UKH

Hello eveybody,
I am buying my first 4 season tents and I am a bit lost. I have a list of four tents, but I don't think is complete
Could you please help me out a bit?
1) Abisko Lite 2 (https://www.fjallraven.co.uk/abisko-lite-2 )
2) Lightwave T20 Hiper (https://www.lightwave.uk.com/products/tents/hyper-tents )
3) Lighwave G15 Raid (https://www.lightwave.uk.com/products/tents/raid )
4) Marmot Eclipse Tunne 2P (http://www.marmot.de/content/en/collection_prev&c=516 )
The first heavy usage trip will be in Iceland this summer for a 2 weeks trekking holiday. Also I plan to use it this winter for climbing in various parts of UK.
What are your thoughts on the list? Does anyone of you have any experience with any of those tents? Any other model I might have excluded?
Cheers!
Nick

In reply to mago_nick:

It depends what you want out of your tent e.g. what size, how strong, how light, number of porches, tunnel or dome, inner pitch first or outer. . .

Basically there are so many tents out there because there are so many fields of use. You need to think about what you need it for and then how important the above features are to you. Also, just because a brand labels their tent four season, it doesn't mean it's going to stand up on the Cairngorm plateau in a blizzard.

I know this doesn't give you much direct information but if you give me some details I might be able to help more.

Robbie

In reply to mago_nick:
I'd add The North Face Westwind to your list. Very strong tent in appalling weather, comparatively light and roomy for two, luxury for one.

In reply to Robbie Blease:

Hey thank you very much for your answer. You are actually right, I did not put much details. The tent is mainly for hiking (so weight is a critical factor) and as base when climbing. We will be using in two people (my partner and I). We were aiming to an outer pitch first in case of bad weather. One porch should be enough in general, but honestly I am not sure. I was aiming to a four season hoping that it would mean sturdy and durable, but I am clearly naive.
The budget is 500£.

In reply to Trangia:

Hi seems appealing, but I cannot find it on the NF website. Are you sure it has not been discontinued?

In reply to mago_nick:

By the sounds of things you probably want to go for a tunnel tent opposed to a dome. These are usually lighter and cheaper but generally less strong.
My tent is a Hilleberg akto which is very well made, good strength for the weight but cost an arm and a leg. The Hilleberg Nallo which is essentially the two man version of what I have would probably cost you at least £600 but it would last. A friend of mine has a 20 year old hilleberg that's still going strong.
Other tents I have used are Macpacs, which are also really good, but maybe not quite as well designed as hilleberg.
Terra Nova are brilliant as well, although are inner pitch first, I have never found this a problem though , as long as you're fairly quick at pitching, the inner will keep the rain off until you've got the fly over.
To me, out of the tents you have listed, the marmot looks the best value, I would be cautious about getting one if you haven't seen the actual tent or haven't been recommended it by someone who's used one properly.
I don't really know anything about the lightwave or fjallraven tents, but again, unless you've read lots of really good reviews, I wouldn't go for it until I had seen the tent up close. Some tents are very light and very strong but are a complete nightmare to live in, or might be very light and cheap but are actually more of a glorified glamping jobby.
Hope that helps

In reply to mago_nick:

It may have been. Mine is about 15 years old and still going strong!!

In reply to Trangia:

Hahahaha, that's the mistery!

In reply to Robbie Blease:
That helps alot, actually. Thanks!
I am also checking Vango's tents and they look promising. I am thinking that the 4 season might be a bit of an overkill. Probably a sturdy 3 season with good waterproof coating.