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Which tent - 4 season, 2.5kg, 6ft2in, vestibule |
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9-Jun-2009 12:16:03 PM
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Looking for a tent and figured I'd come to the source of all knowledge for suggestions.
I'm replacing a 12 year old olympus with something lighter for hiking and the occasional mountaineering trip. Spec I'm looking for is:
- 2 person
- 2.5kg or less
- I need to be able to lie down and I'm 6ft2in.
- needs a good vestibule for cooking and gear
- less than $1000
- good quality, no Kathmandu
Quite like the Mount Hardware EV2 but it has no vestibule. Spire looks ok but maybe a bit cosy.
Suggestions? Am I dreaming? Alec.
PS looked at some of the old tent threads and many of the models are no longer available.
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9-Jun-2009 12:31:58 PM
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I've got the Kathmandu version of what you want, the Lansan Plus, which is okay but will probably get found out in a blizzard. It's been awesome otherwise. I posted a review of it a while ago in Gear Lust. Note though that I only paid $150 or so for it with staff discounts.
I had the same mission at that time, and the best I could come up with was an Exped, for about $900. Check out some of the cycle touring tents, which are usually designed with a decent vesty.
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9-Jun-2009 12:32:34 PM
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Hi Alec,
I just bought a ExPed Venus at Bogong at the VCC buying night (20% off !!)
It is a 4 season tunnel with vestibules either side. If I recall correctly it weighs ~3.4Kg with poles & pegs. I am 6ft2in and I fit comfortably. Probably for the same reasons as you I was initially going to buy a Spire (read : very light weight) but the floor isn't terribly waterproof or robust. A classic trade off between weight and durability.
Hope this helps, J.B
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9-Jun-2009 12:58:43 PM
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I too want the same specs. the Spire is pretty fking small though... I could only fit diagonally & so doubt 2 people + any gear would fit. it'd be great as a 1 person tent.
The next best option I found is the 3 person Bibler (Eldorado or Fitzroy?), but its damn expensive which is the only thing stopping me buying one. 2.5kg is pushing it for a 4 season tent with those spec's....
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9-Jun-2009 1:15:41 PM
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Ok i can highly recommend the Exped Venus 2 extreme. a half dome 2 person tent with
2 huge vestibules. Weights in at 2.6kg but the fly and inner can be pitched separately so
for ultra light nazis you can get away with 1.39kg.
Being from exped it has a bunch of cool little features that also make it a pleasure to put
up, live in and take down. The fly and inner are pitched as one so it's great for pitching
quickly in pouring rain.
It is technically a 3 season tent although i've had it up on feathertop in winter and would
happily take it anywhere in Aus mountains and i think its been tested in the Scottish
highlands and swizterland etc.
For more serious mountaineering you might want something like the Exped Sirius 2
extreme. This is pretty much a 4 season, 2 person tunnel tent ( i think thats what JDB is
referring to?) Doesn't weight much more and really the only difference to the Venus is
the tunnel design and is more geared towards moutaineering reqs (i think!).
I went with the Venus just cos i liked the design better.
Overall i say go exped. Really good designs and features and definitely worth the
money. Hope that helps!
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9-Jun-2009 1:30:51 PM
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ski.com.au has a massive thread on this at the moment in the BC forum.
You will get a much larger variety of opinions over there compared to here.
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9-Jun-2009 1:35:31 PM
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Tunnels like wind, freestanding for you coffee sipping, Pines dwelling city types ;).
If you want your tent to last 4 seasons or more, I'd suggest not having a target weight of 2.5 kgs.
My Minaret has room for a 6ft2in and a 5ft9inch person, one vestibule, tunnel and sits at 3kgs. Any lighter on the materials and the thing wouldn't last in the bush.
Silllycon nylon is gettting scary thin these days...
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9-Jun-2009 1:37:43 PM
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Until you have stayed in a singleskin tent in a blizzard for a few days and got some condensation going, I hesitate at a purchase....unless you like the dry/cold/high altitude stuff (not oz).
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9-Jun-2009 1:41:54 PM
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Try a Hilleburg (Nallo or Nallo GT, or a Kaitum or Kaitum GT). I'm in the same search and they are pretty much what I've narrowed it down to (I'm looking at a Nallo 2 GT). The GT versions have a frikking huge vestibule.
http://estore.websitepros.com/1764795/Categories.bok?category=Tents
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9-Jun-2009 2:09:32 PM
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Why dont you look at single skin tents? With the dollar at it's current level some of the BD stuff would be very affordable:
http://www.backcountry.com/store/BLD0034/Black-Diamond-Eldorado-Tent-2-Person-4-Season.html
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9-Jun-2009 2:46:42 PM
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X-link to old (information?) thread.
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9-Jun-2009 4:32:40 PM
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Thanks folks. Quick response with some good recommendations I wasn't aware of. It's been a while since I bought a tent and there are lots of new brands.
The Exped tents seem to be light, but is the Sirius really 4 season? Don't like the large unsupported flat section on top. Venus might be better but not sure if it's intended as a mountain/snow tent. Anyone know if these are single skin?
Bibler Tempest looks good as does BD Stormtrack. Stormtrack is double layer and has lots of crossing poles but could be a pain to pitch. Anyone used one of these? Both are a bit on the heavy side 3.2kg.
Anyone used an MSR Dragon tail? Only 2.5kg, single skin, 3 hoop tunnel. Good size although not sure if I could sit up properly.
http://www.backcountrygear.com/catalog/tentdetail.cfm/MSR573
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9-Jun-2009 5:16:19 PM
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No those exped tents are double skin, comprising of a fly and outer.
The Sirius is supposed to be more of a 4 season tent than the venus. However the venus
does perform well in snow environments, check out the gallery photos of the venus on the
exped site for an example!
My impression of the Sirius is a lighter and bigger version of something like the Minaret or
Second Arrow (both are small 4 season tunnel tents).
As far as i'm aware single skin tents aren't ideal for Aus conditions as we're too wet and not
cold enough, but im sure others have had experience with them.
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10-Jun-2009 4:28:09 PM
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I own an Exped Venus II Extreme. Awesome tent. Weighs approx 2.6kg.
I wrote to Exped to ask about the season rating of the tent. Spoke with Andi Brun (R&D) who stated
that as a free standing tunnel dome, without guys, the tent is a 3 season. Fully guyed out, it is well
and truly a 4 season tent.
I can vouch for this. My tent withstood a 160km storm in NZ last year, was buried to the top. My
tent withstood the covering and had no issues with collapse/implosion or fractured poles.
This photo was taken after about half an hour of digging the top of the tent out. You can see the guys
holding well, the inner had not collapsed at all.
This is how it should have looked...
Awesome all round tent. Lightweight silnylon fly if you want to go light.
I also asked about condensation. Andi said the following....
"for cold and dry conditions (ie. below -5 to -10 degrees C) zip everything up to retain heat, not much
condensation should occur. In cold wet conditions (ie. 0 to -5 degrees, wet snow etc) (which is more
like Australian snow), only have the mesh doors closed (not the full doors) and the vents open."
That is what I do, and I get no condensation at all. Heaps of room for cooking in the vestibules, easy
to pitch, fast to pitch, and reasonably priced.
Hope this helps
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11-Jun-2009 1:34:23 PM
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I'd just buy another Oly mate. During summer we just take the fly and poles (3 day hikes with a 35 ltr pack are great!), arguably you could do the same in winter but the inner is a nice option in the snow IMO.
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11-Jun-2009 10:10:40 PM
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I would agree the ease of putting up a tent that has pole sleeves in the fly with the inner tent attached inside is great. Sleeves in the fly also minimise deformation under high winds. Most Exped, Macpac and Hilleberg models use this type of design.
The configuration of these types of tents usually means you can use the fly only (as Paulie said) or put the fly up first then attach the inner (in wet weather), definitely positives for saving weight and convenience in dirty weather.
If you want the best space/weight ratio, I don't think you can beat the tunnel design, although they do need good guying for stability in high winds.
I just bought a hilleberg Nallo2GT, well considered design and quality construction, the large vestible should make things very comfortable for winter/wet cooking etc. The Nallo is probably a little short though if you are 6'2", I am 180 and don't have a huge amount of extra length to play with.
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11-Jun-2009 10:35:32 PM
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I don't think single skin tents are particularly suited to Australian conditions - we get a lot more rain than snow.
I was recently thinking about getting a single skin tent myself but decided against it as it would have to deal with rain a lot more than it would have to deal with snow and condensation build up becomes a problem.
I'd still like a single skin mountain tent but I think I'll wait until I'm actually going to need and use one. I have enough unused equipment sitting in my shed as it is.
I like the look of the Hubba Hubba HP as a double skinned tent that is versatile enough to handle snow and winter conditions, still light weight and has the option of ditching the innner tent and going super light.
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12-Jun-2009 7:41:03 AM
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I'm reasonably sure the HP is just the usual Hubba Hubba with less mesh on the inner. I've had one of the base Hubba Hubbas for a few years, and think it's a great tent - but not for snow. I was in it on the weekend at Feathertop when we got 10-15cms snow over night, and I was definitely thinking a 4 season tent would have been preferable.
Looking around at the other tents on the market at the moment, I wouldn't buy the MSR again.
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12-Jun-2009 3:06:19 PM
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I have & used a 3 season Bibler tent in Aust loads & I never had any issues with condensation - its a great tent, never used it in the snow (3 season only). the next tent I buy will be another single skin i'm pretty sure
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12-Jun-2009 4:36:12 PM
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On 11/06/2009 wallwombat wrote:
>I don't think single skin tents are particularly suited to Australian conditions
>- we get a lot more rain than snow.
I have gone single skin about 2 years ago and as long as you ventilate the tent well even when used in non winter conditions I can personally testify they are great - have not used my Fairydown normal tent since I bought the single skin 4.2kg vs 1.5kg!!!
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