Robens Raptor

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Sweep
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by Sweep »

Thanks for reporting back celery, look forward to hearing more.
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bretonbikes
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by bretonbikes »

Well as my name has been taken in vain here on the subject I'll 'pitch' in;-)

After our brilliant experience with the Lodge for our business we finally took the plunge and replaced our Jack Wolfskin Dragon (the best tent I've ever owned but out of production for 15 years and ours is 22!). I could have bought a Lodge as it fulfilled our criteria, but I quite like our personal stuff to be different from the hire gear not least because if it's the same it doesn't feel like 'ours' - we also (as with the Dragon) tend to love and keep stuff for much longer.

So we invested in the Robens Kestrel which is very similar to the Raptor but has no transverse ridge.

I have to say i don't think we'll be loving it for 22 years. It's vast inside, but you sleep parallel with the two poles and the inner (it's essentially an outer first) is much looser than the Lodge and so droops onto my face at night even though I'm only 6'. The material - siliconised nylon - is unbelievably slippery and so packing it becomes a pain/amusing depending on whether you are doing or watching... In a wind (anything over force 2) it flaps about a lot (and keeps flapping the inner on your face) and it requires all the guy ropes to be used to keep it even reasonably stable - the Lodge needs 6 pegs). On ours both inner doors had stitching missing so Kate had to resew the zips in - shouldn't happen on a premium tent.

The ridge of the Raptor should help a lot with all this, but as a place to be in the Lodge is nicer imo.
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
greencelery
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by greencelery »

So after a very prolonged delivery period the Raptor finally arrived yesterday.
We pitched the tent inside to check it out and noted several things:

- Despite all pictures online making the tent look like a 1970's brown/orange combo, the outer tent is infact khaki green. Which in our opinion was excellent news.
- The tent is bigger than either of us had visualised. So big that there wasn't sufficient floor space anywhere in the flat to put it up - we had to balance it on top of the bed, letting the porches float either side in mid-air. This is either a reflection of the size of my flat or the size of the tent...
- The porch space is excellent - that alone almost felt as big as the inner of my old beloved vango banshee 200.
- The tunnel structure of the inner definitely makes the tent feel spacious. I'm tall and didn't feel that I was limited to the centre of the tent for sitting space.
- The tent wasn't erected properly, but when held by the corners in the air the fly looked taut and non-flappy.
- The poles aren't colour coded, but given the structure of the tent it wasn't hard to tell which poles should go where.
- The poles for the tunnel run in a sleeve the whole way across the arc. It's seemed like a long way. Not sure how much we'll enjoy taking the time to post the poles through the sleeves in the pouring rain, but I'm sure with time we'll get quicker and most likely less cautious as the tent becomes less shiny and new.
- Taking it down, the fabric is "slippery" as mentioned by BretonBikes re the Kestrel, but not so much so that it was difficult to fold & roll back into the bag.
- Talking of which, the bag had ample space to easily slide the tent back inside with a dry bag type roll-top closure on the top. The only thing that could be improved is some compression clips on the side, but given we plan on carrying it inside a pannier bag (in which it fits very nicely) this isn't such a concern.
- Despite the generous inner volume of the tent, it packs down amazingly well - not considerably larger than the old banshee. Maybe the rolled height of an ortlieb pannier and 15/20cm across?
- The only two things we plan on doing to the tent before taking it out are sealing the seams and getting a gear loft (there is already a gear rope inside, but there are hooks for attachment of a loft which in my opinion is always more handy)

Anyways, ramble over. Thanks for your help, input and advice :)
Sitting inside the tent on top of the bed it already felt like home. Just itching to take it on a trip outside.
bretonbikes
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by bretonbikes »

The very spacious bags are a feature of Robens tenets and a big plus for me - even when pouring with rain when you just want to screw it up and stuff it in it'll go;-) My Terra Nova needed to be bone dry and rolled incredibly tight to fit it it's bag - and even then you broke finger nails doing it... The original bag was binned after a week.
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
PH
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by PH »

greencelery wrote:Sitting inside the tent on top of the bed it already felt like home. Just itching to take it on a trip outside.

Looking forward to photos of it in use, sounds like it'll suite your needs.
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horizon
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by horizon »

PH wrote:
greencelery wrote:Sitting inside the tent on top of the bed it already felt like home. Just itching to take it on a trip outside.

Looking forward to photos of it in use, sounds like it'll suite your needs.


I think this is their blog:

https://homeiswhereyourbikeis.com/

It's quite a tale! (and brings this thread up to date). It certainly shows the Raptor in action!

I bought my Robens Voyager 2EX after this thread and am really pleased with it. I still don't really see the point of the silicone coated nylon. The polyester on my Voyager seems strong, doesn't sag in the rain and the weight penalty is worth the money saving. As I said above, the nylon equivalent to the Voyager is the Osprey and I would definitely go for the Voyager.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
rualexander
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by rualexander »

Unfortunately Robens no longer make the Raptor tent.

However, the same design seems to be being used by the Slovakian company Zajo for their Oland 2 tent, not sure about their choice of colour for it though. And the spec states nylon with silicon coating on outside, PU coating on inside of the flysheet.
The rrp of £594 seems pretty high too, although I've seen it on Sport Pursuit for about half that a few times.

https://www.zajo.net/uken/outdoor/oland ... 323-7.html
PH
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by PH »

horizon wrote:
PH wrote:
greencelery wrote:Sitting inside the tent on top of the bed it already felt like home. Just itching to take it on a trip outside.

Looking forward to photos of it in use, sounds like it'll suite your needs.


I think this is their blog:

https://homeiswhereyourbikeis.com/

It's quite a tale! (and brings this thread up to date). It certainly shows the Raptor in action!

Thanks for that Horizon, just had a glance and I'll go back for a proper look, some excellent photos.
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Graham
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by Graham »

horizon wrote:https://homeiswhereyourbikeis.com/

It's quite a tale! (and brings this thread up to date). It certainly shows the Raptor in action!

Armenia sounds nice :shock: :? . . . .
Thanks for the link . . .a rivitin' read.
leftpoole
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by leftpoole »

I’m uncertain how old this thread is. I’m reading it on my phone in a Hospital bed hooked up and feeling rather ill.
But I can say in all honesty that after ownership of quite a number of good quality tents, if you are a enthusiast camper you must bite the bullet and buy Hilleberg. You will not regret. Terra Nova are next in my list but numero uno is Hilleberg. Choose model wisely or buy two or three!
Attached photograph of my current resting place.
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Tangled Metal
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by Tangled Metal »

Terra Nova / Wild Country IMHO aren't the same companies they used to be. They've innovated a lot over the years but personally I no longer trust their quality.

Before the two companies merged they were equivalent companies and always seemed to produce good tents that directly competed against each other's products. Then the takeover by TM. Wild Country started to go down market and the name lost its reputation. That meant TN became the premium brand and WC below that. More recently WC started to improve but always with second level materials so like for like tents were always heavier or lower quality. The Zephyros is excellent but avoid hoolies.

TN well I'd still go for another make.

Hilleberg is a premium brand. Others include crux/lightwave, nordisk even helsport but they're slightly lower quality. As to all ending up with hilleberg I disagree. I do not need that performance and when I can get probably 90% of it for half the cost it's never going to be an option for me.
PhilD28
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Re: Robens Raptor

Post by PhilD28 »

Yes exactly my experience with recent Terra Nova offerings, not in the same league as my Hilleberg Staika.

Due to some problems with my Big Agnes groundsheet on a recent 3 month tour I picked up a Hubba Hubba in Avignon and then posted the Big Agnes home. I was very impressed by the Hubba Hubba, it was perfect for the remaining 2 months of this trip and I think for the price (1/3rd of the Staika and 1/2 the Big Agnes) I was very impressed, I anticipate plenty of use from it.
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