looking for advice on a tent.

[TomD]

I have a big Agnes copper spur bikepacking tent.

I'd happily recommend their tents. I used the 1 man version of the Fly Creek this summer and was excellent. This is their very light 2 person tent -> Big Agnes Fly Creek HV UL2

[st599_uk]

I've got a nice, large ultralight tent that uses hiking poles (or carbon fibre poles) that's huge and great for summer.

Wouldn't use it in winter but for spring/summer it's great and weights 1200g.

They're available under quite a few brand names, Lanshan UL is one.

[Astrobike]

If you want a good cheap tent try the helm 1 from Tera Nova great small tent with room for you and your bags
And if you are not over 6 foot you can sit up in it ,I love mine it stood up to the strong winds and rain
In the Hebrides this year

[Witzend]

I've used Vango, TNF and Robens amongst others, but I'd consider a Wild Country Zephyros. I've used the 1 man and it's stood up to year round wild camping, it's 1.4Kg and I got mine for under £100 new. They do a 2 man 'Compact' version (shorter pole sections for easier pannier packing) at 1.8Kg and around £150 new if you shop around.

[Jamesh]

I have just brought a Vango soul 200 / nx200 tent as my daughter has a soul300 which is excellent.

I should have got the soul100 but the 200 was in-store and I got tempted! Approx 400gns heavier!

Soul 100 is cheap in eBay ATM.

[Sweep]

I have just brought a Vango soul 200 / nx200 tent as my daughter has a soul300 which is excellent.

I should have got the soul100 but the 200 was in-store and I got tempted! Approx 400gns heavier!

Soul 100 is cheap in eBay ATM.

Fibreglass poles though - I personally wouldn't use a tent with fibreglass poles for any sort of bike camping, though have fond memories of a cheap and effective fibreglass poled Vango when I used to carcamp.
Far easier to carry spares and sort any issues mid-trip with an alloy poled tent.
Not dissing Vango I stress - I have three Vango tents.

[willem jongman]

I think expected weather is an important variable. We have two sets of tents, for cold and wet weather and for warm or hot weather. For years we mostly camped in north western Europe, so we had Scandinavian outer first tents - currently a Hilleberg Nammatj 3 GT for the two of us and a Helsport Ringstind 2 UL for my solo trips. However, these tents were pretty uncomfortable in hot weather, and rather expensive to expose to Mediterranean sunlight. So we then bought a much cheaper MSR ZOIC 3 with a mesh inner in a sale for a tour in Italy, and loved it so much that we also bought a ZOIC 1 in a sale for solo use.

[horizon]

I think expected weather is an important variable. We have two sets of tents, for cold and wet weather and for warm or hot weather.

For summer camping in the UK I use the warmest tent I have available: nights can often go down to about 5 deg C or even less.

For winter camping in the UK I use the warmest tent I have available, though 13 deg C is the currently predicted temperature for tomorrow night in Cornwall (3rd January).

For camping in France and Spain in July I leave the door open.

So what makes a tent warm or cold?

[PH]

So what makes a tent warm or cold?

If you look at a few European and US designs, you'll start to spot the differences. The European prioritise weather sealing and warmth over ventilation and the US the opposite. The amount of mesh and whether the fly goes all the way to the ground are the obvious ones, though there's several others.
It's not unusual for enthusiasts to have several tents, as with bikes, that's not to say you can't manage with one, it's just a matter of deciding which design best suits your likely usage.

[willem jongman]

Our Hilleberg and Helsport outer first four season tents are quite uncomfortable in hot weather such as we had this summer in France. Since the sun also ages these expensive tents pretty quickly I decided to get the much cheaper summer tents for more comfort and to postpone expenditure on replacing the Hilleberg. My experience has also persuaded me that using these US style tents in colder wet weather is undesirable. So I would not use them for a summer holiday in the Netherlands or the UK, unless for the kind of summer weather that is becoming more common now. But for summers in for example Italy, absolutely.

[horizon]

So what makes a tent warm or cold?

If you look at a few European and US designs, you'll start to spot the differences. The European prioritise weather sealing and warmth over ventilation and the US the opposite. The amount of mesh and whether the fly goes all the way to the ground are the obvious ones, though there's several others.
It's not unusual for enthusiasts to have several tents, as with bikes, that's not to say you can't manage with one, it's just a matter of deciding which design best suits your likely usage.

Thanks for that. I think Hilleberg do one where you have a choice of two inners (one being an optional extra), mesh and full cover. I think that's a sensible idea. My point though was mainly that in the UK at least you would be hard pressed to find the difference in seasons, a warm tent always being the better option. Others however might have experienced things differently.

[willem jongman]

I fully agree that for UK summers these US style tents are too cold, although here in the Netherlands we have recently had a few summers with some really hot weeks where I would take my US tent.
I know Hilleberg have optional mesh only inner tents, but that is both a very expensive solution, and still not quite as well ventilated as my MSR Zoic, not to mention the wear from UV light.

[Carlton green]

So what makes a tent warm or cold?

If you look at a few European and US designs, you'll start to spot the differences. The European prioritise weather sealing and warmth over ventilation and the US the opposite. The amount of mesh and whether the fly goes all the way to the ground are the obvious ones, though there's several others.
It's not unusual for enthusiasts to have several tents, as with bikes, that's not to say you can't manage with one, it's just a matter of deciding which design best suits your likely usage.

Thank you to you both of you for the question and for the answer. It’s kind of obvious now that you say it, but to the onlooker it’s potentially expensive guess work.

As I read it one of the keys to happy camping is getting the right tent for the season. Outside of the UK’s summer season that’s one with: a flysheet that both covers all of the inner (no open ends) and comes down to the ground, and an inner who’s walls closely impede the flow away of warm / warmed air (so assisting a higher rather than cooler temperature to be maintained). The inner material still needs to allow water vapour (from our sweat and breath, etc.) to pass outwards into a moderately ventilated space between the inner and outer tent - and from there away to outside of the tent. Not sure about the amount of flysheet / outer tent ventilation (excess draft takes heat away too) but freezing in your own condensation / perspiration isn’t recommended.

What insulation material you have between you and the ground is a separate but very relevant topic.

I’ve no plans to camp in colder weather - surely it’s a Summer only activity - but on the other hand understanding what to aim for and having suitable gear both makes once dismissed activities a practical possibility and gives a margin of safety.

[BikeBuddha]

I use an Aarn Pacer Tent, but they are only available from New Newland, though I believe there is a
European distributor.

https://www.aarnpacks.com/collections/t ... arn-2-tent

I select the same tents I would use in the Scottish Highlands for hiking. I chose this tent as you can replace the centre pole with hiking poles, which I plan to take on bike, for extensive touring/farming/hiking trips.

Good in the wind, with ample head room to sit up in (and meditate).

The footprint is not great, though, so I would pack another footprint. I am thinking of weed barrier.

[PH]

jags seems to have found a tent without spending any money, those have to be the best sort! Just as well he has, several of the suggestions seem very similar to the Akto he had and hated!