Cycling UK Forum

Hello, I am looking for recommendations on touring tents. I am looking for a 2 to 3 person tent (for 2 with a bit of space) and want a large porch area suitable for gear and maybe 2 bikes. Ideally I want a free standing tent and something where the inner and outer pitch together for wet weather. I would like a low weight (under 2.5kg) and an inner floor length of at least 2m as I am 6' 6". I want a high quality tent and budget can go up to £400.

Thanks

Hilleberg Nammatj 3 GT. None better. Many cheaper but inferior.

Thanks Bickpacker but is that tent able to stand without guys? I would like stand alone ideally so that you have to option to sleep without the flysheet if conditions allow and obviously on hard ground you dont need to bash that many pegs in.

Thanks again.

The Nammatj does need pegs to hold it up. 2 at each end would be the absolute minimum, but you'd want more for the guys if you weren't sure of the weather.

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There isn't anything that's free-standing, less than 2.5kg and has a porch you could think about putting a bike in, so you'll have to compromise somewhere.

If you want the large porch, you would probably be best off with an extended tunnel like the Nammatj GT.
If you got a geodesic with an extended porch (if there are any), the porch part would still need pegging out even though the main compartment was self-supporting, and the extra poles needed for the geodesic structure are all added weight.

If you want self-supporting, I'd suggest the Hilleberg Allak. Unlike most, the porch areas are included in the self-supporting structure, and they are big enough for 2 sets of panniers without blockading yourself into the tent. It's over weight at 2.9kg, but anything lighter would have a fair bit less porch space. To pitch inner-only would need an extra pole holder kit. About £450 from Alpenstock.

I have just been on the Sustrans 'Clyde tae Forth' ride, camping at different sites daily on a route from Glasgow to Edinburgh.

I used a Hilleberg Nammatj 3 GT, sharing with a son who is 6'4". The porch area took all our panniers with space left over. This tent is one of the best for touring.

The Nammatj 3 GT porch and entrance is probably too small for a bike. If getting a bike or two under cover is a top priority then consider using the Hilleberg Stalon Combi 2 with a roof extension.

Bikerpacker might correct me if I'm wrong, but I think it might be a bit tight to get 2 bikes and gear in the vestibule of the Nammatj GT 3, it would depend on the size of your bikes. If you want a bit more room for two bikes in the vestibule, then could I suggest looking at the Hilleberg Stalon Combi 2 with extension, which is about the same weight but gives you an advantage over the Nammatj GT 3 of having the rear vestibule and entrance which is good if you have the bike stored in the other vestibule. The only down side of the Stalon Combi 2 is the inner tent is a bit smaller than the Nammatj GT 3

Unfortunately the Stalon Combi 2 is a bit heavier than your 2.5kg at 3.5kg plus 789g for the extension. Both the Nammatj GT 3 and the Stalon Combi 2 can be pitched without the outer using extra pole holders which you can buy separately.

We have the original Stalon GT which we can get two bikes in the vestibule easily if we wanted to and that was the reason we originally bought the Stalon GT, however we have never put the bikes inside as we just like the extra room in the vestibule.

As Bikepacker says they are quality tents, not cheap but worth every penny.

Thanks for the advice. I think a Hilleberg of some form is a top runner in my search for the optimal and elusive 'perfect tent'! I appreciate I may be looking at a compromise somewhere but the searching is part of the fun too.

I picked up on these US tents from a travellers website, http://www.bigagnes.com/str_tents.php?bid=9. They look to satisfy alot of the criteria but can anybody vouch for them?

TIA

Hi, Sorry to go off of the Hilleberg route but why not cover the bikes and use a Quechua Tent eg the 2 or 3 second series.

I find that after a day of cycling the last thing I want to do is anything that involves effort!

The tents pop up instantly and depending which you choose you can buy a very light one that can pack up very small (packs away in about 20 seconds once you get the hang of it)

A simple cheap polethene cover would do for the bikes wouldnt it?

I had a little competition with a guy who had one of the popup tents and me with my Nammatj 2GT. He beat me by 34 seconds getting it out of the bag and erected with a footprint (extra groundsheet). Next morning packing it away I beat him by over 2 minutes. They are not easy to get down to the packable size.

It is not suprising that the cycle campers who do it the most, seem to recommend Hilleberg.

RubberMan wrote:Thanks Bickpacker but is that tent able to stand without guys? I would like stand alone ideally so that you have to option to sleep without the flysheet if conditions allow and obviously on hard ground you dont need to bash that many pegs in.

Thanks again.

The only quality tent I know of that will meet the above criteria is the new Terra Nova Quasar Superlite. You won't be able to get the bikes inside but, the previous suggestion of covering them separately seems like a good one. I've used a Nallo 2 for many years and can vouch for the quality of Hilleberg tents. How about a Nallo 2GT at 2.5 kgs.

Terra Nova tents are very good (used a Voyager for years) but it's probably a little snug for you - I'd second the Quasar.

Thanks for the further suggestions which I will research and scrutinise.

The option to cover the bikes is fine and what I will do most of the time, I thought the 'ideal' or 'nice to have' would be the option to effectively hide the bikes in the tent if we were leaving them for a day. Putting them in a porch being a bit more discreet than a cover.

I will follow up on all the options suggested, again much appreciated.

Terra Nova http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/Brand/Terra ... LLG3G.html Laserlarge 3 - very similar to the Hilleberg tunnels - 2.1kg!

Hi can't comment on suggesions so far, but we used a Stormlite 200 tunnel tent on our recent 2 week camping tour.

http://www.shop-com.co.uk/Stormlite_Tun ... 5-p!.shtml

held up very well. We got our trailer in the porch easily, not sure about bikes, you may get them in, but access to the tent may be hindered.......

You can pitch the inner only if you want, but otherwise it is inner first pitching.

Oh, and it comes with some pretty good pegs, which is great for a tent at this price!

The only tent I know what fits your bill is the Big Agnes Emerald Mountain SL3 with extra porch. Available from http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/ ... 7eb3a65176
It isn't cheap but nothing else is as light vrs roomy.

The Hilleberg range of tents are very well made but in my experience of owning a two man Nallo they are neither the lightest or strongest and the tunnel design is very noisy in anything more than light wind. I think they are a little overpriced and over hyped but its only my opinion.