Tent choice for Outer Hebrides in June

[Bullsnut]

Next week (4th June) I’m starting my South to North cycle tour of the Hebrides.
I have two tents, the Vango Banshee 200 and the Naturehike Cloud up 2. My plan all along was to take the Naturehike due to being considerably lighter but now I’m having doubts. I’ve spoke to a couple of folk on the island who say they’ve had a few nights of howling winds up to 50 mph and having looked at the forecasts the next week or two seems to average 15-20mph winds. I’ve slept in a storm in the banshee and because of the tension banding system was superb but have only slept in the naturehike in calm weather.
Looking for thought particularly from anyone who’s cycled the Hebridean Way and familiar with either of these tents.

[Jdsk]

Have you found the Gatliff Hebridean Hostels Trust?
https://gatliff.org.uk

No bookings and no-one is turned away. The hostels could be a useful fallback if the wind gets too high.

Jonathan

[mxg01]

I was there September last year. I used the Gatliffe hostel on Berneray when there was a storm.

I took my Vango Helium F10 UL2 tent which was fine. I have a Banshee 200 and that would have been fine too. The Helium is lighter but it's stood up to some very high winds. Both tents are fairly similar in design, but with different pole setups. Unfortunately I know nothing about the Naturehike Cloud tent. There are some pretty exposed camping spots so I'd go with what you know and take the Banshee.

Go west on Lewis if you can. Uig is well worth a visit and there is a great camping spot there.

[scottm]

When I cycled there a few years ago, I used a Coleman tent of the same design as the Banshee. The weather was fine though, no more wind than you'd get on the mainland on a pleasant day.
I don't remember ever camping anywhere particularly exposed, apart from the semi-official Horgabost campsite on Harris. I was usually able to tuck myself away for a bit of shelter.
I now use a Naturehike (different model from Cloud Up), and unless I knew the wind was going to be particularly bad, I'd favour the more space I get from that over the streamlined Banshee shape.

[pjclinch]

Pals toured there with a cheap Eurohike dome, it was fine. We used a very expensive Hilleberg Kaitum 3 and it was fine too, and allowed us to e.g. park on a dune with no shelter from a gale force wind for a night.
If it's stupidly windy there are hostels etc. as mentioned. We spent our first night in B&B as we were a little green from a bumpy crossing!

Pete.

[Paulatic]

Camped, middle of May, at Shawbost (Lewis) woken up around two in the morning with the sound of flapping tents. The wind had got up, my Berghaus was fine but, others were out desperately hanging on to tents.
I soon fell back to sleep and I think the wind probably fell as fast as it had risen.

[mattsccm]

Doubt it matters. The tent needs, in my opinion, a decent midge proof inner and the ability to pitch outer first in the rain.

[Thehairs1970]

Id go with the one you KNOW can stand up to breeze - the Banshee or at least trial the other one. OH can be VERY windy even in summer months. We toured there with our kids a couple of years ago. My son’s Banshee was good in the big gale we had as was our Wild Country tunnel. However, it was so windy in one place, we guyed the tents to a picnic bench that was concreted in - just in case!

Also worth considering the warmth of the tent. It can be chilly.

[toontra]

Have you found the Gatliff Hebridean Hostels Trust?
https://gatliff.org.uk

No bookings and no-one is turned away. The hostels could be a useful fallback if the wind gets too high.

Jonathan

Thanks for this. Never knew about these. I'm tempted to have another OH tour - the first one in 2009 was fantastic and I have fond memories, but some of the hostels were basic (putting it politely).

[Jdsk]

Have you found the Gatliff Hebridean Hostels Trust?
https://gatliff.org.uk

No bookings and no-one is turned away. The hostels could be a useful fallback if the wind gets too high.

Thanks for this. Never knew about these. I'm tempted to have another OH tour - the first one in 2009 was fantastic and I have fond memories, but some of the hostels were basic (putting it politely).

We used them in 2008. Some were very ropey and we could see the stars through the roof in one as we lay in the beds.

Then they were closed during the outbreak.

I don't know what condition they are in now.

Jonathan

PS: Howmore is the only place where I've ever seen a corncrake.

[deejayen]

I've not used either tent, but the Banshee would appear to be a safer option.

I have a Terra Nova tent which is vaguely similar to your Naturehike, and on the two occasions I've attempted to pitch it the wind has been fairly strong (cliff-top pitch in Scotland) and I've given up and used the alternative tent I'd taken as a backup (car camping).

The Naturehike seems to have two pole sections at each end (my Terra Nova only has a single pole at one end) so perhaps that will help, but I found the tent was quite vulnerable during the pitching process.

Stability might be fine when securely pegged and guyed out, but there are some large, steep panels which can catch the wind, plus the high cut flysheet. If you have some experience with your tent then you'll obviously have a better idea of how it might cope in a storm.

You might get great weather, in which case you'd appreciate the Naturehike, but the islands can be pretty miserable places; even moreso if you're struggling to pitch your tent, or if it's in danger of being damaged. Even constant flapping with the flysheet being pressed against the inner can make tent life unpleasant.

[Vantage]

+1 for the Vango.
2 chaps did a test of the cloud up on YouTube on a windy night and it didn't fare well at all. As said above, those side panels are like sails.
https://youtu.be/JyF0mI4f8Qc?si=boJndlEWgRHxkA2T

[Bullsnut]

Thank you for all those replies and valuable advice. I kept checking my emails not realising I wasn’t getting notifications from the forum so actually didn’t think anyone had replied. Can’t find a way to turn them on either.
From all of the above I’ve decided to take the Vango Banshee. Okay it’s a bit heavy but it has weathered some strong winds and I love the tension banding system that gives it that extra strength. I set it up on the lawn today and reproofed it with the Nikwax tent and solar proof as it’s not been used for a couple of years.
Thanks also for the suggestions regarding hostels. I bought the cycling the Hebrides book and map and have marked the campsites and hostels on it.
Just have to try and get the weight of my kit down now - lifelong habit of over packing then I’ll be set for my trip.
Thanks again for all of the useful tips and great to hear so many of you have cycled the Outer Hebrides. Looking forward to it.

[Sweep]

question about the tension band system since you are such a fan of it OP and experienced with it.
How do you figure out how much tension to put on?
I am wary of doing more harm than good and am aware that you can over-tension tents.

I know next to nothing about the system (though one of my buried tents may have it) but always had the idea in the back of my head (quite possibly unfairly) that it was a bit of a bodge - that if a tent was properly designed and made it shouldn't need an extra system.
(that someone like me might foul up/misuse)

PS - enjoy your trip.

[pjclinch]

question about the tension band system since you are such a fan of it OP and experienced with it.
How do you figure out how much tension to put on?
I am wary of doing more harm than good and am aware that you can over-tension tents.

It's just another form of guying, but internal rather than external. Standard rule of thumb for external guying is tight enough so it's taught but not so tight that it deforms the structure, and I'd go with that.

I know next to nothing about the system (though one of my buried tents may have it) but always had the idea in the back of my head (quite possibly unfairly) that it was a bit of a bodge - that if a tent was properly designed and made it shouldn't need an extra system.
(that someone like me might foul up/misuse)

Tents are all compromises because the perfect tent needs to weigh nothing, bulk nothing, have as much space as you'd ever want and stand quietly and unmoving in hurricane force winds, which is of course not going to happen.
External guying is a bodge: extra faff, you trip over the lines, in a real blow you have to go out periodically and re-peg and tension, the extra pegs and lines add weight and bulk... But the tradeoff is a significantly stronger tent with no reduction of internal volume.
Internal guying fundamentally gets in the way inside, but it doesn't need pegging, if it needs retensioning that can be done without going out, and if you're asleep the space intrusion is a bit moot.

If you dig around the Interweb you can find various internal guying experiments, and they do seem to add significant strength. So do you take a fundamentally stronger (and that'll mean heavier and bulkier) tent every time, or just add some temporary beef to a lighter one for rare storms? Very much up to the camper, but the TBS certainly doesn't strike me as a mis-feature, especially as it's an optional extra (much as are external guys).

Pete.