UKH

Hi,


I'm looking to replace an old tent, previously we had a Marmot Asgard 3p, however these no longer exist. The Asgard was a great tent in all weather conditions, even when other tents near-by didn't survive the weather conditions. It's lasted 10 years with lots of usage. It needs to be able to withstand Scottish weather conditions, as well as being suitable for taking to the Alps or other places abroad.

I would like a tent that is similar to the Asgard, and currently I'm looking at the Alpkit Zhota which has good reviews (however it's a little on the large side). But before going ahead and getting it, I was just wondering if anyone else can advise another tent.




Thanks

Rudi

In reply to Rudi B:

I can only give you my experience of the Alpkit Kangri - which replaced a then 15yo TN Quasar.

It's brilliant, the materials are great, the design is great, and the build quality is great. Mines about 4 years old now and I've used it in some crap weather - it's easily stood up to anything the Quasar faced, and the design is better and more comfortable to live in for extended periods.

I wouldn't go back to TN under any circumstances that I can think of...

In reply to ballsac:

I was looking at the Kangri as a smaller option to the Zhota, but it' sold out and isn't back in stock until October. Unfortunately, I need a tent for the end of this month as I have a trip up to Scotland planned, hence why I'm back to looking at the Zhota.

TN was another brand I was looking at, but you are one of many that have said Alpkit are better than TN.

Thanks for your reply, I think it's going to be the Zhota, unless anyone else has any good suggestions!

In reply to Rudi B:

FWIW, I bought a Zhota a few years back and love it. Previously owned two Terra Novas and a Wild Country, and the Zhota is by far my favourite. i think the combination of price (I got it on offer), quality and design (massive inside!) would be hard to beat. It's stood up to all sorts/seasons and is reasonably compact/light. It's my go-to for car boot camping and expedition/trips.

In reply to Rudi B:

I also had a Asguard and been looking to find something to fills its excellent boots. Sadly the seam waterproofing disintegrated, and had to send to Marmot, whom couldn't repair.
Instead the lovely people at Marmot sent out a brand new Thor free of charge! Brilliant! However as discussed in a 2009 topic, it's just not up to the UK... and I really mean Scottish, weather.
It's a great tent, but just not enough rugged waterproofing, and small vestibule/cooking area, which lets face it, we spend more time cooking in, than outside. It also only comes in a bright organge/red colour... not the best for subtle wild-camps.
I'll be following this topic closely, as haven't found anything yet... the Alpkit looks promising.

In reply to Rudi B:

I had a zhota and did a couple of hundred nights in it and loved it in loads of ways! Its extremely spacious with the unique "spider pole" and its got great pockets and is really easy to pitch.

However, the materials are not very robust particularly on the ground sheet which we wore through, don't even think about buying without a groundsheet protector. Also the seams weren't sealed correctly around the guy rope points on the outer so it leaked from new! Think this was a manufacturing issue Alpkit were aware of but didn't inform customers. They did however send us some seam sealer which never really fully solved the problem, there was always a very small leak in extreme rain. We paid £450 at the time and I felt it was good value but I think they dropped to £250 on sale at one point! At £625 with footprint I think you can probably do better. I doubt you'll get ten years from it, we certainly didn't and we really looked after it!

We also love our Marmot tent it's a Grid 2p! We replaced the zhota with a Terra Nova hyperspace on sale after alot!! of research. The materials are far superior and more inline with those on the Marmot and there are also spares available. The downsides over the Alpkit is that it is quite a bit smaller and slightly harder to pitch, this is mainly due to the stupid mesh pole sleeves. I also broke a pole (my fault) but this never happend on the zhota.

We often talk with fondness about our red Alpkit tent and how we miss it, we even went in the shop it Hathersage the other day to look at it! Having had both however the hyperspace is much more robust and practical and it has grown on us alot, we've used it loads in all sorts of weather and it's like new (except for the pole).

There's one on sale for £675:

http://m.uttings.co.uk/p100549-terra-nova-hyperspace-tent-green-41hs-g-09/?...

The only other tent we were tempted with to replace the Alpkit was a hilleberg saivo but they're £1300.

Hope this helps

Simon