Touring - 3 person tent for the two of us

Hi chaps & chappettes,

My girlfriend and I are wanting to buy a tent for our little tour to India (from the UK) and need to buy a spacious yet light tent, dirty coloured n all that. I'm having real trouble locating a 3 person in London to go and look at. We'd rather not have to buy one without us putting it up in a shop (which rules out stuff like Big Agnes as there's none around here). The Hilleberg Nallo GT only does a 2 sleeper that I can find round here. But will this be big enough for the two of us anyway????
Alternatively I've found the Vaude Mark Lite II tent on sale for £289 which we can go and look at http://www.fieldandtrek.com/product-vauDe-Mark-II-Lite-Tent-32798.htm

Anyone with any exprerience of this one or can offer any spirited advice???
Thanks chums.

It's a shame you can't get too see the Big Agnes Emerald SL3 with the added vestibule. Massive amount of space for the weight and very easy toset up.

There are Decathlon stores in England. Maybe try there. Machka and I bought a three-person T3 lightweight tent in France at a Decathlon, and we were impressed with its price, its practicality and its imperviousness to water!

I second what Rowan said. Have a look at the first story on my website (see signature line below). That story is about our trip to Europe this past summer, and in it, I talk about the tent Rowan mentioned. We bought it on Page 2, I believe, of the Pre-PBP section of the story ... and there are some photos of it in the PBP section (and I talk about it a bit there too) ... and I talk about it a little bit again on Page 4 of the Post-PBP section.

Hi there, we are using the Nallo 3 person tent and I must say it is lovely with just 2 inside. I think the 2 person would be a little cramped, especially if you plan to do a lot of tenting. Don't know where you can see before you buy. We got a really good deal online. The Hillebergs are great tents so I don't think you would be displeased with one if your budget can afford it.

Big Agnes now has a distributor in the UK -- from their website <http://www.isoactive.com/bigagnes/index.php>

Telephone: 0131 668 4171
Fax: 0131 668 4171
E-mail: info@bigagnes.co.uk

They are also carried by HikeLite

<http://www.hike-lite.co.uk/acatalog/Big-Agnes-Emerald-Mountain-SL2.html> Tel: 01903 210213 for ordering and advice.

Unfortunately isoacitve and hike-lite don't have stores where you can go in and see. As far as I can work out anyway.
Thanks for the Decathlon tip. They really are cheap! Several hundred dollars/pounds cheaper than the Nallo. Surely they can't be as sturdy?!
I'm amazed at how poor London's stores are for stocking tents.

Unfortunately isoacitve and hike-lite don't have stores where you can go in and see. As far as I can work out anyway.
Thanks for the Decathlon tip. They really are cheap! Several hundred dollars/pounds cheaper than the Nallo. Surely they can't be as sturdy?!
I'm amazed at how poor London's stores are for stocking tents.


Both Rowan and I were very pleasantly surprised by the durability and quality of our tent. If you read the story of our trip on my website, we were in monsoon conditions for a while there and while other tents were washing away and people were bailing out, ours was warm and dry.

Vaude tents are very highly rated in Germany! Good stuff!

I have been using a Hilleberg Nammatj GT2 for many years on my own.
the last 7 years or so i have been sharing it with my GF, plenty of room.
however, after 2 poles broke in a row (we suspect someone fell onto our tent) we
decided to buy a Hilleberg Nammatj GT3 (in red no less) to get some extra space.

never regretted it.

however: if i were to go to India i would think long and hard about taking ANY tent.
that is: if India is anything like most other Asian countries there will be few, if any, campsites
and plenty cheap hotels, hostels etc.

I have my eye on the Exped Andromeda. Although heavier than "lightweight", the tent seems huge with that great vestibule.

Thanks guys. Very helpful. Will look into all of that!