UKH

I'm looking to buy a decent 3-man tent for wild camping and occasional mountain use. But I know very little about what's what in the tent world these days. I know terra nova is supposed to be good, but they are probably a bit too expensive for what I need. I've also looked at some cheaper Alpkit ones which seem a fair compromise. But looking for other recommendations.  

Needs to be 3 man as it'll occasionally be used for me, my wife and my young child. Currently only a toddler but plan on having this tent for a few years.
It wants to be light enough to trek with but not silly light as I want some durability as well, so probably 3-4kg range. It also should be able to hold up in wet and windy UK weather if I'm going out doing something a little more tasty without the toddler. Bonuses if it's easy to put up and has reasonable sitting up in space. 

 No strict budget but I'm thinking around £300-£400 range. 



 

We have had one of these for a few years and its been great.

https://www.elitemountainsupplies.co.uk/camping-trekking-c4/tents-bivi-c15/...

Snapped a pole once (user error) we had a replacement pole delivered for free a few days later. Some kid crashed their bike into it last week and it popped back up fine after. 

Thanks, looks an interesting option. I did see a few MSR tents while googling on the internet but never heard of them before. Like i say, I've no idea about tent brands really. But will definitely bare them in mind.

have a look at the AlpKit tents. I’ve got a Kangri. Really solid tent and well thought out. Good head height, Maybe a bit small for you but the next one up looks good. Can’t  remember what it’s called. 

https://alpkit.com/products/zhota#
 

3000mm HH on the floor isn't that great. MSR seem to target the relatively drier US market quite well. 

I'd be looking for 5000HH on my floor as a minimum- and on trips where weight /bulk isn't an issue I still pair with a footprint to reduce wear. 
 

Quite happy with my Vaude Terratrio - good for 2 people although claims to fit 3. They have a size up called Terraquattro which would probably do for 3 more comfortably.

Just in case people do think this is true....

MSR are based in Seattle, Washington. It is not a dry part of the world. MSR tents are used all over the UK and no-one has issues with the HH of either the fly or floor. The MSR Hubba Hubba is probably the most common tent spotted at wild camping spots, hitting the decent sweet spot of weather resistance and weight. Apart from the odd cock up (the spreader bar on the new Freelite being too short meaning the drips from the outer fall into the inner) they are general well made decent tents.

I have a Big Agnes Tiger Wall UL2 made of lighter fabrics with even less HH and have yet to have it leak.

I was speaking to a guy from needle sports last night about the MSR tents, they seem to rate them so think I'll give one a go. The MSR-Elixir-3 seems to be fitting the bill at the moment. Also on sale which helps. 

Well regarded tent which seems ideal for your requirements, even TobyA struggled to find fault with the 1 man version: https://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/camping/tents+bivvys/msr_elixir_1_tent-1139...

Quite a lot of tent for the money as well, especially if on sale (half the price of the Mutha Hubba!)

Another +1 for the MSR from me. I've recently bought the Hubba Hubba 2, which is essentially the same tent as the Elixir 2 but lighter fabrics. Its a great, very well thought out tent with really usable space, nearly vertical side walls on the inner, 2 entrances, 2 good size bell ends (snigger). If I was looking for a 3 man tent then the Hubba 3 or Elixir 3 would be very high up the list.

If you are not aware, MSR are a long established brand and have been producing the most robust and reliable white gas / multi-fuel stoves for decades. Go to Denali and count the number of XGK stoves in use.!!

I also have a Terra Nova Polarlite 3 which is an OK tent for what I need it for, but definitely not the best made tent in the world. And I'm afraid I've now had my fingers burned by TN's poor after-sales / customer service to recommend them as a company: Once bitten, twice shy.

I think most of the American brands assume that you will add a footprint in wetter conditions.

I’ve got a Tiger Wall and used it for a few days somewhere that has 10m of rainfall a year. It rained a fair bit and I had no problems.

I've got a Vango Halo Pro 300 and it's a decent mix of semi-geodesic and spacious inside for 3 people (if one of them is a little person!). Might be too heavy for wild camping but could be fine if split between two people perhaps. It's got two porches which is useful and you can sit up inside it which was a big thing for me.

I think they are great little tents. 

In defence of Terra Nova I just want to share my experience of their customer service.

I got back from a day's climbing to the campsite in Sennen to find my tent, a then two year old Quasar, looking skew-whiff, and it turned out that a pole had snapped. I then opened the door to find on the grass in the porch a Terra Nova pole repair kit together with the business card of a Terra Nova employee!

(It turned out that my pole set was a faulty batch. TN replaced the whole lot and twenty-something years later they are still doing fine.)

I realise that a small number of bad stories can easily ruin a reputation, and that my story is quite old, but my experience of TN back then was only positive.

Got this, it's well good https://www.expeduk.com/products/lyra-iii

It's nice to think of there being roaming Terra Novans constantly on the look-out for duff tents.

(Though a cynic might suggest they broke the pole themselves to engineer the situation...)

In fact there were already quite a few cracks at the spigot joint on several sections even before one section gave way completely. Like I said, a duff batch, and not a problem with the replacement poles.

And yet with all the numerous MSR tents UKC have reviewed in recent years, including 3 that just I have done, this seems to make no difference at all - as get stated now in every MSR tent review!

I've used an MSR Hubba NX a lot, in many storms and wet, high camps - never had any problem with the groundsheet and I dont use a footprint

I have an Elixir 2, its a great tent, i like it, needed a little mod of some shock cord putting on the bottom fly pegging points at either end but other than that its spot on