Tent advice

I'd be inclined to look for a tent with a door at both ends so you can
store kit in one end and get in and out at the other end. The biggest
problem will be finding one at a similar price to those you're already
looking at.

 

I have a one man tent a Vango Tempest, it's a great tent but is too small
to fit me and my bike gear in (Platty had to mind my stuff at the recent
EOSM).

As seen here:
http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Vango-Tempest-150---SS06.html

I'm looking at either a Tempest 200 or 300
http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Vango-Tempest-200---SS06.html
http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Vango-Tempest-300---SS06.html

Now given my new found penchant for camping in the winter would a larger
tent (the 200 or 300) with only one person in be too cold? Statto felt
his monster tent didn't provide a very warm environment at this years
Elefant. A three man tent would give flexibility and Fiona has made
noises about coming on (summer) camping trips.

I have a super toasty ex-RAF sleeping bag (the type as used by my Father
for sleeping in the back of Hercules).

Anyway, what say those who know stuff about camping and gear?

 

For general advice about winter camping you could look at one of the expert
suppliers over here in Canada, like Mountain Equipment Coop,
http://www.mec.ca . While this won't give you specific recommendations about
gear you can pick up in the UK, you may well be able to pick up some of the
conventional wisdom on camping and tent selection in winter from the "Learn"
section.

 

As the other bloke said, the Canadians have got quite few good
manufacturers.

<fx: rummages in bookmarks ...>

http://www.msrgear.com/

Is having your gear inside the tent essential? 'Cos if it isn't, you
might consider a hammock. Mine [1] is a Hennessy [2], and whilst a
bitch to get it up the first two or three times, is comfy, warm, and
weighs only a kilo or so. 'course, you can't get SO in, but for the
times when you camp alone, it might be worth considering ..

Anyway, my 0,02¤ ..

D.


[1] http://coughlan.fr/hunk_and_hammock.jpg (over my left shoulder)
[2] http://www.hennessyhammock.com/

 

I've been using a Vango Gamma 250 for the last few years and it's been
excellent for what I need. It sleeps 2 in comfort and has the porch
area for your luggage. I chose it because the poles are short enough
when folded up to fit inside a pair of Oxford Sports panniers along
with the rest of the tent, so I don't have to have this large heavy
lump sitting right at the back of the bike when riding - the weight is
spread lower and further forward, yet I still have room in the panniers
for clothing, sleeping bags etc. If I need additional storage I use the
Oxford Sports tailpack, which is more secure than a tentbag held on
with bungees.

http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/camping-equipment/vango-gamma-250-te
nt.asp

 

They do a 200 as well but I'd go for the extra space and wear a
T-shirt when you get in your sleeping bag if it get's cold.

I'm tempted to order one for myself rather than use my decent tent
when we know there'll be fires chucking embers everywhere.

 

if you have lots of money...

http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/khyam-biker-tent-p-65.html

if you don't...

http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/khyam-calgary-3-tent-p-66.html
http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/vango-sigma-300-tent-excalibur-p-101.html

somewhere in between...

http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/vango-arrow-300-tent-p-87.html
--
Adie
(replace spam with nickname to reply)

DEAD UKRM FAQ: http://www.ukrm.net/faq/

YZF-R1 : ZX9R-E1 : GPz 750 turbo
keeper of the FAQ for my sins
MRO#11 BOTAFOF#7 BOTAFOT#130 DIAABTCOD#17 MIB#24 YTC#16 BOB#15 ex-UKRMMA#22 BOMB#11

 

I've got a couple, a Vango Banshee 200 small 2-man, a Vango Gamma 350
3 man tunnel with a huge porch, and an Outwell Kansas 3 dome.

http://www.ultimateoutdoors.co.uk/item/Brand_VangoBanshee200_1423_0_23458_1.html
http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Vango-Gamma-350.html

I used the Banshee on my trip around Scotland in August and whilst it
was ok for 2 season stuff, I wouldn't use it in the winter. It got
me, a rucksack and the tank bag in, but it was tight.

The other two have been used as early as March in Wales and as later
as October in Scotland. Both were ok, but I needed a decent bag. The
Gamma is great for iffy weather as the porch area is as big as the
sleeping area so you can put up a couple of chairs and cook in there.

None of them are really more than 3 season fair weather low level
tents though.

I wanted to get the Tempest 200 for the Scotland trip but the shop I
went to at the last minute didn't have it, only the Banshee.

I'll be using the Outwell in the Lakes next weekend but once into
October I'll switch to B&Bs.

 

I like that. How will one person in sub-zero temps fare? Or am I
worrying about nothing as long as I have toasty bag.

 

I recently bought the Outwell Arizona L - it was on sale in my local
posh shopping centre for a good price so I bought it on impulse. I've
only pitched it in the garden so far, but it's been up for a month in
everything from sunshine to torrential rain and heavy winds, and it
hasn't blown away or sprung a leak. Large (3 person) sleeping area
and large porch which has a door at either end and can also be erected
as an awning. Not a bad £99 buy, I think.

 

The cheap-shit festival tent I was using at the Elefant in January stood up
to the rigours well enough. The inner is mostly mesh, so it can't have kept
that much heat in, but it didn't seem particularly cold. I'm thinking of
using a bin-bag next year.

 

I used to have a 3 man, Khyam one touch, igloo tent.
I used it as a motorcycle/casual camping trip tent. It died
after about a year, when camping in the lakes with friends.
A big storm blew up during the night and the central plastic
mounting point where all the legs met at the top, center
of the tent inverted and the tent proceeded to attack me.
It was like being inside a really large, really angry spider.

I've used one of these ever since:

http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/Product_Type/Tents/Expedition_and_Mountain/Hyperspace_GREEN.html

Or a smaller TNF Tadpole, two man tent for lightweight trips.

Though I don't think sweller's thinking of forking out that much.
I can highly recommend the Hyperspace. It's amazingly tough, will
last for years and is ideal for winter trips where you have more
stuff with you and need a bit more space.

 

Adie wrote:

Wotcha.

I bought one of those Friday - gave it a testing over this weekend. You can
get 'em cheaper than that, I paid £145 and managed to get the £20
ground/stone sheet thrown in too.
This is my third Khyam - the two previous were double ended igloo types, (
the other two have been given to club members, and funnily enough, both of
my old tents were being used this weekend ) and although I've never actually
worn one out, I tend to get rid of 'em when the colour has faded to almost
white because by then they have become so weak that they will rip like wet
tissue paper without any warning.
http://www.moonshiners.org.uk/a_touch_of_wind.htm

The extra groundsheet is almost a necessity with Khyam tents - there again,
I was up in Yorkshire the other week in very wet conditions, and my tent
gave me no cause for concern at all.
http://www.moonshiners.org.uk/3peaks.htm
Quite a few others were washed out.

From my own experience, I would recommend Khyam - they may cost a bit more,
but they are much quicker to set up and pack away, and they do what a tent
should.

 

I've only ever owned tents at the cheaper end of the scale, mostly
bought from millets. The most expensive of these is a 3 man Eurohike
solway that I think cost me £40 in a sale. I've got a simple 2 man
Eurohike Tamar that generally sees most use as it requires just 2
crossed poles to assemble, and I can set it up in only a few minutes.
Then I've a tiny 1 man Eurohike 210 backpacking tent that was bought
for bike trips and has mostly seen use at EOSM's and the like.

At the prices each of these cost they could all be considered pretty
much throwaway items.

 

I'm hardly an expert (haven't been camping in at least a couple of
years) but I have done some research recently: I've had to splash out
an obscene amount of money for an ultra-lightweight tent for an event
I'm doing.

AIUI the main criteria for a warm environment are a flysheet that
doesn't leave gaps close to the ground and an inner that's not part
mesh like some are, so the main problem is not so much size as
draughts. Having said that, *controlled* ventilation is good because
it reduces condensation.

An alternative to Mr. B's suggestion for two entrances: get one with a
big vestibule because kit can be stored here of you're worried about
having wet kit in the tent inner.

Ideally for winter a freestanding dome or geodesic tent is best
because it will withstand winds better, but the latter are expensive.

Cheaper tents seem to be heavier and bulkier, but if you're not
backpacking then it's less of an issue.

 

Nice image. Hope it doesn't happen in reality...

 

After seeing your photo Des is reminded me we have used our Campus
(part of Khyam) Sherpa 3 when cycle camping. We bought it because the
annex is big enough to take the tandem, a solo and other gear (and a
bit of space left for cooking if rain bound) whilst having big mesh
panels for when it's hot. It fits in the BOB Yak and I replaced the
fiberglass poles for lighter ally ones.

When motorcycle camping we bought the Khyam Rigidome XL as it fits in
the Squire D10 trailer nicely. Big enough for the 3 of us to live in
for a fortnight but being quick-erect pretty fast to set up / break
down regularly (we generally only stay at each place a couple of
nights). It's also withstood some pretty bad winds [1], in one
instance bad enough to wipe out half the other tents and awnings on
the campsite.

Having the trailer and a large tent means the trailer and bikes (or
cycles) can be brought under cover if breaking camp in the rain. ;-)

We also have the Khyam McKinley Q/E for the long weekend.

T i m

[1] I believe some of the Khyam tents were wind tunnel tested at the
time we bought ours. Not sure if they still do though.

p.s. Do you know if anyone makes a folding A-Head stem Des? It would
be handy to quick-fold the handlebars out the way when parking a bike
in a narrow corridor or shed etc? Handle bar grips seem to grab you as
you walk by then the bike slides down the wall taking the wallpaper
off .. :-(

 

Like this ..?

http://www.oredon.com/content/en/produits.php?id=26

D.

 

Des, if I were that way inclined (and I'm not) I'd give you a big
sloppy kiss! ;-)

The product isn't what I had in mind but it not only pretty neatly
fits the folding handlebar thing it adds security as well!

Not cheap mind at ~ 60 UKP but if it stops you losing a few quid's
worth of bike. I wonder if they would give me discount for 5?

The only problem seems to be getting them into the UK ... ? :-(

Cheers .. T i m

 

Fuckin' hell, fist BGN and now you ...

Well I've exchanged a few e-mails with them over the past few weeks, as
I'm trying to score a set of these ...

http://www.oredon.com/content/oredon/produits.php?id=18

... for my Surly. LEDs powered by magnets mounted on the spokes, no
batteries or bulbs to replace. They're adding an 'extended' version
next month, that will (hopefully) allow me to mount the lights further
away from the wheels (otherwise the panniers will obscure them).

Send them to me, and I'll forward them to you.

Want me to fire 'em off an e-mail in Frog?

D.