Tent experts please

Spie

Spie

Spie

Godfather
Godfather
Joined
17 Oct 2002
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Location
Bromsgrove
I'm looking for a really good 2 man tent to use on a motorcycle trip I'm planning this year. I haven't been camping for 10 years and need some advice. Here are the requirements.

1 - A largish 2 man size. I'm 6ft7in so need a bit more space and Mrs Spie is coming along.

2 - Lightweight. It's going on my bike so needs to be pretty light.

3 - High tech materials. I don't mind paying for something really clever. Carbon fibre poles sound great :cool:

4 - Easy to put up/down.

5 - Needs to keep us dry in a downpour.

That's it really :)
 
Given your size I would opt for a three or four man so you can sleep diagonally. As said, vango are a good make.

Id head on down to your local outdoor store and take some advice from the guys n gals in there too.

Other option is to buy one of those motorhomes off top gear that has a storage space for your motorbike :)
 
I did a coast to coast cycle camping trip just recently and had the pretty much the same requirements. I wanted a very light, weatherproof, large 2 man tent.

There is a lot of choice, but I ended up with the following -

http://www.outdoormegastore.co.uk/acatalog/Vango_Spirit_200__Ultralite_Tent.html

The tent is well built, easy to assemble and has plenty of room inside. It is a proper tent so there will be no Millets carnage if you are caught in a storm.

When I went cycling with this we managed to fit both our bicycles (after taking the wheels off) and panniers in the outer part. Obviously your motorbikes won't fit, but you should be able to get everything else under cover and out of sight.
 
Front The Independent's tent review:

Terra Nova Voyager £340 ------- BEST BUY
The Voyager isn’t the cheapest, lightest or newest two-person tent around but it has repeatedly proved its worth as a supremely reliable four-season backpacker. The flysheet is made from high tenacity nylon for improved resistance to sunlight and accidental tears, and it comes with colour-coded, lightweight aluminium alloy poles. Packaged weight is a very reasonable 2.6kg.
Terra Nova (01773 837373; www.terra-nova.co.uk)

The North Face West Wind £325
This mountain tent uses the latest high-tech materials, such as a tough silicone-coated Ripstop flysheet and a highly breathable 40D nylon inner to prevent condensation. The strong aluminium poles are colour-coded for easy pitching, and another nice touch is that all the guy lines and zippers are reflective. There’s plenty of room inside for two to sleep and store their gear.
Blacks (0800 214890; www.blacks.co.uk)

Quite old though, don't know what advancements there's been since then.

Ellis Brigham have this which seems to be highly regarded.
 
About a year ago I bought myself a Vaude Taurus II from Cotswold Camping. Its a good compromise of being largish (room for me+gf+bags), fairly light (3Kg-ish), easy to put up (2 poles) and not too expensive either.

Popular with my friends in the Terra Nova Quasar tents, but for me they're a bit pricey.

PK!
 
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might sound bit daft but to used to do a lot of night fishing so used lots of various types of tents.theres some very good ones from fishing retail outlets,which you might not of thought of looking at..pop up erected in seconds.light and no messing about.which is one of the key points with tents as you dont want to spend ages putting them up. i like the nova one looks decent recommended earlier.as mentioned by mr commissario . spiacente se il mio inglese è difettoso gilly

Front The Independent's tent review:

Terra Nova Voyager £340 ------- BEST BUY
The Voyager isn’t the cheapest, lightest or newest two-person tent around but it has repeatedly proved its worth as a supremely reliable four-season backpacker. The flysheet is made from high tenacity nylon for improved resistance to sunlight and accidental tears, and it comes with colour-coded, lightweight aluminium alloy poles. Packaged weight is a very reasonable 2.6kg.
Terra Nova (01773 837373; www.terra-nova.co.uk)
 
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Gilly said:
Terra Nova Voyager £340 ------- BEST BUY
The Voyager isn’t the cheapest, lightest or newest two-person tent around but it has repeatedly proved its worth as a supremely reliable four-season backpacker. The flysheet is made from high tenacity nylon for improved resistance to sunlight and accidental tears, and it comes with colour-coded, lightweight aluminium alloy poles. Packaged weight is a very reasonable 2.6kg.
Click to expand...

Terra Nova tents are very good. The Voyager Superlite comes in at a very respectable 1.7Kg.
 
I add a 3rd to Terra Nova tents.
Ive got a Wild Country (now Terra Nova) Tristar. Its stood up to some really foul weather that has flattened the likes of Phaser Domes.
 
If money is no object, this is a really good tent. My sister has one, and I've borrowed it in the past for a lake district trip (eg very windy, and very rainy). It's fantastic.

Other then that, Vango or NF are good makes.
 
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I'd pop up to Hi-Peak in Hanley. They do Terra Nova plus other brands. Usually good for advice and bagging some discount off RRP as well.
 
http://www.buachaille.com/p791-2-18/2-Man-Tents/Terra-Nova-Ultra-Quasar.html
Ripped from here is the tent I'd buy if i had your money.
Loads of room 4 season & only 3kg. Make sure you don't buy the one i creamed over though whilst out looking at tents. We have a regular bloke that pitches & sells tents in a field down near the Dodwells. I want a 2 man myself as we plan on doing a few long runs & stop overs in Wales doing our off roading.
User comment below ripped from that site i linked to.

General comments: If you can afford to buy this tent, do so now. You won't regret it. I had used a couple of Terra Nova's other tents before buying this and was very impressed by there ease of use and non complicated design. I wanted to buy a two man tent that had plenty of storage space, had enough room inside to be comfortable on the long nights of winter, be strong enough to use as a four season tent and weigh under 3kg. Not a lot to ask!! After spending hours on the internet I narrowed it down to two tents, the terra nova ultra quasar and the crux x2. I then went to a gear shop that had the two tents and spent some time putting the tents up, climbing in and out of them and then putting them down. The Ultra Quasar won by miles. There are so many points in favour for the Terra Nova....

Pros: It's so easy to pitch - the first time I tried I had it up in a couple of minutes. The two porches are one of the best design features allowing you to dry or store kit and bags at one end, and still use the other for cooking etc. The large stuff bag makes packing away the tent so easy, although I still try to roll it as often as possible. The interior has plenty of space for 2 people, and there's even room for 3 people with their bags. It will take all the bad weather mother nature can throw at it. I recently had it pitched at over 1000m in 65 mph winds and it stood strong. All this from a tent that tips the scales at 2.85kg and comes with a life time warranty.

Cons: I suppose the only weakness is the price but you get what you pay for and with the Ultra Quasar you are getting the best.
 
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