Cycling UK Forum

Anyone have an opinion about what would be the best tent to buy for the occasional 'night out' ? On the occasions on which I'd be able to persuade my daughter to accompany me for a longish bike ride it would need to fit the two of us in reasonable comfort (space-wise )
There is quite a bewildering selection available from lots of different makers at varying prices - just wondered if anyone has one they would heartily recommend.
Thanks for any advice anyone can offer

Save youself the trouble of deciding and join the Youth Hostelling Association. My wife and I are very keen campers but have discovered the joys of hostelling only in the last couple of years. Our holidays now are usually a mix of nights camping usually in the misddle of nowhere and others Hostelling. We tend to use Hostels in cities or large towns when campsites either don't exist or are a long way from the centre. Our Tent is a Vango Equinox 350 and is huge. Too big for an old night out but gives us the space to spread out after a full days touring. Prior to this we had a Pheonix Phorum Extreme which was slightly smaller but was equipped with a valance which helped when pitching on a beach or (only once) on snow!

See u soon then Jim and lady.
I budget for reducing YH cost with camping,
but it does mean arriving fairly dirty at YH,
and feeling brilliantly virtuous after a wonderful shower!
Life membership is good too.

g

for comfort, simplicity and the smuggness that comes from sleeping inside a design classic i'd reccommend a terra nova quasar.

far too bulky for regular touring use, the design has been the same for at least 15 years but its still the best there is.

small but good is the macmac microlight. its a bit small for 2 people really, but its light, small and triumph of good simple design.

ds.

I got a cheapo £30 2-man dome from local tent shop 5 years ago. Expected it to last 2 weeks, but it's worked well for about 100 nights so far.
Hint: no need to take panniers in to tent. We now leave ours on bike outside. Everything is in double bin bags to keep dry.
Forget the YHA - it's too hard to book in these days.

I too have virtually given up with the yha. The removal of published prices and the introduction of "from" rates to allow haggling down depending on local demand turned me away.

I'd fully recommend the Saunders Spacepacker - very hard wearing and lighter than most. mine is now nearly 15 years old and still going strong. The back up from Saunders is also second to none - I recently had a door zip replaced for £18 incl p&p and it was turned around in less than a week.
Details at:
http://www.robertsaunders.co.uk

John B

Generally you pay for what you get. l go for light weight and quality materials. Companies such as Hilleberg, Saunders, Terra Nova, Lightwave come to mind.

Youth hostels are to restictive in that they are sometimes to far apart to cycle and at certain times booked up.

Stuart,
That is very true especially when you want to cycle out of the summer season.... you find that it doubles up as university accom or they do school group bookings, then where are you?
Pity there are no rural back packers chains that I know of, but I take a tent in case.

Hal

i too would thoroughly recommend the Saunders Spacepacker: light, storage in the porches and plenty of room for two, robust and stable in all weathers. i got mine from Spa Cycles in Harrogate about five years ago. been all over with it.

I used a The North Face starburst on a 3 week tour in france and it was great but as u say there s so uch out there if the Quasar someone mentioned is too big... go for a trisar which is a tad smaller (uch like the TNF one!) plus you can pick up so many eurohike ones now that are far far cheaper and unless your cycling up the hymalayas will be just as good!!!

As my name implies, I too use a Saunders Spacepacker. It's very good but like all tents, it's not perfect. Good points include: it's very well-made, light weight (only 2.2kg), two entrances and two vestibules. The main downside is that when you lie down to sleep, the slope of the inner is only an inch or two from your face, which can feel oppressive. I would also recommend that you make yourself a footprint, which will help to keep the bottom of the inner clean and reduce condensation and cold.

The eurohike backpacker tent from millets is spacious enough for you and your gear and it only weighs 2.2 kgs.