Freestanding tents

[thayer19]

Was wondering people's thoughts on whether freestanding should be a necessity when looking for tents for a long-term tour.

Cheers

[tatanab]

Necessity - no.
I cycle camped for many years with tunnel tents and single pole tents. About 5 years ago I had a hot and very dry tour where I had to tie my tent to bushes or find rocks to secure guys etc because the ground was so hard. When I got home I bought a tent that can be freestanding; my old single pole tent was at the end of its useful life so I was due a new tent anyway.

[pjclinch]

This...



is a non-freestanding tunnel tent pitched on about 1 inch of turf over a shingle beach. If memory serves we got (or sort of got) two pegs in, and for the rest just used rocks. As you can see, it worked fine.

I do have a free-standing tent I use sea-kayaking where camp sites tend to be a bit more marginal than from a bike, but before I bought it I've never been prevented from using a campsite because my single-hoop non-free-standing tent wouldn't go up, and that includes some very rocky skerries in Norway. It would have been easier with a free-standing tent, yes, but it would also have meant carrying extra weight and bulk everywhere, which is much less of an issue when paddling as opposed to pedalling.

Bearing in mind strategies like carrier-bags of stones attached to guys it takes a lot to stop you pitching a tunnel tent. How much time you'll spend where that sort of faff is necessary would be the decider for me whether I chose a free-stander for a trip. If all else is equal you'll get less space at the same weight, or more weight at the same space, compared to a tunnel or pyramid.

If you do go free-standing note the distinction between completely free-standing, and self-supporting where the tent will stand but porches still need pegging out. If you really want to avoid any pegging faff in e.g. loose stony desert soil then a fully free-standing design (e.g. Hilleberg Allak) will do that. They'll still be better if guyed (again, possibly to rocks or bags of sand/stones), especially if it's windy, and even if it isn't then don't forget to put something heavy inside to stop it blowing away in an unexpected gust!

Pete.

[simonineaston]

The one thing I do slightly miss about my last free-standing tent was the ability to pick it up by its balance point and put it exactly where it best lay - no 'deal-breaker' tho'...

[pjclinch]

The one thing I do slightly miss about my last free-standing tent was the ability to pick it up by its balance point and put it exactly where it best lay - no 'deal-breaker' tho'...

Another neat feature is the way you can empty all the crunge out of the inner by just picking it up, turning it on its side with the door open and giving it a good shake.

Moving a tunnel is easy enough if there's two of you, but brushing out the inner is always more of a faff. Two minutes of faff versus all night with more space or all day with less weight/bulk, I'll generally take the two minutes faff though...

Pete.

[b1ke]

I'm after a freestander at the moment. We used an MSR Hubba Hubba in north and west Africa last year and it was superb. Pitched it in a car park on tarmac, low grade rooms with cockroaches and in the Sahara where the ground was too tough for decent penetration with pegs. Obviously depends where you're heading but I think freestanding is probably the most versatile tent option.

[thayer19]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm looking at the MSR hubba hubba hence my question, just need to make my mind up quickly before they vanish. Seems stupid MSR discontinued the tent.

[pjclinch]

I don't think MSR have discontinued it, but have evolved it in to the HH NX model. See http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/tents/experience-series/category

If you are mopping up older stock note that the HP model is a bit lighter and a bit stronger than the standard one, though a bit more expensive. Also has less mesh in the inner, which is either good or bad depending on where you are...

In any case, good tents. He have an H-HP and an HH-HP. MSR quite reasonably only claim 3 season, and that means they'll not do snow that well (high cut fly), but that's not a big problem on most cycle trips.

Pete.

[thayer19]

Ah yeah so they have evolved it, I only thought they did it in red/silver now but it appears they also have a green one (not sure if that is a newer version one though). The carbon reflex 2 looks quite a good tent, haven't read any substantial reviews on it though.

[pjclinch]

The carbon ones use carbon poles rather than alloy. That's a bit lighter, but not so strong/reliable. For a big, long tour I'd go for reliable over a few grammes.

A quick Google did reveal a HH NX in green on a German site so they'll presumably filter in to more general circulation. The whiteish will probably give nicer light inside though.

Pete.

[phil parker]

I bought my free standing tent (Hilleberg Soulo) for use in the mountains to deal with the ever receding snow line and the need to pitch on rock, which is much more of a necessity these days. Although I have used it for cycle-camping, especially in really poor weather, it weighs almost the same as my Nallo 2 GT/Namatj 2, which are much roomier and more practical for use in the UK and can still withstand anything the UK weather can throw at it. Extreme gale force winds (in May 2013) broke one of the carbon poles on my Easton Kilo so I am very wary about weight saving over being robust!

[ipswichcycler]

How about big agnes copper spur ul 2

http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/ ... -ul2-p2568

[F70100]

crunge

"Word of the day" that one!!