tent for summer touring

nickice
nickice Posts: 2,439
edited February 2011 in Tour & expedition
Hi everybody,

Heading off with the brother in law in August for a 10-14 day tour from Lille to Munich. I just wanted to know what standard of tent we really need? I was thinking of taking a 3/4-man one but I really don't want to spend £200 if I can help it. The weather will most likely be half decent and I can't imagine I will be doing much camping in the future.

Also, is a lightweight tent really worth it? I have a trailer so will I really notice 2-4 extra kg?

Thanks in advance!

Comments

  • Hoopdriver
    Hoopdriver Posts: 2,023
    A lightweight tent is well worth it - but, that said, if you're not planning on doing much camping in future and don't want to spend the money, then don't. However two to four kilograms is a fair bit of extra load, and a 3-4 man tent is A LOT of tent.

    Personally, I like to travel very light. I don't care much for trailers and all their added weight, and potential to add still more as you fill them up. I speak with some experience having toured a lot, all over the world.

    But if you're happy - go for it.

    Perhaps first though, you should take it out for a few long test runs, with the load you are planning to carry and see how you go, especially in the hills. You might find yourself re-thinking a few things.
    http://www.My-Bicycle-and-I.com
  • boblo
    boblo Posts: 360
    Agreed, less is more. Have a look at something like the North Face Tadpole. Lots of room for two, average weight (~2kg) for a 2 person tent and compact enough packed to tour with. You can pick them uo new for ~£160 ish. Upside, you don't have to sell a kidney as with some of the Scanda kit you'll soon hear about and they are pretty robust in a blow and weathertight.

    You won't be able to park all your worldly goods/bikes etc in one though so take a long lock and find a tree.
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    Decathlon.

    £99, 3 man tent (its a 2 man really), 3kg and very easy to put up or pack up.
    http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/t3-ultral ... o-3243187/

    Infact, if you watch the start of this video, you can see me and my mate putting it up for the first time..

    http://www.vimeo.com/12698953
  • Jonny_road
    Jonny_road Posts: 68
    +1 for Decathlon

    There's a reason why every tent you see in France is a Quechua and it's because there brilliant. I've used both a one and two man version on long tours. There easy to put up, light and best of all great value for money. We did a charity ride cycling England to Rome and contacted Decathlon who kindly gave us 10% off, can’t recommend them enough.

    Oh and yeah you will notice every gram when you hit a hilly part. We alternated days, one with the tent and one without. It made a massive difference on the day without the tent.
    Website: http://www.challengejonny.co.uk/
    Twitter: http://twitter.com//ChallengeJonny
  • iPete
    iPete Posts: 6,076
    Nice, my Quechua also did London to Rome, except I carried it every mile of every day :evil:
  • MichaelW
    MichaelW Posts: 2,164
    I have used Gelert Solo for a couple of 2-week tours in France/Spain in sept.
    I wouldnt want it on a big expedition but for summer-Euro use Gelerts are fine and excellent value.
    I split one of the fibre glass poles (managed to repair it with duck tape). Gelert sent me an improved replacement pole at no charge.
    They make lots of 2-man designs.
  • nickice
    nickice Posts: 2,439
    Cheers for the replies, everybody. I actually live in France and had been thinking about a decathlon lightweight one. What out me off was that a lot of the reviews said that the poles were particularly fragile. I haven't seen that for this one so I'll check it out this weekend.

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