Tent waterproofing

I don't understand the current fad for quick pitch tents - I can pitch my four season Aztec Summit 2 in under five mins (2mins is the record to get it up and stuff inside if it's raining) and even quicker if I have a pal helping.

For the sake of a few mins time, I have a tent that will withstand a hurricane and has a lifetime warranty.

The only benefit I can think of is a quick pitch is cheap so you wont be worried about it getting trashed at a festival.
 
I've had a Vango Dart DS 200 for a while now.

Bought it for Glasto 2008 for about £39.99. It's packed disc is smaller than most other 2 man pop ups I have seen. It's a double skinned tent with a reasonable sized mini porch, enough to keep your bag / wellingtons etc.

I bought some Nikwax and proofed it before I used it and so far (touch wood) it has been an excellent tent! I have used it at two glastonburys, both had quite serious downpours. I have also used it to camp in Kielder forest where it kept the rain out quite nicely too.

I had no expectations given it is a pop up tent but I have been seriousely impressed. Going to Frequency festival in Austria next month and I will be taking it with me there too, even though its a bit awkward carrying the disc onto a plane.

EDIT: Also, one very nice aspect of a pop-up, especially at a festival is when someone inevitably falls onto your tent, it just bounces back :) Rather than crumpling into a flattened mess and needing new poles.
 
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CDj-Rossi said:
Hmmm, does anyone know where I could find/buy a really huge reflective sheet to go over my tent, to act as an outer skin, but also to reflect the sun off and hopefully keep it cooler inside?
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You could easily buy a large plastic sheet in a dark colour.
Camping shops have them and I know stores such as Halfords do to, as I bought one myself.

They are big enough that you can easily rig it up over the tent using a tree branch. Or across a few trees using rope. Or if you get some poles you can do it that way. Pretty easy and cheap.

Personally though I'd just buy a better tent... made the same mistake myself a long time ago, be it with a small rubbish tent, as opposed to a quick pitch one.
 
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