else to lend a tent for just 1 night.

RRP £599 for a Mutha Hubba 3. Very likely it'd be a success but... what if, after spending ~£600 it was a disaster?

Sturdy is good (within reason) so I'd avoid ultralight (my usual answer is the Durston X-Dome 2 but for once I'd say it's probably too light!). 

So something in the 2kg-2.5kg range would be fine, although baby requirements and liveable space in bad weather with a small agent of chaos in the tent marauding about might be making me think more space and two bells would be better still. 

A second hand Quasar or similar style geodesic (Alpkit did a good version, not sure if they still do) would be reassuringly solid and not absurdly heavy. Our smallest agent of chaos was good at pulling on things we would never imagine could be pulled on to stand up (or indeed fall over). And mozzie nets and zips were fascinating.

Sportpursuitt had a bunch of more solid Marmot and Big Agnes tents recently, might be worth a look? Edit: they have a bunch of Marmot Catalysts for 2/3 off, might fit the bill without breaking th bank.

b 

Hi Tom

I’m reticent to lend her my quasar as she isn’t very good at looking after things. My other daughter, who’s going with her, is though.

Personally I would want her to have a geodesic type, as she won’t be on sites as she is anxious of the toddler crying at night.

Having read the comments on the MSR( it is pricey) I would suggest she steers clear.

I forgot about Alpkit tents as suggested above and am off to have a look.

thanks all

dave

Superlight Quasar would have been my first suggestion, but these have been discontinued and it seems to be tricky to get any version of the quasar at all.

I now have a Slingfin- OP might find something suitable in their range (Portal 3 perhaps)

£24.99 bargain! If it blows down/away no big loss.

I have a Vango Scafell 300+. Not the build quality of the MSR but £150 cheaper. Also a kg heavier at least. Loads of space, tunnel tent so ok in bad weather. Huge porch. Me and my 2 kids can sit and cook/eat no problems.Easy to put up with inner and outer pitching together.

A budget option but might be worth a look.

Yep, just packed my Vango whatever 300 (Spey or something) for tomorrows trip to the UK. Takes everything the elements throw at it, nice to be able to sit in the porch on a chair and NOT supporting the US economy.

Sorry meant to say it cost £150, so probably a lot cheaper. 3.4kg.

Alpkit Ordos 3. 1.7 kg, we've used ours in some pretty poor weather and for an ultralight tent it's pretty bomb proof. I reckon we've had c200 nights in ours.  Plenty of room for 3, we squeeze 2 kids in. Around £200 so I think it's a bargain

Can't comment on the Ordos but used the Alpkit Jarran 3 a fair bit. Good value, reasonably light, plenty of space and two porches! Downside is a real faff to pitch, not great when it's windy, mesh inner so cold outside of summer. 

Avoid the OEX Coyote 3, our scout group has 4 of them and they need a lot of brute strength to get the poles in (and out). The youngsters can't manage it and neither can the female leaders.  I've always got on well with Decathlon tents, depends if she lives near a branch.

 - something like the Wikiup.

£735, so not cheap:

https://www.bach-equipment.com/gb/en/product/bach-wickiup-3-tent

Buy it from a retailer, several places selling them a lot cheaper.

That’s really useful, thanks, we were looking at the Jaran. 
I’m not really into the concept of tunnel tents, and a lot of the 3 person ones seem to be popular. A second hand Nallo GT or a Fjallraven version look good though with that extended porch.

How do these fair in British conditions compared to a geodesic or semi geodesic?

Cheers

Dave

Yeah the extended porch is genius...of course means more weight and cost.

One thing I've found helpful about a tunnel tent design with kids is that it's a piece of cake to put it up. Inner and outer stay attached, put the poles in and say 4 pegs and you're done and everyone's out of the rain in a few minutes. Contrast with the Jaran when IMHO if it's raining the inner is sodden before you can get the fly on (and that's with adults putting it up). My Macpac Minaret and Vango ( both tunnels) are way better in the wind than the Jaran but then wouldn't be as strong as something like a TN Voyager which is different level...

I forgot about Macpac- the Macpac Olympus is excellent. A little bigger than the Minaret, it can sleep 3 adults fairly comfortably and it will put up with very bad weather.

The Vaude Mark 3 person tents have been good. They have been through various iterations, but generally easy to put up quite roomy with two entrances and reasonably robust without being too heavy (for the size).

For the cheap options try the decathlon Quechua ones as well. Not light but not easily destructible in my experience.

Decathlon do some lightweight tents as well, such as this Forclaz model:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/tunnel-trekking-tent-3-person-mt900-ultraligh...

Finally replacing my Quechua pop-up tent after 20 years service, the zip broke this weekend. The groundsheet had worn through in places, there'd been many minor repairs but it had kept on going.

How many people will be camping and carrying stuff? If it's just her then yeah, you probably want something lightweight. If she's got another adult to help then anything will be fine split between two - she's not going to be going far from the car, and she only has stuff for one night.  TBH though, an 18month old won't remember it, so is it worth it?

Thankfully for now it’s postponed due to seeing reason and the forecast.

She would have been going with my 17 yr old who would have carried the gear, and her the baby in a papoose.

Thats quite a load given they would have to carry water too.

For me, it was do able, but last week in the fine weather, now it would be a tent bound night in a small tent.

The plan was perhaps a tarn near parking where I regularly go and the youngest has been recently. That’s stilll a hike with a heavy baby and kit.

Ive tried to get her to go to a site and practice the logistics but she’s quite headstrong and feels she’s missed out on some camping as the 17 yr old has been with me recently.

I think they need a Nallo Gt or similar for a comfy night on the hills personally.?

cheers

dave