My/Your tent needs

[gloomyandy]

There are several active threads on here about various tents and it's interesting how we all have different needs. Set me thinking about my tent and what I'd be happy with...

For me having room to be able to sit (to eat, read etc.) is definitely a must, as is being able to cook (with the stove in the porch). My favourite locations to tour are the Scottish islands and the West coast of Scotland. Several times I've found myself having to sit out storms with high winds and rain for a few days and the nearest shop or cafe many miles away or even a ferry journey. For those situations having a stable tent with room to be able to sit, cook and generally live makes a big difference. Camping on the islands is often by the coast in exposed spots (not many trees or walls) with very sandy soil, so a freestanding tent for which the inner (with you in it) keeps the tent firmly in place helps as pegs are not that reliable. Having used my TN Voyager for a few years now I'm pretty confident that it will survive high winds and keep me warm and dry. I smile now thinking of my first trip using it, camped on the edge of a beach on Bara, sitting awake during very high winds and rain, my bags packed, wondering if I would need to abandon the tent and make a dash for the ferry terminal some miles away.

In Scotland (at least the parts I tend to visit), there is less need for a stealthy setup as "wild camping" is not a problem and cycle tourists seem to often be welcomed (several times I've found asking locals for a good place to camp for the night has resulted in invitations to pitch in a garden/croft land or people going out of their way to help). The other "Scottish factor" is the midge. Luckily not a big problem on the islands (it is usually too windy!), but now and again they can be terrible, I remember one memorable night on Hoy, the air was warm and still and it seemed like every midge in the world was there! Having an inner tent that is totally midge proof is an absolute must in those conditions!

I will sometimes stay a few days in one location, leaving my tent pitched and my gear inside it (helping to keep it in place!), while I explore an island or an area. So having a tent that it feels safe to pitch and leave (and expect to find it still there when you return) is important. Wind direction and weather can change pretty fast, so having to rely on re-pitching to cope with changes in the wind might not work very well for me.

I can see the attraction of a tarp based very lightweight shelter used mainly for arrive late leave early style touring. But that is not really my sort of style. I'm not sure I'd trust that sort of shelter for the kinds of weather I'm almost certain to get for at least a couple of nights on a typical tour. But am I wrong on this? Do those of you using tarps, and other very lightweight tents think that one would meet my sort of requirements?

[Sweep]

Horses for courses i think andy and of course, like bikes, nothing to stop you having more than one tent. I wouldn't want to sit out a one or two day storm in an ionosphere, but on a recent trip I was more than happy to sit out 15 hours or more of heavy storm in my robens lodge 2. I knew that the storm was coming, zapped to a lidl for supplies, battened down the hatches about 3 in the acternoon and just sat it out reading and snacking. It was very enjoyable. It's all variety.

[gloomyandy]

Hi Sweep thanks for the comments. A little like bikes, tents seem to accumulate and I have a few! However all of mine have tended to be towards the 3/4 season mountaineering end of the spectrum rather than the very lightweight ones that you and others have been talking about. To be honest I wasn't even aware of the whole class of tents that make use of a walking pole as the tent pole. All very interesting and tempting to try. I'd like to get a feel for what these types are tent are good for. Many of the pictures I've seen posted (at the tarp end of the spectrum) seem to show ones that have a relatively "open" construction and I'm not sure how well they would handle high winds. I'd say that the ionosphere is more of a full tent than some of the others I've seen, but perhaps a bit too low/cramped for me.

[honesty]

I think if I were getting a light weight bike aimed at bikepacking I’d probably go down the light weight single person tent/ tarp route. As I have a heavy steel tourer I’m not that worried about weight and would rather have room and comfort.

The correlation between bike type and tent type interests me, as I wonder if that’s just me or one of the drivers other people have when buying camping equipment.

[gloomyandy]

Interesting point. I ride a steel Genesis Croix de Fer and usually use four panniers, so not exactly a lightweight setup. I'm also not a big mile rider when touring. A big day for me will be 60-70 miles more typically 40 miles or so, with a few stops along the way! I tend to camp early and will often setup camp and then go for a ride to explore the local area, buy food (or wine!) etc. I will sometimes eat my evening meal at a pub etc. but more often than not will cook when I camp. Breakfast is usually tea and something cooked before i set off in the morning. During the day I tend to stop off at cafes along the way, rarely will I get the stove out during the day. I've recently found a flask that will fir in a bottle holder, so will be filling that up at the start of the day to let me have a brew along the way!

[crazydave789]

given the choice then a decent sized tunnel is nice to live in as you can get the bike in with you. I have considered taking the outer left over from my vango equinox as a huge bivvy as it only needs four pegs on a mild day. I haven't weighed it though.

I've been looking over the ALPS chaos series as they are a decent price on amazon but should really wear out some of the ones I have first. I used my tadpole for two weeks last year and for one it was ideal, roomy, well built, stable though a little small in the porch but big enough to cook in.

the extra weight of a larger tent is worth it IMO. Tarp/hammock/bivvy setups work if you approach it like a soldiers field gear where everything stays on the bike and you take out what you need as you need it. with a tent you have the subconscious need to take everything inside with you.

I used to like the idea of the biketent but haven't seen anything like for a while now though have considered making one.

[Tigerbiten]

I go for something simple that I can put up single handed as my other hand was eaten by a Tiger.
So I want a 2 man tent I can just peg out, slide a pole in and finish with the guy lines.

[nick12]

I think it is a personal thing just as our bikes are suited to our needs and reqirements aswell as financial cicumstances. I think with an unlimited budget we would all choose different gear for our personal styles of camping or they would just make one tent and one bike. It depends on the trip too as to what is best for us. I have several diferent camping setups that I use. And diferent bikes for diferent trips. Longer tours i like to have a spacious 2 man ideally with a porch big enough to cook in. For weekends it depends on the weather, location and what im doing. Again the 2 man often is the tent of choice a good all rounder. For bike packing on the moors or down the woods i either take 3x3 camo tarp with a 3 section pole 120cm) to make the tarp into a pyramid style tent or sling it to trees and use jungle hammock or use the hammock as a bivi or ground sheet,it all fits in a roll on the bars. I also hava a cheap 1 man tent which is 1.5kg compact goes on the bars too. A low profile which makes it easier to pitch and not be seen especially on the moors. In a small hollow behind a rock or a small bush.comfort is only compromised if its raining as i would sit and cook outside.you cant really say one is better than the other.they all work in their own way.

[Sweep]

I think if I were getting a light weight bike aimed at bikepacking I’d probably go down the light weight single person tent/ tarp route. As I have a heavy steel tourer I’m not that worried about weight and would rather have room and comfort.

The correlation between bike type and tent type interests me, as I wonder if that’s just me or one of the drivers other people have when buying camping equipment.

Fair points but just to make the point that someone might take a bivi/tarp or small one man tent on a trip to allow maximum furtive free camping possibilitiesz not to save weight. A bivi and tarp can be as heavy as a tent. Weight saving is not a factor for me.

[pjclinch]

Tarps, especially the more shaped ones like the Trailstar, can take on very serious weather (or so I read, from trusted sources). I doubt that they're any quicker to deploy than a tent designed for easy pitching though, the main advantage is light weight and notionally at least a closer connection with your environment (that can be a two-edged sword if said environment is a cloud of midges on a driech, windy night, of course...). You can get mesh "nests" but then you're looking at tent weight and bulk in any case. Still attractive for pleasant weather, but for any trip over 1 day that's an interesting thing to predict for in the UK!

But as has been noted, it's horses for courses, and this horse prefers a tent, and one with good sized porches and sitting height. I prefer fly-first pitch of all-in-one with a detachable inner, handy for extra party space or bringing soggy bikes inside for repair without getting the inner messy. I'd sooner carry the weight of a reasonably robust groundsheet than have a gossmaer-thin crisp packet I'd always end up worrying about. I prefer untaped seams with silicone coating both sides of the fly, though stuff like that is less important than the space layout as checked by crawling around in a pitched example. Easy pitching preferred!

I have different tents for different courses. The Tarra is the bunker-tent for when pitching may be awkward and storms serious, which comes down to sea kayaking (also something where weight doesn't really matter and bulk not much). The Kaitum big tunnel is for cycle touring and backpacking with the missus, where a comfortable camp is just as important as a comfortable pack so it's a compromise between lots of space and not too much weight. We have an MSR Hubba Hubba for if we want to go lighter (I'd sooner have a Hilleberg Rogen with similar layour but easier pitching and full silicone coat, but can't justify the cost). I use a Spacepacker for solo work, I like having the extra room even though these days I could halve the weight, and probably bulk too. I'm not an "ultralight" type, also reflected in a heavy full-sus recumbent tourer which isn't the quickest thing out there, but is quite possibly the most comfortable. I've done 10 hours on it and not felt any aches or pains.

Pete.

[PH]

We are all different and having tried a couple of options when starting to cycle camp about 15 years ago these are the tent requirements that suite me. I see how some people have multiple tents for different types of tours, but mine fall into a pretty narrow band and the one tent does all that I need.
Essentials
Good headroom - for a decent proportion of the floor space not just at a peak.
Solid inner but with plenty of mesh options
Rigid, I dislike flapping, it keeps me awake
Steep wall at the sleeping head end
Sleep across the door
Subtle colour for discreet camping

Desireable
Free standing inner, I don't mind pegging the fly out
Big door/s
Twin porches

Price, weight and pack size are important and could be deciding factors if several tents met the same criteria, but I wouldn't compromise the essentials. My current tent is a TN Solar 2.2, though not perfect it meets all the above criteria and suites me well. It's nine years old and showing signs of wear, I'd replace it but can't see anything I like as much.

[whoof]

For cycletouring I use a Terra Nova Voyager. Each summer me and Mrs Whoof do a two week summer tour in Europe using it. .The requirements I had when buying it were.

Stays dry if it rains, stays up if it blows a bit, has a porch to put panniers in, not too heavy, will last.
I've had it 15 years and other than a bit of reproofing it's been fine. We use it as somewhere to sleep. If we turn up somewhere and it's raining or there's a storm forecast we stay in a hotel.

For the last couple of years I've been using a small tarp and plastic groundsheet [a few hundred grams] for weekend or even the odd midweek camp after work. I pick days when the forecast is good although I did camp in a thunder storm where the rain was torrential and stayed dry.

[Gattonero]

I've ordered a Lunar Solo from Six Moons Designs, as I want to return to side-opening tents.

My requirements are for a very small and light package, typically to fit in a 2lt drybag and <1kg. Geodesic tents don't fit in this requirements, and if they do they will have to sacrifice the fabric strength to shave weight for compensating all those poles.
So a simple A-frame or "pyramid" type seems to work well for me, as long as I get at least 105cm of headroom. There it comes the single-skin tents, for the same outer canopy you have more inside room, though there are issues with this it doesn't really bother me.
Also I don't like tents that will use too many pegs, as hard soil can turn pitching into an annoying and time-consuming process.

[nick12]

I've ordered a Lunar Solo from Six Moons Designs, as I want to return to side-opening tents.

My requirements are for a very small and light package, typically to fit in a 2lt drybag and <1kg. Geodesic tents don't fit in this requirements, and if they do they will have to sacrifice the fabric strength to shave weight for compensating all those poles.
So a simple A-frame or "pyramid" type seems to work well for me, as long as I get at least 105cm of headroom. There it comes the single-skin tents, for the same outer canopy you have more inside room, though there are issues with this it doesn't really bother me.
Also I don't like tents that will use too many pegs, as hard soil can turn pitching into an annoying and time-consuming process.

An interesting design light and compact. I can see it fits your ultralight requirements. A lot of money for so little. pole and pegs sold seperate.
I do like it and can see it will cope with the wind be interesing to see how it copes in diferent seasons it says 3 season. If you can keep the front open in the rain will be good. Condensation is my main concern. But good ventilation so should help.

[Gattonero]

I've ordered a Lunar Solo from Six Moons Designs, as I want to return to side-opening tents.

My requirements are for a very small and light package, typically to fit in a 2lt drybag and <1kg. Geodesic tents don't fit in this requirements, and if they do they will have to sacrifice the fabric strength to shave weight for compensating all those poles.
So a simple A-frame or "pyramid" type seems to work well for me, as long as I get at least 105cm of headroom. There it comes the single-skin tents, for the same outer canopy you have more inside room, though there are issues with this it doesn't really bother me.
Also I don't like tents that will use too many pegs, as hard soil can turn pitching into an annoying and time-consuming process.

An interesting design light and compact. I can see it fits your ultralight requirements. A lot of money for so little. pole and pegs sold seperate.
I do like it and can see it will cope with the wind be interesing to see how it copes in diferent seasons it says 3 season. If you can keep the front open in the rain will be good. Condensation is my main concern. But good ventilation so should help.

It is 220USD regular price for the Silnylon type, but was 20% off on December, so it ended in 180USD (&free shipping) which is 130 UK pounds, thanks to a friend bringing it to the UK for me
It sounds reasonable to me. I already have a pole from the previous tent, an advantage of those simple designs that can use any straight pole (or a tree branch in emergency), and I've no problem with the pegs as this is not a "first time camper" tent one is supposed to have enough pegs already.

The RRP in UK is £240, it's steep. But obviously everything is cheaper when made in China.