UKH

Hello all,
Came back into hiking after quite a few years away, at the beginning of 2016 bought myself a Vango Banshee 200.
Whilst the Banshee served me well on many occasions last year I found it lacking in some areas. So looking for more headroom, and space for cooking, gear storage & some longer treks, all UK based at the moment.
Been lurking around the various forums and trolling the online shops but struggling to make a final decision........there are a few that seem to fit the bill Like the Alpkit Kangri but is this overkill ?
Cheers,

Paul

In reply to weelawser:


For backpacking, yes.

Tell us exactly what you'll use it for and your budget. And then everyone will recommend what they have regardless of your needs!

In reply to weelawser:

How many occupants?
General UK weather (i.e. wet, cool, windy for the most part) or expecting extremes e.g. blizzards and gales?
Budget?
Weight?
Geodesic, tunnel, or other?

Currently we have a Macpac Olympus (strong, not too heavy, reasonably spacious) and a Minaret (lighter, much smaller, still strong) which had the major bonus of being relatively cheap here (especially half price in the sale!), but are not lightweight options. I still maintain there are no really strong, light tents out there...

b

In reply to weelawser:

Sorry for the lack of info and thanks for the prompt response,
Intended use as a base camp for two or three day hikes, main use the mountains and hills of Scotland, 3-4 season, Budget £500, 2 people max, weight from what I can see is a trade off between a few things.
I like the idea of two porches to be able to separate gear and a little more head room, apart from that I'd appreciate your advice.

In reply to DaveHK:


Yep, that's exactly what I'm about to do! Have a look at the Wild Country Tristar 2D - it's Quasar-esque in shape but with a bit more headroom, and fairly light. Had mine 18 months or so and been very pleased with it. They're around £210ish.

In reply to weelawser:

As you've had a Vango you'll be familiar with there general quality and feature. Last year I got a Vango Nemesis 200 for under £200. It's a bit of quasar clone and seems to function very well. No complaints about quality so far. Sort of wish I'd got the slightly bigger 300 instead for a bit more space but the 200 is OK. It is a lot heavier than some of the more expensive options so depends if that is an issue.

Lee

In reply to rj_townsend:

Lots of opinions out there on pitching inner first, my main concern is the Scottish weather, do the advantages out way the disadvantages ?

In reply to weelawser:

Simultaneous inner/outer pitching tunnels are my go to tents for scottish backpacking. Getting the thing up quickly when it's pissing down is more important than keeping the inner perfectly dry imho, and with practice a 1-2 person tunnel will go up in a couple of minutes.

In reply to weelawser:


I've never had a problem with this style of tent, but am able to pitch it quickly.

In reply to weelawser:

Thanks for all your comments....Ok looks like I'll need to take a little closer look at the Trisar 2D, had ruled it out partly because of the inner first pitching, the Vango looks similar but I'll need to compare like for like, they both tick a lot of boxes.
Any particular deals going on or is it worth waiting ?

In reply to weelawser:

Inner first is fine. just put the fly sheet over the inner while you put the poles in. Sorted.

In reply to weelawser:

Hilleberg Kaitum 2 ticks your boxes - tunnel design, so lightweight. Decent porch at either end. Lots of room for two as the inner is long. Pitches outer first, or combined. Cons - takes a while to fully pitch properly (18 pegs!), can suffer condensation in winter (solution - make sure the inner door vent panels are open at least partially.), the fly material stretches/shrinks a lot when getting wet/drying, and can be noisy if not well pitched (flappy like all tunnels). I bought mine as a lighter weight replacement for a VauDe Mk3 and am generally happy with it. There was nothing else on the market that combined light weight with strength, 2 porches and 'outer first' pitching.

In reply to weelawser:

I picked up a Vango nemesis 300 from the well known action site last Autumn for £165 with free postage.
Can't fault the tent so far.
They're currently about 175 for the same model.
Slightly heavy at 3.5 kg but if it's split between 2 its no worries.


TWS

In reply to weelawser:

I've had quite a few small 'backpacking' type tents but I think as most people have already said..... weight is a huge factor. The difficulty is finding a lightweight tent that suits your own individual requirements.

I recently bought a Terra Nova Laser Comp 1.... to add to my Ultra Quasar .... one for winter use and one for fair weather.

Very happy with both but the lightweight of the laser usually wins if I am walking any reasonable distance.

SP

In reply to weelawser:
I've got a nallo 2. Disadvantage of only one entrance but quite a spacious porch. Advantages of being lightweight and remarkably quick to pitch.
Of course, I've only used a few other tents including a quasar, which although too heavy to backpack with, had two entrances which really helped.

In reply to weelawser:

Another vote for Nallo2 , can pitch extremely quickly, its strong (noisy in high winds) and reasonably light.

I love mine.

In reply to weelawser:
I've turned into a tent geek. After a few bad experiences I researched pretty much everything before settling on a Nallo 2, I guarantee that others would have chosen something else for exactly the same usage! All tents are a compromise between several factors, you just need to decide what you'll compromise on and what best meets your needs.

Do you prioritise: weight over strength, cost over durability, air circulation over warmth, speed of pitching over quietness in the wind, space over weight?

In reply to weelawser:

Thanks all for your input, food for thought indeed