Tents. light, hard wearing and under £75?

ThatGuyOnABike

any suggestions? i've found a few but i'm not sure. i would like a inner tent. needs to be for 2 people.
theres one at decatlon by ferrino, anybody tried this?
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/Product_a ... index.html
theres a really good looking black one:
http://www.worldoftents.co.uk/vango-spe ... -1766.html
but it is heavier and it seems every gram counts.
oh and the thing is that i'm quite tall (little over 6 foot) and so i've restricted myself to looking at ones that have inside space longer than about 210cm (i feel lot more comfortable in these).
i'd much appreciate your personal experience with tents eppecially if you like me and are taller than the usual 180cm they make tents for. i have tried these tents but they are cramped when you take into account space for luggage and i find myself feeling it's too short even though the specs say there is enough space (i thinks it's the slope and the fact you don't go right up to the edges).
i used to love tents but due to school etc... but now i'm free, i intend to take up more camping and so i want something that i can live with.

PHcp

Have a look at the Coleman Avior range, they come in 1,2 and 3 man versions. All 230cm long, with a vertical front and steeply sloping rear nearly all that length is usable. I have the previous model, the Epsilon, apart from the colour and porch groundsheet they are very similar. I’ve been very pleased with mine, I went to a tent show to check them out, intended to buy the 2 man but came away with the 3, I considered the extra height and width worth the extra 500g. This link has the best description, if not the best prices;
http://www.summits.co.uk/acatalog/Coleman_Tents.html
Here's mine

BTW – the tent in your first link seems to be one man.

ThatGuyOnABike

thanks for pointing that out, i looked and measurements and pic and thought it was good for 2, only glance at description, now i see it is only one man, darn i thought i found a deceant tent and i got a decathlon close by.
that coleman tent does look very good. thanks, my father (who offered to pay for tent) was going on about coleman cos he has one but it ain't light, at all, plus its really old.

thanks.

julk

If you are going to be in the tent for any length of time or in bad weather then I think it is worth carrying a bit extra weight for the comfort of a larger tent.
A 2 man tent for 1 person or a 3 man tent for 2 people would be excellent.

If you are camping in the rain you will find a tent which pitches with the inner already fastened inside the flysheet much easier to put up and take down. It also keeps the inner dry which is much nicer to camp in.

Sadly light weight, hard wearing/long lasting AND low price tents are probably going to be impossible to find.

I have found cheaper tents perform adequately except that the nylon flysheet degrades quite quickly in sunlight to the point that it tears and by that point is not strong enough to be repairable. Spares are usually unavailable and you have to buy a complete new tent.

If you plan on expedition type camping in snow or wild weather then it may be better to save up for a dearer/stronger type of tent.

andrew_s

Cheap, Light, Hardwearing & Strong (which you forgot)?

You are going to have to compromise somewhere. Me, I won't compromise on (reasonably) strong. If your tent blows down one wild night, you are looking at spending the rest of your tour in hotels or B&B - not so cheap after all.
There's a reason for some tents costing so much.

Lighter suggestion:
Vango Spirit 100 £115, 1.95kg, pretty small for doing much other than sleeping in.

If £75 is a strict limit, I'd go for the Vango Spectre 200 you found, and put up with the extra weight.

Don't be tempted by any single-skin tents. You'll just end up with everything damp from condensation.

alfablue

I bought a Coleman Avior X3 for my recent tour in Wales.



It is ideal for 2 people, with both fron't and side doors - the front "porch" area has a ground sheet and stored all our gear, and the side entrance is bigger and easier to get out of. The packed size is small. The tent is really well designed and folds and erects in one piece taking just about 5 minutes. The weight (about 2.8kg) is not the lightest but to get a much lighter tent that performs this well and genuinely fits two would probably cost £150 more at least. I think the extra 500g to 1kg is well worth it for a tent that actually fits 2 in comfort. The design and materials are very good, right down to the miniscule but very strong aluminium pegs that work a treat.

I paid £72 from an ebay seller, but they are currently available for £79 at World of Camping. Its the best value tent I ever bought.

PHcp

alfablue wrote:

they are currently available for £79 at World of Camping. Its the best value tent I ever bought.

They're currently on offer at the same price from Yeomans stores, probably your best chance to see before you buy.

ThatGuyOnABike

strike two for the coleman avior x3, one more and its out (of the shop and onto my bike).

videoman

World of camping website says Avior X3 is out of stock.

ThatGuyOnABike

Quick reply please, i have found great priced 2nd hand but new condition Coleman epsilon 3 person tent and want to know whether you think it's any good, it seems the same as the avior but i'm no good with the technicalities.
see this link to see the same tent (not same place):
http://www.penroseoutdoors.co.uk/acatal ... lon_3.html

in the wire

Epsilon 3

PHcp

Mine's the Epsilon 3, as previous post with photo link. I’ve spent over 40 nights in mine, March to October, never a problem.
The Avior has some improvements - slightly lighter weight, no unnecessary front window, lighter colour inside and groundsheet in the porch. Otherwise they’re basically the same design and size. If it's a good price and you're sure of the use and treatment it's had, it’ll serve you well.

Crapaud

I found http://www.lichfield-outdoor.co.uk/products/tentsselector.asp tents to be very good value for money.

I've got the Apache 2
It's double the weight of the Decathlon at 3.1kg (I'm sure the one I've got is 2.5kg), but it's got loads of space and stood up well to heavy rain (hydrostatic head 2500mm) and winds on the Northwest of Scotland. At 30 pounds I expected it to fall apart after 2 weeks use, but I'm still using it.

ThatGuyOnABike

thanks all, i'm gonna go for the epsilon, if i don't get it, i'll go for the avior. my mind is made up. so please don't show me anything better!
thankyou all for your advice, if the tent breaks i know who to blame!