looking for tent advice please.
 

hope to buy a new tent around christmas ,at the moment i have the hilleberg akto excellent tent BUT a wee bit on the small size for me.so i'm kinda looking for something different as in free standing pitch all in one if possible 2 man loads of room very important enough room to cook if need be ,stand up to rough weather :thumb:
so what would you folks recommend ,oh i didn't mention money i wont concern myself with that just yet more interested in what's out there.

Personally, I like my Silnylon Tarp and Net Tent that I made. However, if you have to have a tent that is two person, free standing and can hold up to a hefty wind I would suggest a tarptent double rainbow.
http://tarptent.com/products.html
I actually have one, but I have decided to stick to my tarp. Now I just have to convince my wife that is the way to go and I can sell my tarptent.

REI half dome for $199.00 USD seems to get a lot of postitive comments. My son has one thats a few years old and he uses it on long backpack trips in the Washington Cascades and will choos it over his other tents most of the time. If you get the two person there should be plenty of room for you do cook in if you have too

This Marmot tent is nice and roomy. The rain fly is designed for lots of room covered, but out of the tent, best for cooking.
http://www.backcountrygear.com/catal...l.cfm/MAR42022

Campmor has a lot of tents.

Sierra Design's, Lightining--

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...PICT4208-1.jpg

http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...abrokentop.jpg

I've got the Nemo Losi 2 and I think it's the best tent I've ever had. Plenty of room, two doors, two vestibules and has been through a pretty good storm with no problems. I especially like the Gear Caddy for organizing everything.

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3856539

John

thanks everyone keep em coming.

If you want loads of room, look into a 3P tent. You can find some that are not much more that 6 lbs. Maybe even lighter. Marmot Aeros 3 comes to mind. And older model that you can sometimes find on sale on eBay and at other places.

I took a 3P tent on my last tour in MT and Canada. The two of us apprecdiated the extra room, which we had lots of since my partner is a petite 5'. Although I carried the entire thing myself, if travel with someone you can always split the load.

I doubt that you'll be able to find anything in a lightweight tent that you could stand in. The weight is usually the focus. You might look at the REI Quarter Dome T2 and T2 Plus. Reasonable weight and very roomy. A little funky to set up compared to other tents I've used.

The only tent that I envy over my Seedhouse SL1, is the SL2. I think on a bike (compared to backpacking) the extra room is worth the little bit of extra packing space and weight http://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Det...t/SeedhouseSL2

you could always check your local kmart/walmart/target for cheap 2 person tents. i personaly quite enjoy my NWT $30 2 person dome tent. perfect for one person and their stuff. yeah, it's not higend or super light, but it most definately gets the job done. plus you cant beat a color scheme that uses canary yellow.

Tent ...
 

Just taking our first week-long (camping) tour - without using a trailer - I would take the length of the tent poles into consideration. We got by bungee-ing them cross-wise on the rear rack (24-1/2" long poles). I would like to have shorter poles (so they didn't hang out on sides so much [as I felt that they would suffer abuse over time from leaning the bike {tandem} on walls, etc.). They were really too long to place on the rack in an orientation such that they were parallel to the long axis of the bike - as nearly half the pole length would be cantilevered off the back of the rack. This would lead to a lot of flexing over time and maybe fatigue the poles. Also - my wife needs to swing a leg over the rear of the bike to get on. Our panniers don't have a pole pocket (like on Arkel bags).

Big Agnes makes some nifty tents.

I have the Copper Spur UL2..a lightweight, free standing two person tent. Look here: http://www.bigagnes.com/Products/Det.../CopperSpurUL2.

The tent weighs 3lbs 13 oz. and has a 52" x 90" footprint...which was a good bit longer than most 1 or 2 man tents I found. It's not cheap (MSRP is $399) but I thought it was a nicely designed tent and lightweight. I tried the one man tent and for me (6'3", 240...it was WAY too small. The two man version gives me plenty of room for a 77" sleeping pad, a "long" sleeping bag (78") and a fair amount of gear beside me. It may seem as though a 75" inch guy in a 78" bag inside a 90" tent would have a ton of room lengthwise...but I seem to completely fill this tent up, so a tent with 4-6" less length would have been a real problem for me. If you are a tall person, I'd advise paying close attention to the tent footprint.

I like the fact that there are two entrances... in the event that you decide to share your space you're not crawling over each other.

Haven't had the tent out in rough weather yet, so no idea how it will perform. But when it is fully staked out it is tight as a drum. I have spent the nigt in 20F weather and while there was frozen condensation on the tent, I had no problems with "drippage". in fact, I've never had any condensation issues, but i am careful to stake it out tight so that there is maximum air circulation under the fly.

Attachment 160196

I have used this for two years and, for the price, it is wonderful.

http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Expone.../dp/B001H55L6U

Your going to have a hard time finding a tent that pitches all in one like a Hilleberg does,not many tents do that.The only company that I can think of right off hand is MEC in Canada.Some of their expedition tents are like that.But like Hilleberg,they are on the heavy side.

If you can afford another Hilleberg,go for it,there are no better made tents than those.

I bought the REI Camp Dome 2 two person tent based on reviews and price/weight ratio. I paid $100 for it and it's around 5lbs. I've only spent maybe 20-25 nights in it so far, including few with pouring rain. It's VERY easy to set up. It keeps water out during worst rain and seems to withstand the winds (needs two extra stakes for the fly for windy conditions, not included) but it's kind of smallish. I'm 5'11" and I can touch the tent walls with my feet and head when stretched. I wish it was slightly bigger. It's also freestanding if that matters although I always staked it down.

Overall it's a great tent for short trips, but had I known, I'd look for something larger and with a rainproof vestibule - after a week I was wishing the tent was larger and had some covered outside area.

I have a bunch of tents I've bought, looking for perfection. I'm tall. My first tent had plenty of room but weighed about 11 pounds. After breaking a bunch of spokes on a west coast tour I decided to downsize everything. I bought a Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight. It was really light, but just a bit too small for me. I tried a Eureka Backcountry 1, but it was like sleeping in a coffin. It was long enough, but too narrow. I couldn't lay on my side and read. Then I bought a Microlight 2 from L. L. Bean. I love it. It's the same shape as my Clip Flashlight, but a bit roomier in all directions. And since it's made out of lighter materials, it weighs about the same.

If I was more normal sized I'd still consider the Clip Flashlight. It's light and you can find them fairly cheap. I also like the REI Halfdome and the Big Agnes Seedhouse SL2, although it''s expensive. The ones Adventure Cycling carries look good too - I think MSR? There are lots of choices.

Here are my personal guidelines:

1. Get as light a tent as possible that still affords the room you don't want to be without.
2. Get a tent for the number of people who will be using it. If you're going to be alone sometimes and with your partner sometimes, better get two tents.
3. Make sure it's absolutely waterproof in a big rainstorm. The fly must completely cover the tent with all the drippings going outside the perimeter of the tent. If it drips off the fly onto the tent, it's bound to leak.
4. Freestanding is nice, but not as important as 1., 2., and 3.
5. Ventilation is really nice. If mosquitoes are a problem and you have to hide out in your tent, you don't want it to feel like a sauna. I like a tent where the body is all bugscreen. It's not great in winter camping, but I don't go winter camping. If I did I'd use a different tent.

I just use my Speer type hammock (home made) and a tarp over the top of that... works great..

show us some pictures of that home made stuff....please.

Rob

some great tents there thanks for that everyone..if i could afford it i would buy the nallo 2gt but that's just a dream im afraid ah well not to worry.but i do like the look of American free standing tents big agnes copper srup but it doesn't pitch all in one .Why couldn't someone copy say the the hilleberg staika and sell it much cheaper or would be regarded as cheating.

I recently purchased both the Hilleberg Staika and Nammatj 3 GT. The long decision process was covered in this other thread:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...icycle-touring

I have yet to do an actual tour with these tents, but from my initial impressions, the tunnel concept is actually starting to win me over. Here are my thoughts:

I noticed quickly that the Nammatj 3 GT had a lot more usable space than the freestanding Staika. So what does the Staika give me that the Nammatj doesn't? They are both made of the heavy grade Kerlon 1800 materials. Well, primarily it seems to be the freestanding aspect. So let's look at that more closely.

Yes, freestanding is nice for cases where you don't have easy staking - e.g. concrete pads or sandy soil. However these conditions are usually fairly infrequent, and there are ways to deal with them (e.g. snow/sand anchors, snow/sand pegs, titanium rock pins, or even just tying off to rocks or whatever is around, or burying the stakes etc). So for that occasional convenience, you are carrying more weight for the space available. You get less space inside the tent, and less vestibule space too.

Another benefit of the Staika is its static load ability - i.e. it can take snow better. I guess if you're going into those conditions, then this might make sense. But most bicycle tourists are not going into really bad snow conditions, and we aren't camping on glaciers. The Nammatj is used by expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic - that should speak for itself. Those aren't modified, either - it's the same tent we get to buy. So I wouldn't say there's a very wide range of rough weather conditions that the Staika can handle, but the Nammatj can't. There's going to be a wide range of weathers that either can handle, and then maybe a thin band of some unusual conditions where the Staika would do better, and then there's the weather where you really don't want to be outside in any tent (i.e. tornado).

The other benefits of the freestanding tent are that you can shake it out more easily (i.e. turn it upside down) and use it as a bug net inside a motel room, and of course having two doors gives the Staika much better venting options for warm weather.

What I found myself noticing most, though, was the space inside the tents, and the huge GT vestibule on the Nammatj. To be honest, this really hit me in a big way. The noseeum mesh backing on the GT vestibule door, and the Nammatj's vents, will keep mosquitoes out of that area. This means you could retreat inside the GT vestibule to cook and eat (roll back the footprint if cooking, and the mesh door should provide enough ventilation, obviously be careful etc etc). I don't see a lot of people talk about the mesh door and vents on the Nammatj, but I have had some really bad experiences in camp with mosquitoes and midges. I would really like to have a middle ground between either being outside in the thick of it, or inside the inner tent. The GT vestibule gives me that. And it's huge. It's a really nice space - you can get all the bags for two people, plus both their front wheels inside there and still have room to cook and sit (I mention front wheels because I saw someone mention this on a German forum - it's a nice idea for a little extra security for making sure nobody can ride off with your bike).

The thing is, you are going to experience the space and weight of the tent every single day and night. Space and weight are features that favor the tunnel tent. The features that favor the freestanding tents are going to be experienced occasionally. So I think that this is a good reason to change my bias toward the tunnels. Why carry extra weight and smaller space just for an occasional benefit? Surely better to carry less weight, or a larger tent (for the same weight), which will be appreciated every single day.

Yes, people talk about how tunnel tents are loud in the wind. But how often will that really be a problem? Most times, when bicycle touring, I've been able to find somewhere relatively sheltered. It's not usually the case that I'm camping on a mountain ridge.

So what I'm left with is the impression that for your average bicycle tour, it's worth rethinking the "freestanding is better" mantra. Petra Hilleberg suggested I try out the Nammatj 3 GT because she felt it was a good option for bicycle tourists, and I thought I would be humoring her. I really thought I would prefer the Staika. But it's not happening that way! Don't get me wrong - the Staika is still a brilliant tent, and we'll certainly use it - I'm just relaying some thoughts that have occurred to me during this process. You said in your original post that you wanted freestanding - in my opinion this will exclude some really excellent potential choices. If I were you I would go for bigger space and low weight, while also thinking about what else matters (for me, the 1800 fabric, better vents and mesh backing on the Nammatj makes me prefer it over the lighter Nallo).

The only niggle about the Nammatj is the sloping foot - I don't touch it normally, even in my fluffy sleeping bag, but it is close. I can see that it will inevitably touch occasionally. But you know what, no tent is perfect. I'll see how it goes, but I think the Nammatj has good enough venting that it'll be ok. I can always just drape the rain jacket over the foot if it's getting wet from condensation. And if the weather is really hot (and no risk of rain) then you can always take the kit for pitching the inner by itself, for ultimate ventilation (but still be protected from bugs).

Oh, and one more thing: The Nammatj seems a bit more straightforward to erect than the Staika. Not that the Staika is exactly difficult, but the Nammatj is almost trivial, and just a bit faster (in my limited experience as a newbie).

I'm thinking about a Nammatj 2 GT for doing solo touring, since the 3 GT just seems way too extravagant for me by myself. I also have my eye on the Kaitum 2 for solo use, due to its vertical end walls and double doors (with mesh = nice thru draft). But the Kaitum 2 doesn't have the mesh backed vents, and the GT version just seems too darn long to me. I seem to keep coming back to the Nammatj GT. I also think the overall concept of the Nammatj 2 GT has been well proven, given how many people seem to love the Nallo 2 GT (the lighter weight version). The Nammatj just has better vents than the Nallo, and mesh, and stouter poles and material and zips. So you carry a couple more pounds (~800g), that's what, less than a liter of water. And I'm 30 lbs overweight anyway, so...

Anyway, hope that helps some... expand your search to the tunnels and look for space and weight, I think that will make you happier than knowing you can pitch it on a concrete pad somewhere.

Just my 2 cents...

Neil

Big Agnes Seedhouse SL3 for 2 people. SL2 is too small unless weather is fine, IMHO. 4 to 5 lbs., depending on what you take.

neil at my last fellclub meet one of the lads a very experience cycle tourer has i think 4 hilleberg tents this time round he was using the mammat g 3 .what a fantastic tent a small hotel he done all his cooking in it no problem i think the vestibule is as big as most tents great for when you have to spend hours in your tent because of bad weather.i think he could pitch this tent in 3 minutes flat perfect every time .yeah a super tent but I'm afraid way out of my price league suppose you get what you pay for .anyway enjoy your new tent's you lucky man fantastic thread btw on tents well thought out.oh yeah next time why not do one on American tents around the 400 dollar range that to would be interesting,just a thought.

Can you please provide more info and if possible pictures of the Net Tent you made. I having been looking for bug protection for my tarp.
Thanks