Tent Reviews

[admin]

Please post here with your thoughts and recommendations on tents to help others to make a sensible choice.

Includes all types of tents from ultra-lightweight to family

[Wolf_Larson]

Anyone own a hilleberg soulo ?? if you do what is your marks out of ten.

[Celt_Ginger]

I have 2 tents. One for the family and one for just me.

The family tent is a Vango Equinox TBS 450. It has been a great medium sized tent for the 3 of us. Very waterproof (that has been well tested) and very stable in windy conditions. Quick and easy to put up and take down again. it suffers a little from lack of height. You have to hunch over in it and cannot stand up straight.

My small tent is a Lightwave T1 trek XT. It's a fantastic tent. It's a 2 man tent which makes it very comfortable for just 1 person. It also has an extended vestibule which is great for storing gear. Very stable in the wind and very waterproof with a Hydrostatic head of 5000mm. Best part is it weighs less than 3kg. It is an inner tent first pitching system with the fly sheet going on second which some may not like, but this system makes the tent very secure in windy conditions. I can pitch it in about 5 minutes.

[Wolf_Larson]

Have you seen the hilleberg soulo on you tube being put up and do you think it is worth 400 odds ??

[NeilB]

think the hilleberg tents are go anywhere type tents, you could go to nortehrn alaska type conditions and it would hold up no problem, depends what you need your tent for, if your planning trip to north pole then hilleberg is the business

[RedLeader]

I think the question is what is the best value for money tent for the sort of climate we have (wet and reasonably cold in winter). The good name solo tents like Hilleberg are always too expensive for me. There must be a sweet spot at £150 or so that you can get a tent suitable for the UK climate but not quite good enough for Norway.

[Wolf_Larson]

Ill pay the extra cause you can put it up in 3 min, is there a cheaper one can be put up fast ??

[ulsterwalker]

I know its been covered, but the best tent for the money in my eyes is the argos pro action in the "sale" for 24.99 or something like that, really can't fault it for the money. Carbon copy of the MSR Zoids of which I previously owned, so I can tell you that it can take the winds pretty well.
Pitches inner first but the fly just buckles on in less than a minute so that isn't too much of an issue; you can sit up in it, unless you are gigantor; small porch to put a bit of kit in, wouldn't facy trying to cook in it;there is room for 2 good friends; some mesh on the inner to aid air flow/minimise condensation;it weighs in at under 2 Kilos; Oh aye did I say its only 24.99? I'm sure there is plenty more points, someone that own's one could pick put

[chris]

I think we should make the old pro action the mascot for ni wild! that and those sweet hats!

[RedLeader]

I think we should make the old pro action the mascot for ni wild! that and those sweet hats!

I'm taking the family to the Tall Ships on Sat. I'm really just going for the hat from the continental market

[MG1]

I'm hitting the tall ships today but i'm going for the really strong beer.

[Wolf_Larson]

argos pro action is to heavy to carry on long trips

[ulsterwalker]

argos pro action is to heavy to carry on long trips

Too heavy depends on who is carrying it, 2 kilos isn't really that much, especially for a fully enclosed space, sure you could lose a Kilo off it but that would cost you probably another £200. I would advise anyone starting to camp/tent to get the Pro Action, there is no need to shell out loads of moeny if you're only starting out.

Out of curiousity how much water do you carry? I know a lot of people that would count every gram in their pack but still carry 2 litres of water about.

[ulsterwalker]

I've 2 tents at the minute, a lightwave T1 trek, and a Terra Nova Laser Competition. Both are top notch in quality and I'd happily reccomend them to anyone. Both have retail prices around 250 quid, but I (like most of my kit) picked it up for a good bit under that due to sales/clearance items

The T1 is a 2 man tent with enough room in the inner for a couple peeps to sleep without getting intimate, plus a couple bits of kit, stored in the pockets. The vestibule is large enough for both peoples kit and is plenty large enough to cook in, and also has a couple of storage pockets big enough for food cooker etc. Its a brilliant tent and handled all the eind and rain I've had it up in, only problem is that the guys ripped out when my dog ran across them. Sending it off to Scottish-mountain-gear to get it fixed, prob cost me 30 quid if they don't decide that it's covered by the warranty.

The laser comp is my baby and what I carried on the ulster way, it was in the Guinness book of record for a bit for being the lightest on the market, but thats taken by the terra nova photon now I believe. Its a great one man tent, weighing in at 890 grams (however I'd be a bit relucant to use the pegs supplied as they are nothing more than small skewers.) Inside its plenty long for me (I'm 6'2) and for an admin vortex big enough for dare I say it anyone, could maybe do with a pocket or 2 if anything. The porch is Huge, I don't know how you could fill it with kit, and as long as you're careful you can cook in it if its lashing down outside. Its a great little tent, thats light squashes down to nothing and is plenty big for 1 plus a close friend (me and a mate will be using it for the MMM), only bad thing about it is that it gets quite loud in the wind, but a pair of earplugs sorts that out.

[Wolf_Larson]

Does anyone own a hilleberg soulo ??