Pictures of your tents.

[yutkoxpo]

My old Coleman Coastline along the Rhine. Cheap, heavy, but tough as old boots.

[phil parker]

IMG_20180505_100018687.jpg
My Exped Orion. A difficult tent to love.

Why is it difficult to love?

I ask because i have bought one of these (UL version), but not yet used it on a tour!

[yutkoxpo]

IMG_20180505_100018687.jpg
My Exped Orion. A difficult tent to love.

Why is it difficult to love?

I ask because i have bought one of these (UL version), but not yet used it on a tour!

The first issue is that it is not freestanding. And I mean that in 2 ways.
First of all, if it is not pegged out at all, and you do not use the specific footprint you have to have some weight in the inner to stop it blowing away. Now that might be the way with all freestanding tents, but the Orion is higher than most, therefore more vulnerable to wind.
Secondly, and this is the big issue, it does not sit flat naturally. I mean that it tilts to one side or the other. I have the idea that the sequence of inserting the poles has something to do with this. (Exped have changed their setup video from when I first purchased mine.) By playing around with the poles, the tension etc, especially the central pole, you can achieve equilibrium, but it's finicky and not what I would have expected from such a brand. And of course, more difficult in places where pegging out is limited - the original reason I chose this model.

In "natural state" it tilts to one side. 1Ltr fuel bottle for perspective.

In a similar vein, one side of the tent hugs the ground, the opposite is higher - a unique feature to promote air flow. In reality it means that at least one panel is tricky to peg out.

Continuing the theme, it's not a good idea to remove the inner otherwise attaching it the next time is more difficult. It will probably require repegging the fly a couple of times to attach the inner. Again, finicky. (I usually remove the inner at the end of a trip to make sure both fly and inner are dried properly before long term storage). In normal use, dropping the inner, say to create more space is possible, but not easy.

I have had issues with condensation that I haven't had before (or since) with other tents, mostly in winter use. I think I've finally figured this out - it's the lack of the official footprint. There's a lot of exposed ground in the vestibules that's a great source of moisture. Covering up these areas had a big impact.

I did a lot of research before buying this tent. I spoke online to a guy who had used one for years on his bike and who spoke highly of the model. As it turned out, he used his mostly for hub and spoke tours, staying in one place for days at a time. So much for my research!
In my opinion, that is what this tent is good for. Setting it up can be frustrating at the end of the day - tired, hungry, perhaps racing against the weather. Leaving it set up for days at a time is less stressful.

There's no doubt it's a quality product, strong & robust. We coexist, but I wouldn't describe it as a love story

[phil parker]

Thank you very much for a very useful and detailed reply !

[yutkoxpo]

Thank you very much for a very useful and detailed reply !

Come back and share your experiences too!

[Sweep]

DSCF0076.JPG
My old Coleman Coastline along the Rhine. Cheap, heavy, but tough as old boots.

I like cheap and tough. Bought a few "too finessed" camping things.

What tent do you use these days Hobbes? Why did you retire the coleman? Did you get another?

[yutkoxpo]

DSCF0076.JPG
My old Coleman Coastline along the Rhine. Cheap, heavy, but tough as old boots.

I like cheap and tough. Bought a few "too finessed" camping things.

What tent do you use these days Hobbes? Why did you retire the coleman? Did you get another?

Haven't camped since September, unfortunately.
I was looking forward to trying out my Hexpeak in the winter, but that never happened.
Both the exped and hexpeak are ready for use.

I donated the Coleman to a good home, I hope!

I wanted a freestanding tent for a specific tour I wanted to do. I loved the Coleman and investigated ways of making it freestanding, but that was a fool's errand. Hence the exped. In the meantime the planned tour was pushed back and since the exped relationship is difficult I got the Hexpeak which I really like, but of course, is not freestanding.

[Sweep]

If you still hanker after freestanding I can recommend the Robens Lodge2. Tent sale time soon

[Thehairs1970]

So this is what we toured with first. Weighed about 10kg.

[Thehairs1970]

Now moved on to smaller things. Ours is a Wild Country Hoolie 3 ETC. Weighs in around 3.5kg. The other is a Vango Banshee 300. About 600g lighter but not a huge amount of storage space for a 3 man. Bikes are just behind the tents. Up against the tree. Honest!

[IaninSheffield]

Bought this Force10 Xenon UL2 just over a year ago and it's only recently had its first outing.
Here 'tis at 'Conkers' C&CC site on a recent tour.

Did a little 'unbagging' vid a while ago:
[youtube]qYN7OJoZmt4[/youtube]
(Audio not great I'm afraid!)

[mercalia]

I am surprised they call that a Force 10 tent as it dont look it would stand up to a gale?

[IaninSheffield]

I am surprised they call that a Force 10 tent as it dont look it would stand up to a gale?

Had one lively night (although granted, not a gale) and it was fine. We shall see.

[Mike Sales]

I am surprised they call that a Force 10 tent as it dont look it would stand up to a gale?

Had one lively night (although granted, not a gale) and it was fine. We shall see.

Force 10 Beaufort is a storm, used to be called a strong gale.

Effects.

Seldom experienced inland; trees uprooted; considerable structural damage.

Vango are a bit over the top with their hype.

[IaninSheffield]

@Mike Well I can certainly vouch so far that it qualifies as a Force 5 ... and if that's all it ever encounters, I'll be fine with that