Op here, braving the waters again!
PH wrote:
My tent in inner first, so I remove the fly , give it a shake and stuff it into it's own stuffsack. I've never bothered wiping anything.
Sometimes if it was particularly wet,I'll drape it over something like a garden bench when I stop for lunch, as long as it's not actually raining it'll be dry in 10 min. More usually, when I get to the next campsite I'll put the tent up leaving it empty and as open as possible. Then go off and have a shower or whatever and by the time I get back, even if it isn't bone dry, it won't be damp enough to be of concern (To me)
And that’s fine…. For you. I’m finding that this tent is not drying out in this weather. This tent is getting progressively wetter. Wet walls are not an issue on their own. A wet floor is! And wet walls transfer the moisture to the floor when packing up.
Therefore, it’s all the more important to reduce the water retention as much as possible.
As I have said already, my priority expectation from a tent is to keep me dry. Other people have different expectations. A tent that is wet for one night is not that big an issue. A tent that gets wet and stays wet for several days is. For me.
My other tent never had such an issue with condensation so multi-day camping at this time of the year was not an issue.
PH wrote:If it were me, I'd use the new tent more before reaching any conclusions, but in the end if you have a tent that you're not getting on with, there comes a point when taking the loss is better than putting up with it.
Agree! Although I’ve been using the tent now for 9 months. And that was the reason for my initial question. To revert to the tent I know and trust and I was trying to find out if anyone had overcome the one disadvantage of it - not freestanding.
horizon wrote:
Or put both up in the garden or on a local campsite next to each other for the weekend. But otherwise, yes, I would also say persevere.
I’d thought of that, but, of course, one tent would be without me and my heat generation so I don’t know how useful an experiment it would be. And trying to round up a a willing volunteer to test the comfort of a tent at this time of the year is not the easiest task in the world
Sweep wrote:Wow this thread has moved on.
Look forward to reading reccos of cheap tough tents.
It certainly has!
I’m not going to go into the weight of what I carry because I may be ostracised from these forums
)
In terms of a cheap, tough (but heavy!) tent, my old tunnel is a Coleman Coastline. It is heavy, but damn tough. Change out the fibreglass poles for DAC type (which is what I’m thinking) will make it lighter & probably stronger. I picked mine up for Euro 45 and find it unbelievable value for money. Pitched correctly it’s brilliant in windstorms and waterproof.
It’s big & roomy, but only a single door at the front. I will not cook inside the tent, so cooking in the porch in inclement weather is not ideal.
I see the advantages of your ionsphere, but I don’t think I could sleep night after night in one of those. I’ve sat out many nasty evenings & nights in relative comfort in my tent and am willing to carry the extra weight to allow that. I remember a few years ago cycling down the west coast of France and I kept meeting up with a French cyclist with a tiny one man tent. He became progressively crazier with every passing day
I’m not sure it was all down to the tent or the fact that we kept bumping into each other which meant that heavy old me was travelling the same mileage as ultralight him!
Anyways, thanks to all who have contributed.
Frank