Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Specifically for cycle touring subjects & questions
willem jongman
Posts: 2750
Joined: 7 Jan 2008, 4:16pm

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by willem jongman »

I think my original question about the conditions in which it will need to be used still stands. I mention this since I recently used the Decathlon Quickhiker 2 and that I had liked this summer. However, this time the temperature was cold (around freezing) and even though I had a warm Exped Downmat mattress and a PHD combo of inner and outer bag it was cold enough for me to wake up. The reason was simple: the tent had ample mesh ventilation but unlike our Helsport and Hilleberg tents there was no way to close them. This is a tent for summers in France, but not for the cold in north western Europe. Beyond that, the tent was fine.
User avatar
horizon
Posts: 11275
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Cornwall

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by horizon »

I think it's time to call into question the whole issue of warmth in tents. We have sacrificed on the altar of light weight the other positive attributes of a tent such as robustness, warmth and, controversially perhaps, lack of condensation. On one Vango promotional video, the through-flow ventilation features were lauded (less condensation was the claimed benefit) while the porch groundsheet was said to be shaped to prevent draughts. So which is it?

Camping in the UK can be cold, wet and windy. In dry, clear, still weather, when the gales are taking a day off, the night-time temperature plummets (itself a problem) and condensation stalks the land. But the last thing you want is a tent with huge unclosable mesh vents. I'm still convinced that the best tent for UK lightweight camping has a fully enclosed cotton inner with optional vents and a polyester/nylon outer (flysheet). Warmth is an issue. I think that cotton got thrown out as the baby in the bathwater as synthetic materials took over.

Weight and cost favour synthetic (by a long way) but the issues of warmth and condensation point to a need for manufacturers to rethink their designs (and perhaps materials). European tents are already different from US tents in this regard and I think the difference should be further extended to make warmth a criterion for tents sold in the UK.
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
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5469
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by pjclinch »

My dad's Spacepacker Plus has a cotton inner, that being an option back int he late 80s on a number of Saunders' models. Robert Saunders knew what he was at with materials and by choosing a fine cotton managed to keep the weight and bulk penalty remarkably small... but having said that, I don't think that even when pitched the cotton inner has particularly clear advantages over a fine synthetic one with a light DWR coat (as in. e.g. my Spacepacker). And when it comes to airing and drying a cotton inner takes longer and the consequences of not doing it properly are more horrible.

Inners are not generally prone to condensation, and cotton isn't inherently more breathable than synthetics. What it does do is absorb moisture in to its structure, which is not actually a particularly useful thing.

Warmth is, I suspect, more to do with design than materials, at least as long as the outer materials are fundamentally windproof. A fly that goes down to the ground is a significant win for warmth, but there again it's a significant loss for coolness. You choose, you lose... One tent to do it all I'd take a ground-hugging fly, but if your camping is primarily in summer and particularly in nice weather (which is what a lot of camping is about) a deliberately cooler design may make more sense.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
pete75
Posts: 16370
Joined: 24 Jul 2007, 2:37pm

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by pete75 »

willem jongman wrote:I think my original question about the conditions in which it will need to be used still stands. I mention this since I recently used the Decathlon Quickhiker 2 and that I had liked this summer. However, this time the temperature was cold (around freezing) and even though I had a warm Exped Downmat mattress and a PHD combo of inner and outer bag it was cold enough for me to wake up. The reason was simple: the tent had ample mesh ventilation but unlike our Helsport and Hilleberg tents there was no way to close them. This is a tent for summers in France, but not for the cold in north western Europe. Beyond that, the tent was fine.


Yes they've changed the design. I bought one in early 2013 and it had zippable closures for the mesh on the doors.Current versions don't have them. That tent was so right in it's original format with Dac poles and pegs, lots of fully encloseable ventilation and what all "cosy" 2 man tents need - a separate door for each occupant.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
willem jongman
Posts: 2750
Joined: 7 Jan 2008, 4:16pm

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by willem jongman »

Current ones do not have DAC poles either. That only comes with the slightly more expensive ultralight series, which is fine with me. I will probably see one of their product managers soon, and I will raise the lacking mesh covers. On the other hand, and to be realistic, this tent will not be used much by people camping in bad weather. I bought it as a festival tent for my son.
yutkoxpo
Posts: 423
Joined: 20 Feb 2017, 5:12pm

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by yutkoxpo »

pjclinch wrote: A fly that goes down to the ground is a significant win for warmth, but there again it's a significant loss for coolness. You choose, you lose... One tent to do it all I'd take a ground-hugging fly, but if your camping is primarily in summer and particularly in nice weather (which is what a lot of camping is about) a deliberately cooler design may make more sense.

Pete.


What about the teepee design of tents with an expandable centre pole?
In cooler weather shorten the pole and and fly is snug to the ground. In warmer weather, raise the pole and voila, ventilation underneath.
User avatar
MrsHJ
Posts: 1822
Joined: 19 Aug 2010, 1:03pm
Location: Dartmouth, Devon.

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by MrsHJ »

I tend to look at these guys (recommended by someone on here). https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk

If I was to get a smaller tent (which is a possible for my next solo trip as I think inneed to cut out some weight) I'd be looking at something like the Big Agnes Fly Creek one man tent ( and why do they always say man?I ) currently I have a hubba hubba.
Psamathe
Posts: 17648
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by Psamathe »

MrsHJ wrote:I tend to look at these guys (recommended by someone on here). https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk
.....

I got lots of excellent advice from them.

So often when asking questions about products we ask leading questions which tells the sales person our "underlying choice" and they then know that their best chance to get a sale is to push what we've given away. It is refreshing when companies don't do that and over several telephone calls https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk were frequently telling me that tent x (that I liked the look of) was really not suitable for what I was intending.

Happened again yesterday as I'm after a pair of boots and was shocked as through e-mail to a very well known boot company they'd been saying "you want to look at the xxx or yyy" and I'd say "I don't like them what about the zzz that I do like" and they came straight out with "I wouldn't like to recommend them as they are not designed specifically for the activities you will be doing, they may be absolutely fine but they are more of a fashion boot." - which as a result probably means I wont be buying anything from their range! But the honesty is refreshing (and unusual).

Ian
User avatar
NATURAL ANKLING
Posts: 13780
Joined: 24 Oct 2012, 10:43pm
Location: English Riviera

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Post on tents is probably buy similar to sleeping bags and which bike do you like :-)
Not been camping for a few years, but itching to get out have a Go.
Problem is that Night hours is long Now we are in winter And I sleep so little So cycling in the night is only option.
What sort of boots is that Ian What activity Ian?
I’m a bit confused Was it the firm that you linked To you had frustrating advice from?

(Voice text it ain’t perfect)
NA Thinks Just End 2 End Return + Bivvy - Some day Soon I hope
You'll Still Find Me At The Top Of A Hill
Please forgive the poor Grammar I blame it on my mobile and phat thinkers.
Psamathe
Posts: 17648
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by Psamathe »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:....
What sort of boots is that Ian What activity Ian?
I’m a bit confused Was it the firm that you linked To you had frustrating advice from?.....

I didn't mean to link to frustrating advice - the https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk gave good advice even when that was contrary to my preference/bias (i.e. they would not just go along with what the customer thinks they want to make a sale). e.g. I'd say I liked the look of tent x (light, spacious, etc.) and they'd reply e.g. it would not stand-up well to my intended trip. Would have been so easy for them to say "Great tent, what's your credit card number" and made a sale but they know their product range and gave me good advice (everything they recommended worked well).

(A bit off topic) but: Boots: Hoping to go backpacking/travelling to rugged areas soon and I thought Timberland boots might be a good compromise for respectable (in hotels) yet robust enough for mountain hikes. Seems they do some that are so designed that I don't like and the ones I do like they were honest enough to say they were "not designed for that" and more of a "fashion boot" - refreshing when companies are honest in their advice even if it loses them a sale.

Ian
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5469
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by pjclinch »

Psamathe wrote:(A bit off topic) but: Boots: Hoping to go backpacking/travelling to rugged areas soon and I thought Timberland boots might be a good compromise for respectable (in hotels) yet robust enough for mountain hikes.


Mountain hikes don't need anything particularly over-the-top, unless it's the sort of conditions that call for crampons.

I do most of my Munro-bagging in sandals (warm half of the year) and shoes (cooler times but not with snow down, or if I'm expecting foot-jams on scrambles or scree).

There's a good Chris Townsend Blog post on how you don't need dreadnoughts with high cuffs just because it's not in town. And there's plenty of reasonably smart walking shoes that will see you up a hill and through a hotel lobby. The main points are they need to fit you well, and they need a suitably gnarly outsole, so something like Brasher Country Roamers, for example, will cope with most things where you're not going radically off-piste.

Where the fashion stuff tends to be so-so is the outsole. Look for a fairly deep tread with cleats and/or studs.

Waterproofing turns out to be a mixed blessing: waterproof means less breathable so your feet get sweatier and it also means if water gets in (typically through the big hole at the top, either from a deeper-than-anticipated puddle or rain wicking down your trousers and socks) it never gets out again. But a bit of care and combining with gaiters, dry feet on a cold day is a great day not to have uncomfortably chilled tootsies.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Psamathe
Posts: 17648
Joined: 10 Jan 2014, 8:56pm

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by Psamathe »

pjclinch wrote:
Psamathe wrote:(A bit off topic) but: Boots: Hoping to go backpacking/travelling to rugged areas soon and I thought Timberland boots might be a good compromise for respectable (in hotels) yet robust enough for mountain hikes.


Mountain hikes don't need anything particularly over-the-top, unless it's the sort of conditions that call for crampons.

I do most of my Munro-bagging in sandals (warm half of the year) and shoes (cooler times but not with snow down, or if I'm expecting foot-jams on scrambles or scree).

There's a good Chris Townsend Blog post on how you don't need dreadnoughts with high cuffs just because it's not in town. And there's plenty of reasonably smart walking shoes that will see you up a hill and through a hotel lobby. The main points are they need to fit you well, and they need a suitably gnarly outsole, so something like Brasher Country Roamers, for example, will cope with most things where you're not going radically off-piste.

Where the fashion stuff tends to be so-so is the outsole. Look for a fairly deep tread with cleats and/or studs.

Waterproofing turns out to be a mixed blessing: waterproof means less breathable so your feet get sweatier and it also means if water gets in (typically through the big hole at the top, either from a deeper-than-anticipated puddle or rain wicking down your trousers and socks) it never gets out again. But a bit of care and combining with gaiters, dry feet on a cold day is a great day not to have uncomfortably chilled tootsies.

Pete.

Sorry for having taken the thread off-topic but recommendations on the original question seem to have been provided and seem to have gone quiet.

Thanks. I have been going round in circles somewhat, buying and sending back. Yesterday sent back a pair of https://www.teva.co.uk/1018741.html
I thought they might double as casual and walking with ankle support but when the arrived very much traditional hiking books (though only weighing 1.2 Kg a pair).

I think my old Merrell Chameleon shoes will be travelling with me (if I ever get to depart!). A small step up from trainers but with Vibram soles and moderately heavy at close to 1Kg per pair). I don't like them aesthetically (too many colours/panels) but they are comfortable. Maybe a pair of Converse things for slightly smarter wear (towns and cities) as they weigh very little.Image

What has thrown me a bit is that so many have written about the need for ankle support but I'm beginning to suspect that a lot of the reality behind what people write is a refusal to look critically at their own choices - people writing about how you really should take heavy clunky hiking boots (which is what they did) whilst others say how tennis shoes are good (and guess what they took) .....

I suspect I've been over researching but reason is many years ago I spent a few days camping alone up a Costa Rican volcano in the rainforest and ended up having to walk out with one sole half detached from the upper and the other separating fast. It was not a serious issue but made me appreciate the need to get reliable footwear.

Ian
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5469
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by pjclinch »

Psamathe wrote:
What has thrown me a bit is that so many have written about the need for ankle support but I'm beginning to suspect that a lot of the reality behind what people write is a refusal to look critically at their own choices - people writing about how you really should take heavy clunky hiking boots (which is what they did) whilst others say how tennis shoes are good (and guess what they took) .....


Indeed.

Ankle support for walking is a sacred cow, or at least the need for special high cuffs on footwear to provide it for uninjured walkers. There is nothing inherently inadequate about the evolved form of the human ankle that means it won't cope with a walk up a hill, otherwise our ancestors would have died out long before they invented boots. As long as you use them, your ankles should get all the support they need for walking from the bones, tendons and muscles there for the job.
Where you may well want extra support is (outside of an injury) when you're doing stuff completely beyond what ankles have evolved to do, so edging skis on ice, front-point crampon climbing, marathon skating etc., and in these cases the function of the boot is generally to take the ankle out of the equation and pass the load up to the heavier ordnance further up the leg (broken ankles used to be a problem in skiing, doesn't happen much now but people break their legs instead...). What you find in a lot of genuinely ankle-supportive footwear is it makes walking actually quite awkward, because your ankle can't move freely due to the support. Lighter supporting footwear, like skate boots, let the ankle flex freely forwards but give lateral support, and while this is useful skating it's still a problem walking on rough ground because you can't let your foot conform to a sloping surface is you'd do naturally barefoot or in lighter shoes.

You'll get a fair bit of useful ankle support from a decent pair of shoes, where that support amounts to holding the base secure so you've got a stable platform but no actual restriction of moving the joint. Beyond that, being able to move it freely makes walking less tiring and easier.

Chunky boots have their place. Aside from crampon work, a stiff sole lets you kick steps in snow and turf, and on very rough ground distributes pressure over your whole foot. A high cuff helps keeps stones and water out and protects on scree. But mine only come out in winter these days.

Psamathe wrote:I suspect I've been over researching but reason is many years ago I spent a few days camping alone up a Costa Rican volcano in the rainforest and ended up having to walk out with one sole half detached from the upper and the other separating fast. It was not a serious issue but made me appreciate the need to get reliable footwear.


Reliable doesn't necessitate "boots" though, just "well made"

The thing that convinced me I was wrong about boots (having gone through the traditional view of them being essential) was entering a mountain marathon. A couple of thousand folk yomping over what looked like ankle-breaking terrain, carrying rucksacks with camping gear on a giant two-day orienteering exercise, and almost everyone was wearing fell shoes (think of a trainer with no midsole and a studded outsole, no midsole means lower so less chance of turning a foot over and most of the ground is soft so no need for cushioning). I still go orienteering a fair bit, and again this involves plenty of terrain that most people would think would need ankle support, but in practice people using it are dealing with injuries rather it being a basic need.
Here's a "normal" O-shoe...
Image
and here's the supporting version...
Image
Note the plastic cradle and cinch strap on the high one to give genuine support while still allowing fore/aft flex. You don't get that degree of genuine support on a lot of walking boots.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
paddler
Posts: 236
Joined: 8 Oct 2017, 9:13am
Location: Norfolk

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by paddler »

Plenty of people hike the entire Appalachian Trail wearing running shoes, although most use walking shoes such as the Merrells shown above. Running shoes wear out really quickly in that terrain. The sole (sorry) reason is to save weight. I did the first 600miles in boots as I had them, but then switched to shoes. No goretex since they will eventually get soaked through then take ages to dry. The only thing is, they don't last as long, so I ended up going through three pairs.

I did see one or two people who tried shoes but then went back to boots, so they don't necessarily work for everyone.

Dave
User avatar
foxyrider
Posts: 6044
Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 10:25am
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Re: Please suggest a good 1-person tent

Post by foxyrider »

MrsHJ wrote:I tend to look at these guys (recommended by someone on here). https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk

If I was to get a smaller tent (which is a possible for my next solo trip as I think inneed to cut out some weight) I'd be looking at something like the Big Agnes Fly Creek one man tent ( and why do they always say man?I ) currently I have a hubba hubba.


Don't take it personally, its nothing about gender but a contraction of human.
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Post Reply